For the past couple of months I've been doing a lot of artistic experimentation. Back in April (or was it May?) I was sitting in my apartment sketching a floor plan for a studio project, when the tea I was sipping dribbled from my mouth and made it's new home in the fibers of my bleached-white vellum. And yep, it stained. This accident inspired me to try doing intentional "staining" with the tea. Basically, I wanted to try watercolor painting using English Breakfast and Earl Grey teas. I came up with the idea to do abstracted "portraits" using the tea, ink, and some acrylic. My goal was to do between 10-12 of the paintings and create a collection titled Faces of Earl. Well... of course, that didn't happen. I'd quickly moved onto something else (immersing myself in Walden, I believe.) At any rate, I got three done: (In order from left to right: Joshua, Rippy, Cleo)
So, this past week I decided to rekindle the old flame and add a little bit more to it. I was trying to think of other things that could potentially ruin a piece of artwork if applied unintentionally. Eyeing up the wine in my pantry, I thought "why not?" I combined Earl Grey tea, Merlot, White Zinfandel, Moscato, and ink to create some really interesting colors: (From top to bottom: Driven by Desire, Face Me)
I really love the purple pigment of the Merlot, especially combined with the brown of the tea. I feel like it gives a more modern image a bit of an old-timey feel... but maybe that's just me. I had a lot of fun creating Driven by Desire, especially the faintly stained background-- I ditched the brush and experimented only with rubbing a semi-dry teabag on the paper.
I think I really prefer the style of my Faces of Earl paintings, but I enjoy the mix of colors with the most recent two. I want to try combining the ideas somehow, while making sure to keep the ink part of the work. Something about bold black lines is beautiful to me, so I'm going to keep experimenting. Experimentation is key to success, in my opinion. You have to experiment with new things in order to learn about who you are, what you like, what works, and what doesn't-- and that goes for everything in life.
With that being said, we'll see what I dive into next week. More beverage watercolors? Maybe. I do have a brand new easel, brushes, and acrylic paints set to arrive at my apartment no later than Wednesday. :-)
Committed only to creativity...
-Amber