Submitted by AliaK on Sat, 08/11/2014 - 07:37
as part of the work on my "bee" theme, and as part of the closing assignment for "Year of the Fairy Tale" illustration class I've been taking this year, to learn more painting techniques, I'm doing an illustration for a Fairy Land zine on magic animals. of course I chose the bee. but as "bee" was already taken, I decided to be more specific and chose the "Australian sugarbag bee" aka Tetragonula Carbonaria bee, which is one of the native bees of Australia. this is a stingless bee, though it can give you a bite instead.
collating info here about the sugarbag bee as part of my research. another Australian bee I like is the blue-banded bee. there are a number of coloured bees native to Australia, which are different to the introduced yellow coloured honey bee that everyone is used to seeing.
for the illustrated page, I need to write a line about why this is a magic sugarbag bee, and draw a matching picture.
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Australian bee websites:
Sugarbag Bees blog http://www.sugarbag.net
Sugarbag Bees facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sugarbagbees
Aussie Bee http://www.aussiebee.com.au
Kin Kin Native Bees http://www.nativebees.com.au
Submitted by AliaK on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 07:35
I've been trying out my new artgraf water soluable graphite tonight with another drawing of a bee for my theme. I think it's sometimes called watercolour graphite. I put water in the lid and found my paintbrush and tried it out. I haven't got the bee shapes right yet but I love the variations in lightness and darkness of the graphite. there's even a slight shimmer and sparkle to it in this dim light. will see if it's still there in the morning daylight.
I shouldn't have tried the background wash though.. :( don't like it atm
another in (hotel room) biro practicing hatching (with wonky bee shape still)
Submitted by AliaK on Sun, 05/10/2014 - 07:27
today I went on an etching / print workshop at the ownership project gallery / print room in melbourne. learnt a lot. i made some prints to try different techniques, levels of colour depth, plate cleanup, colours, timings. used one of my bee drawings so I can add them to my theme work. falling in love with printing. you can get some very detailed marks with etching (with practice!)
i'll add more pics / steps later when on the computer
mono / black print
adding colour to sections
ghost print
coloured and hand painted selected colours
Submitted by AliaK on Sun, 28/09/2014 - 07:25
I tried making a bee from washi tape, but it turned out a bit wonky. I should have drawn the outline first instead of taping from memory. it was a good exercise in blending colours and creating texture and patterns and shapes though.
Submitted by AliaK on Wed, 24/09/2014 - 07:24
testing some woven eyes for my bees. these have a matte black circular warp threaded into cut fabric (calico in the first test), and shiny black stranded thread for the circular weft, travelling across and around the eye. I used the shiny thread to simulate the shinyness of a bee's eyes, and woven circles to remind of the multiple cells / lenses of the bees' eyes.
I learnt this technique from jude hill on her wonderful "considering weave" class / project
the first one didn't work out as i'd threaded both ways instead of one way only.
but the next sample worked out as I had hoped (seen in my mind) so i was happy about this.
Submitted by AliaK on Tue, 23/09/2014 - 07:23
a few more bee sketches in different media — I'm thinking of trying some of these in stitch (a cross between junko oki's work and jude hills' work such as this circle & the final piece in 'considering weave' — my own interpretation of it) and also as the fabric manipulation exercises for assignment 3. (to save time, and work on theme practice plus exercises at the same time).
basket weave for eyes
plus some other general sketches — I'm also trying to practice sketching things from my day or local area. some are done in a small notebook whilst out and about.
I still haven't separated my theme book from regular sketch book — must work on this. it's just more convenient to put everything into one book..
general sketches:
Submitted by AliaK on Sun, 14/09/2014 - 07:20
i've read ahead a little this time and on the flight tonight started a couple of bee drawing exercises. i have a new lamy (med) pen and it's lovely to sketch with! would like to try the fine & extra fine next too. I only had one sketchbook so I'll need to transfer the pages to my theme book (and hope i didn't wreck it by drawing on both sides of the paper..)
i did a few separate body parts that I'd seen on an amazing closeup photo found whilst googling "bees" images.
this is the original close up photo and bee photo and honeycomb photo. i combined a couple of these in my drawings. i made some notes about how i can see the tests in my head. some black satin, hand stitching, shiny white/clear fabric, fraying for the hairs, woven circles for the eyes, some stitches I think will work for centre cirlce on the back and antannea, plus more. i can see it in my head, so I just need to get it to work in reality now!
via bee portraits - sam droege
— bee google image search. I hope to draw more of his photographs, as they are amazing. the colours!
via can bees be trained to sniff out cancer — bee google image search
via cavity bee — bee google image search
Submitted by AliaK on Sun, 16/02/2014 - 05:03
some more theme ideas... hearts, suns or bees
I've started doing an online stitching class called whispering hearts with Jude Hill. it's a really great class — I've read through all the posts from when the class was run live in 2011, and will listen to the audio "whisperings" and watch the videos in the next few weeks when I have a better internet connection. the theme is hearts. it's great to see Jude go through the process of doodling ideas in a sketchbook, make some small stitched fabric samplers and then stitch the final selections into a larger piece. this is what I'll have to do for my theme work for class (I think).
I like the hearts theme too — I'm not really into pink and girly colours and hearts but after seeing some that Jude made and some of the ideas around them I think it's good to try something out of my comfort zone of technology-based topics.
Submitted by AliaK on Tue, 16/07/2013 - 11:20
tonight I was reading through class notes again and just realised I have more to do for assignment one than I thought. I'd totally missed a whole section - project 2. I was thinking project 1 = assignment 1 :(
in other news, I came across this article / project tonight which I thought might fit with my theme of code/encryption (perhaps not glitch). Anti-loneliness augmented quilt comforts children in hospital. from Joshua Barnes' site:
"As a means to combat symptoms of loneliness experienced by children staying long periods of time in hospital, the Augmented Quilt opens up an additional line of communication between the child and their loved ones. Each animal illustration on the quilt can be linked to a friend or family member, who can in turn leave digital messages for the child to read using a smart device. This highly personal form of communication is more meaningful to the child than anything a facebook message alone is capable of. Simultaneously the intimate tactile nature of the quilt also serves as a physical source of comfort which, when combined with the personal messages, provides a greater sense of security to the child in what is a potentially distressing time."
Submitted by AliaK on Sat, 06/07/2013 - 13:17
I've been thinking about what to use for my theme/s - am not sure if they'll fit yet, but here's my initial ideas:
1. encryption/code/glitch - I've read about women who've (over the centuries) added codes to their fabric to send messages to others - encrypted messages in textiles. it fits in with my work too (encrypted digital tv signals/video/audio). and glitch maybe due to something Jack spoke about (how he likes glitch in video but I try to remove it/prevent it at work - so a balance between work & home) & another class I did & the music equipment/making anomolies that turn out to be something beautiful/special/unplanned - the glitches in the code, the mistakes. I've made some (very rough) video art using glitch over the years, so thought it might fit in
2. sound art/experimental music (maybe dance music culture, hip hop too) - not really sure how I'll fit this in yet, but it's another thing I write on, so trying to think of a way to fit it in - it might end up just being a separate project & I use the things in #1. maybe the music part of it - I think a lot of experimental music/sound art could be converted to embroidery - the lines & patterns & feel of the music into colours and lines.