Positively Black and Spontaneous Journaling
Posted on March 5, 2010 - Filed Under 2010 Workshops, Creative Exercises
I love working on black paper. In high school I had an aversion to black, and would never wear it or use it in art. Even now the only black paint I have is actually gesso. Black does not, in its absolute form, occur in nature. Dark colors do, but not black. What we call black is usually an exotic form of brown.
This year I am teaching two classes in working on black. One is coming up in a few weeks, and that is what I am working on right now. Three Letter Words is a class I am teaching at Artfest this month in Port Townsend, Washington. In this case, we paint our canvas black, and work with the negative spaces. Ironically the positive space in this case is black. Below you will see some exercises that show you how this works. This is a page of a small booklet I am making for the class.
We will use some of these same techniques on paper in Magical Midnight Stories, a class in May at Art & Soul in Virginia. You get a lot of bang for your buck, a lot of flash for your cash, excellence for your effort, and astonishment at your achievement with these simple techniques. Seriously.
I am making instruction booklets for each class. These are the books for Spontaneous Deconstructed Journals, another class at Artfest.
After Artfest I am going to sleep for a week, a mini-hibernation. I wish. What I am actually going to do is dive headfirst into my first book, Personal Geographies: Mapping Your Stories in Mixed Media. Just got the contract back from North Light Books and I am crazy happy about it. Look for it in 11/2011.
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Beautiful stuff, Jill! I own a couple of pieces from SE Asia, naive landscapes executed in vivid colors on a black ground; they are among my very favorite paintings.
This class sounds like a blast, Jill. I love the artwork and the idea of working in Basic Black.
Hi Jill: I am actually in your class at Artfest! This looks wonderful. I think I was supposed to send you my three letter word. If so, it is TRY. I personally love black. Excited to meet you and take your class. Kim
Beautiful work, Jill!
Lucky students!
I love your little instruction books… Your journal book went with me to Switzerland and one of my favorite experiences was a waitress who didn’t speak English, trying to understand why I was crouching on the ground with my rubbing wax, rubbing images of the metal work on the street. Then I showed her on her patterned tray and she understood and loved it. Magic!
Oooh! My sister is so talented and hard working! These are FAB!