what media do you use to make your images?

[baba-prague]

As the Creation forum has been a bit quiet lately (I suppose we are all too busy designing cards ) I thought I might ask a question that I've been thinking about. Recently we went to see the most amazing elderly artist who works in woodblock print. He is one of the very last people here to have this skill.

Here is a link showing him working on a deck of cards (they are not yet published). - enjoy

http://www.galerieart.cz/mezl_navsteva v atelieru.htm

So I just wondered, does everyone here use photo-collage, paint or some form of crayon/pencil to make their images (with or without the use of computer)? Or is there anyone who does anything different like linocut or woodblock - or for that matter fabric or paper collage (I'm thinking of the Zerner Farber of course)? Or etching, screenprint or any other form of image production?

Again, it's not a terribly vital question or anything, and I'm not implying that one form of work is any better or worse than any other, but I'm curious to hear if these more old-fashioned skills are still being used.

 

[Ironwing]

My Ironwing Tarot cards combine the white-on-black scratchboard technique with ordinary black-on-white ink drawing. I use white clay-coated hardboard (Ampersand Claybord Smooth). I do a black ink drawing in fine-point technical markers such as Pigma Microns. Highlights and details are added as the ink is scratched off with a utility knife. This satisfies my love of excruciating detail and allows me to fix many mistakes!

The Major Arcana have an additional step: I use three varieties of hand-ground red ochre (hematite) in egg tempera to add the red color.

My non-tarot art is in the most ancient of art media: handground mineral pigments in egg tempera. I grind the dry powder with the eggyolk-water medium in a mortar and pestle. The subtle but intense colors are applied one at a time in thin glazes. Examples can be seen here:
http://www.mineralarts.com/artwork/HiddenLandCards.html
It's is even more time-consuming than scratchboard, but I have painted a couple of tarot cards. Here's one from the Comparative Tarot Collab II deck on the Tarot Passages site:

http://www.tarotpassages.com/images2/CTCollab26P.jpg

Lorena

 

[HudsonGray]

Mine was done with one of those permanent ink throw-away rapidograph sets and hot pressed calligraphy type paper (designed for pen & ink). I used .005, .05, .5, .2 and .4 on most of the cards, for the fine lines. The throw-aways cost $2 each & don't clog up like the regular Rapidograph pens always seem to do.

A kneeded eraser was also invaluable for getting rid of the pencil sketch lines without pulling ink off the drawing. And hot pressed paper is ultra smooth, the filaments don't catch on the point of the pens & fray as you do the inking. I have had other art papers where that happened & it'll ruin a drawing in no time.

The drawings were all done in sizes 4x5 or smaller so the thin line pens were necessary. Even though the ink is permanent, I still waited 12 hours (overnight) for it to dry before erasing the pencil sketch underneath it.

 

[baba-prague]

These are both interesting methods - I've tried using a Rapidograph but wasn't much good with it (sadly) but I can't say I've ever tried egg tempura. It sounds amazing and I would love to see it "in person". I guess it gives a wonderful texture and real subtlety of colour? I'm sort of stunned - fantastic!

I hoped there might be more responses to this thread but I think you two are obviously unusual in the methods you use.

Anyone else using a really interesting non-computer method? (I can ask that as someone who spends most of my life in front of a computer screen lol)

 

[Astra]

Non-computer techniques?

I used to do a lot of hooked rug work, and found that the best medium for those designs was Crayola - keeps you from getting too much detail in the original work, and you can then play with textures and patterns as you get to them in the piece. Most of my artwork prior to computers was done with a #2 pencil (and keep sharpening!). I have 10 years of drafting experience (pre-computer), so I know the whole Rapidograph mess (no throwaways then), and have managed some reasonably good stuff with colored pencil.

Ever since I got my first good computer graphics program, though, I can't seem to care any more - the range of techniques available will keep me studying for years to come. I still have my first slide rule and my first drafting book - as mementos, and I still have several pads of good paper and some other really good art supplies just in case I want to use them, but my computer is both my best engineering tool and my best tool for artwork.

I thoroughly enjoy good art created in any medium, and am in awe of the skill of people who have chosen to work in media which in and of itself constitutes a challenge almost as great as the artistic conception being developed. But I suspect that the original stone carvers looked down on people doing wood-carving as "having it too easy", and I know that photography, when it first came along, was put down as a travesty of the artistic process. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

The really nifty part of all of this is that the older techniques very seldom get lost (for very long) in the process. There is always someone there to argue for them, and to use them and demonstrate their vitality, and combine them with newer techniques to produce really incredible stuff. As you have done, baba-prague, with your deck.

 

[Nevada]

Love this thread

So far I'm just doing some random sketching, and not much of that. I'm concentrating on a writing project that takes most of my time at the moment. I've used watercolor for other work and will most likely produce my first Tarot images in watercolor. It's difficult to learn (preserving whites and all of that), but I find the processes fascinating and challenging. I want to try adding gouache. I look forward to working with color pencil as well, but have yet to invest in a good set of pencils.

Astra, may I ask what software you use? Do you use any kind of digitizing tool? Or just a mouse? Many years ago I used an older version of Adobe Illustrator for a Macintosh, on my job at the time, and I loved it. Right now I have Paintshop Pro, and am not nearly as happy with it. Are you familiar with the newer versions of Adobe Illustrator, or is there something better?

Originally posted by Ironwing This satisfies my love of excruciating detail and allows me to fix many mistakes!

Ironwing, I'm glad you mentioned excruciating detail. That's exactly what came to my mind when I first saw your work. But in your case I would say it pays off and then some! The detail in your work is stunning and awe inspiring.

Originally posted by Ironwing My non-tarot art is in the most ancient of art media: handground mineral pigments in egg tempera. I grind the dry powder with the eggyolk-water medium in a mortar and pestle. The subtle but intense colors are applied one at a time in thin glazes.

For some reason I thought the egg white would be used. Does the color of the yoke affect the color of the finished product at all?

 

[Ironwing]

egg tempera

Eggwhite isn't strong enough. It's the combination of fat and protein in the eggyolk that makes it work. The yellow color doesn't show in the finished painting. Very few artists work in egg tempera because it's more time-consuming, less predictable, and not as spontaneous as oil paint.
It also demands a working knowledge of pigment properties that is neglected in professional artist training.
I love mineral pigments in ET because the colors are so rich and unusual, and the entire process - from collecting rocks to finishing a painting - lends itself very well to creating sacred art.

But then, I have the attention span of a barnacle...except when I'm in front of a computer.

Lorena

 

[joanna-gaian]

But then, I have the attention span of a barnacle...except when I'm in front of a computer.

Lorena, this put a big grin on my face - attention span of a barnacle, I love it! I've been wanting to tell you for some time how much I love your work, both the painstaking Tarot work you are doing as well as the egg tempera paintings. Gorgeous, deep and profound, all in one.

Your fan,
Joanna

 

[joanna-gaian]

Ever since I got my first good computer graphics program, though, I can't seem to care any more - the range of techniques available will keep me studying for years to come.

Yes, I sure agree with that, Astra! I use Photoshop a lot in my paying graphics work and, as much as I know, there's mountains more to learn.

A few years ago I worked in Photoshop and Painter, trying to get my own style "down" in one or both of those mediums - but could never get the kind of "personal expression" (for lack of a better term) I wanted using either a mouse or a wacom tablet and stylus. The dang things just would not do for me what a pen or pencil and paper will do. It was an exercise in frustration for me. I really admire people I've seen at computer conferences who pick up a stylus and tablet and produce the most amazing images. I guess it's just not my medium.

Another reason I went back to a traditional medium rather than a computer one is that I really missed having "originals" to show and sell. Does that bother you at all?

I also found that I missed the tactile experience of pencils and paper, and all the art-tool paraphenalia.

But this may be also because I earn my living using the computer for hours a day anyway, so when I go to my drawing table, it's a whole different experience - new and refreshing. Maybe my reptilian brain thinks: drawing table = fun! computer desk = work!

 

[joanna-gaian]

Creating sacred art

Creating sacred art

.... the entire process - from collecting rocks to finishing a painting - lends itself very well to creating sacred art.

I fret too much about how long each card is taking me to do. This quote from Lorena helps me to think of the process in a new way -- perhaps it is the length of time spent on one piece that contributes to its depth and spiritual power.

I know that when I sit down at my drawing table, I get lost and "time" just evaporates away. (Isn't this called "flow"?) Later when I come out of that sacred space, I'm surprised that I haven't finished more in 2 or 4 or 6 hours. But what *is* there, is more than colored pencil pigment on paper.

It's everything I've been thinking about while working on the piece, memories and random thoughts and the pleasure taken in the form and shape and color of the image itself. It's all the study I've done on that particular card while preparing to create my own version of it — and it's all the versions of that card in all the decks I've worked with over the past 25 years.

Mix in the heron flying north past my window, the full moon set in early morning, the sunset in the evening, the sparkle of sunlight on distant water.

Add a dollop of sage or nag champa incense, a candle of appropriate color burning for inspiration and sustenance and . . . most important of all, the music playing that moves the piece forward. World beat, Goddess/pagan chants, rock, folk, classical, trance/meditation music -- each card demands a different soundtrack, which feeds the image.

Sometimes I have a DVD on while I'm working on the piece - I watched (listened to, really) the film Whale Rider twice while working on the Chariot (in my version, the Canoe, with orcas in the background). And sometimes I listen to an audio book.

I believe *all* of that makes its way into the final piece.

Well I guess this has gone way off topic!
Blessed be.
Joanna