Big Ski Chair Affair

Posted on March 10, 2017 by ruthlane under Big Ski Chair Affair

We started working on our ski lift chair for The Big Ski Chair Affair. We have a lovely studio space to use thanks to the Glacier Restaurant Group. Four of the chairs are in the bottom part of their building where we can work on them.

We cleaned the chair and then stripped all the old foam that was pretty worn out and dirty off the chair. You can see two other chairs behind ours. The middle bar in the chair is going to be removed all together so we didn’t take the black foam off of that one. Didn’t have the correct wrench to remove the bar today.

The next step is to start painting it and then we will get more foam and start the upholstery process. We’re still working on making more leaves for it and I keep stitching away each morning to make one leaf.

These had veins of stitching added to them but I forgot to take a photo of them after that. I will keep you updated on our progress.

Missing in Action

Posted on March 3, 2017 by ruthlane under Level 3 Art and Design

I am back home after two weeks of traveling. First we went to Philadelphia for a wholesale buying show for the store. Bought lots of good stuff and the weather in Philly was fantastic. One day it was sunny and 70 degrees, in February. Usually it is cold and dreary when we go. We went down to South Street and saw the mosaics there. Just google South Street Mosaics Philadelphia and you can take a look. I got photos but they are all on my phone and not on the computer. Sorry.

Then we came back home and two days later we drove to LaConner, Washington for the first session of Level 3 Art & Design with Gail Harker. I was really happy to start this class and had a great time. We have 5 people in the class and worked on color, chromatic grays and line. I have lots of homework so I’ll be showing that here. Hopefully, you won’t get too bored.

This is one of the collages that I made in class with high value chromatic grays.

And another collage that I made with the saturated colors that were mixed into those grays used above. Sorry the photos aren’t the best, it was a little dark here today.

So I made another collage today with the low value chromatic gray papers that I had painted in class. I have several more of these to do. We are to use squares, stripes and rectangles in these collages. Each collage is 6″ x 6″.

I painted more paper today for future collages. Here’s my rainbow of colors.

And this is tints and shades painted with primary magenta. Again, sorry the photos aren’t good. Each of these painted pages is 9′ x 9″. I need lots of painted papers for future work in the class. So we are supposed to develop a stash of painted paper. Lots more to do!

Valentine’s Cards

Posted on February 17, 2017 by ruthlane under printing

I needed to make a Valentine’s card for hubby and so I decided to make a bunch at once. Then I can sell the rest at the store. And they will work for just “love” cards and not just Valentine’s so hopefully they will sell year round.

I didn’t get any photos of the gelatin plate printing process. I was in such a hurry to get the cards done that not many photos got taken. But I made several masks of hearts with the hot glue gun. Then I printed away with a variety of reds, pinks, whites and purples. The metallic paint makes it a little hard to get good photos, sorry.

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So here they all are and hope your Valentine’s Day was sweet!

Completed Water Lily

Posted on February 10, 2017 by ruthlane under sketch book

I finished the colored pencil drawing of the water lily. This is a scanned in version and the colors are a bit off but you get the idea.

I really like the end result and I finally found a way to use colored pencils where the outcome was good. It takes a long time but the blending of the colors is the definite key. We went to Louise’s house again to make more leaves for our ski chair. We have a lot more to do and now I have 7 more leaves to stitch with a felt covering. Hopefully, the needle breakage will be less than the last set. Have a good weekend.

Colored Pencil Drawing and More Felt Leaves

Posted on February 3, 2017 by ruthlane under Big Ski Chair Affair, sketch book

I have been stitching a felt leaf every morning for our Big Ski Chair Affair project. It’s a little nerve racking because if the needle hits the wire base, the needle breaks. I have broken four needles so far. It always happens when I try to speed up a bit or don’t pay enough attention.

Here’s the leaves I finished. I haven’t added any veins. I am going to check with the other ladies before I do. Maybe the small ones don’t need any?

I’m still working on my colored pencil drawing. It takes a lot of time. You can see in the upper left corner that I am blending the background. I am using odorless mineral spirits and applying a tiny bit with a brush. And it works! The colored pencil layers blend and cover the white of the paper.

Here it is after the first layer is blended including the leaves. I haven’t started on the water lily itself yet. Trying to learn how this works before I make a mess of the flower.

And here is the water with a couple more darker colored pencils added. It definitely gives richer colors than just using colored pencils alone. You don’t push down hard with the pencils, just do a light circular stroke to cover the page. That way you don’t damage the tooth of the paper. Next, I will add more layers and details to the leaves. Once I finish the leaves, I will try the flower.

Hope you have a nice weekend!

Ruth Lane Art

Experimenting with Arts Endless Possibilities