What has dream been conjuring up for you? What ideas are entering your mind? I hope you make some time this week to release those ideas onto paper and see how they form and take shape! 

 

One of the most exciting things about creating art is not knowing how things will turn out--9 out of 10 times when I predict the outcome I am completely wrong lol. Sometimes paint will go where it wants to go, lines will cross where you didn't mean for them to, or halfway through something you pivot towards new inspiration. And that's OK!

 

I hope throughout the year we can embrace this unknown factor and try new things without the fear or stress of achieving a certain result--to let the process of doing teach us, help us grow, and help us have fun! 

 

This month, the art movement paired with the prompts is surrealism so I wanted to share 2 surrealist techniques we can try! Pick one that you're more excited about or do both. If you're familiar with these techniques, I challenge you to use them in a way you haven't before or to create something more intricate. 

 

The nice thing about both of these, especially the first one, is that they don't take a lot of time! If you only have 5-10 minutes, you can get some creating in!

 

Apply these techniques to a page in your sketchbook, combine them onto one page, use them as a background then draw, paint, collage, etc. over it, or do it on a separate piece of paper to create fun paper you can use in a collage or mixed media piece (now or at a later time).

Take a blank piece of paper and place it on top of a textured surface. Using a crayon/pencil/chalk/charcoal or other medium, rub it over the surface until the texture appears on your paper. 

 

Try layering several rubbings on top of each other, changing colors for each layer, or using different types of paper.

 

If this is difficult to do in your sketchbook, tear out a sheet of paper to do the rubbings on, then cut them out and glue them into your sketchbook.

 

If your sketchbook paper is too thick, use thinner paper you have lying around. You can even try using something like a napkin or newspaper (be gentle or it may rip) that already has texture/print to layer with.

 

Below is an example (super cool, not what I was expecting!) and here are 8 pieces of artwork that use frottage for some more visuals.

This is a technique our artist for the month, Remedios Varo, used! It is done by applying paint to a surface, pressing another surface against it, and then pulling the two surfaces apart. 

 

I thought this video did a great job of showing this technique! It looks like a plastic sheet and a brayer are being used. If you don't have those exact items on hand, see if you have a plastic sheet protector or clear plastic report cover lying around or try ziplock bags and plastic wrap! Use your hands, a rolling pin, or press down on a heavy book to apply pressure. The plastic sheet is just one example, see what you have lying around that you think might produce something interesting.

 

A very easy way to try decalcomania is to apply paint to your sketchbook page and fold it in half. 

 

Here are 2 examples of decalcomania from Varo's piece, Roulotte (Caravan), 1955:

Recently I was talking to my friend Marisa about not being too precious with our sketchbooks (and our art)! Sometimes we can have this idea that our books have to be page after page of beautiful completed works. But it can be anything we want it to be! Most importantly I think it's a place for us to take action and try things. So I am really trying to be more flexible and approach it with more curiosity than perfectionism. To help me with that, I'm taking baby steps and have a “brainstorm” sketchbook (to try ideas, to be messy, to not feel pressure to complete anything) and a “done” sketchbook (for completed ideas). I think this will help me take action more easily and worry less about “messing up” a page. I wanted to share that in case you might want to try it too!

 

For “dream” I'm working on a vision board collage and am going to see if I can try incorporating the above techniques into it! I'm planning on finishing it in the next few days and will share it in the next check-in email.

 

There's still an entire week to work on this prompt so keep at it! :)

 

I will talk to you on Friday where we'll take a look at the second prompt of the Creative Kickstart series!