Just The Right Shade

Have you ever just drew a line on a piece of paper and tried to do something with it? It use to be a means for the substitute teacher to pass time when I was in grade school. She broke the class up in teams. The opposing team would decide on a letter or number and the team up for the challenge would then have to create something different from that letter or number. Seeing that it wasn't art class, most of the time, if played often enough, each participant would start making the same image over and over again until the game just got too boring to keep the class interested.

What I suggest for artists, is draw a random line and make something interesting from it. I thought such a thing would be challenging for myself. I also tried to keep it in black and white. The finally part of the task was not to use too much detail. Now, that was asking a bit much seeing that I studied so I could  have the patience to use as much detail as I could; nevertheless, I tried to make it work.

The first one came easy, and I stared at it for a little while before going on to the next one. After 3 of them, it was too difficult not to put a little shading on the face so not to look as plain. I went on and did 3 more. I wasn't satisfied with two of them and because hey were on 4x6 Bristol board, I just turned it over and started again. I must admit, I did throw away at least 3 more of them. It was just too plain for my taste.

After completing 9 altogether, I pinned them to my bulletin board to see if there was anything I could do not to destroy the integrity of what I was trying to do, but at the same time try to also make them interesting for the viewer. If I didn't like them, I couldn't put them on display for anyone else to view. I have so many other pieces that all grouped together in a drawer. Simply, they just didn't make the cut.

                  
                                                                     
When I finished all 12, I had to add more to it. The answer was lipstick. Even them after adding the brightest red I could find contrasting brilliantly with the black and white, something else was needed. I just got a new micro liner and was eager to find out how well it ran and for how long. I began using the liner for background. While many other artists would have opted to photoshop the lining background, it was therapeutic to do each  line myself. When I finished all 12, I was content.

Shortly all 12 can be purchased as a calendar or individually in my gallery. If interested in purchasing the original postcard sized pieces, email me.