New Classes and 5 Reasons to love INK!

I have finalized my teaching schedule through September. I am doing a Mixed Media series at my studio in Grants Pass, OR. I have decided to work my way through some of my favorite mediums and see how far we can take them. For more information on my studio classes you can click on the links above. I will also be teaching at CREATE- Chicago in August and Art-Is-You - Petaluma in September. Art-Is-You registration is open now, so check it out. As soon as Create Chicago goes live, I will post my classes here on the blog.

The first class will be Mixed Media Play with INK, so I though I would share some of reasons I am so in love with ink.

No. 1: Even simple india ink, a bamboo skewer and copy paper can make something unexpected....

No. 2: The color of ink is really saturated and you can do amazing things with black and white or color:

No. 3: Because ink is fluid, you can do amazing things on fabric:

Acrylic ink and Walnut ink on raw canvas with a few pencil details added.

No. 4: Acrylic Ink works great on top of gesso - gives the surface a watercolor effect when diluted and dries permanent, so you can keep working without fear of reactivating it.

No: 5: Drawing with ink is my all time favorite because it takes my control away. 

Here is a progression of my recent painting. I used unstretched, gessoed canvas 24"x 30" and sewed pockets in the top and bottom to receive a dowel. This way it can be hung without expensive framing. I applied collage and texture to the surface and then drew my character with the dropper:

Worked on the floor then lifted it for drips....

Mid painting process with just black and white paint and more ink.

Finished piece...I think!