Without Words
Art is without words.Art, in the core sense of the word ie: visual works of creative expression, not in the broadened metaphorical or adjective use of the word.
Gateways Edition Video
I'm not sure which was the bigger project, printing the Gateway Series or filming and making videos of it! There are so many things to consider and learn for a newbie like me. I want to invite people into my studio and into my thought process and see it with their own eyes to get a deeper sense of what I'm creating, so I have undertaken the task of slowly developing this skill. Two videos are now available, one that gives a quick view into the edition in under two minutes (below - click continue reading) and another that goes more in depth where I share my process and what you can expect when purchasing a print or pair of prints from this edition series. I hope you enjoy!
Printing the Solis Edition
This past Summer I printed The Gateway Series, and I have yet to finalize my photos and video so that will be forthcoming....but while I was printing that edition a very strong visionary impulse of this sunlight edition came to me and I urgently felt the need to bring this print into manifestation. After some delay, I printed the edition in November and just uploaded into my shop this past week. Solis is latin for sun/sunlight which is perfect because the dual meaning is precisely what was speaking to me. The light of the sun as a transmitter of divine coding and information that we absorb directly through our eyes, skin and etheric mind-body was the deep-felt message that came forth and I am delighted at the result of this sacred geometric visual code structure that incites a sense of calibration and connection with the light of the sun and the essence of it as a gateway/portal of life. I filmed the carving and printing process of this relief block print and have some photos from that filming to share a snapshot into my process of bringing Solis to life for you to enjoy! You may also find these images in my PHOTOS section. Read on to view the slideshow....
Plein Air Sunflower Study
This week I've been getting outside for some plein air studies of the sunflowers growing in my backyard. I love sunflowers! Yesterday it was hot, cloudy and muggy, and in between some surprising spats of light rain, I managed a quick study of the sunflowers. This was my first time with my new gouache palette setup. I've switched to a large open palette so I have a large open area to mix my colors, and I can already tell it's going to make such a huge difference in my painting. I've always worked with a palette with separate little circles and squares, and it limited my capacity to mix a large amount of pigment and blend with neighboring mixes. I got this idea from watching a course from the Tucson Art Academy by Andy Evansen, a master watercolor artist. It seems so obvious now, but I never thought of it because I just used the traditional palettes they sell for watercolor mediums. Now I have my paints laid out around the perimeter like in a traditional oil painting palette. It's a whole new world!
After laying down my preliminary sketch in pencil, I lightly erased the pencil lines and then began painting, starting with the lightest values of the sunflower petals. I ended with the darkest values in the center of the sunflower. I did not have an exact process I was following. I mostly focused on capturing the correct colors and laying them down quickly and loosely. Because the gouache dries much lighter it's difficult to get the exact values, and if I had time I would have gone back into the leaves to deepen them, but it started raining again so I decided that was good enough for today!
Click below to see the rest of my photos....
The Return to Tumblr
AKA: Tumblr vs. Instagram
Many years ago I started a couple tumblr accounts, the first one was under a moniker to catalog my inspirations and share a few of my creations. Then I created one to share my artwork and jewelry interwoven with some inspirational content. I was fairly active for over a year, but eventually left in 2015 once it was acquired by Yahoo and lots of posts were being deleted. The problem is there was a lot of unsourced content on tumblr. The record of reblogging is there however and you can trace everything back to the first poster, which is very cool.
I moved onto Pinterest to begin cataloging my inspirations and saving them via boards, and to Instagram to share my own content and create my own thematic imagery archive as well as follow other inspiring accounts. I've now added some of my own content to Pinterest as well. For various reasons, including that facebook owns Instagram now and the destruction of the time-based algorithm, the push to pay for your followers to see your posts, and the sense I have of just further degradations of the platform the more I see facebook making sure you know that they are the ones that own Instagram (I'm not a facebook fan) .....I have felt compelled to seek another platform to share my own visual content.
In searching for a social media platform that is more art-based,
Drawing a Cat in Pen and Ink
One year ago I decided to do something that I've never done before, and that was a daily drawing challenge. I've always loved drawing cats, and have a lot of my own reference photos from my cat and friends' cats, so I decided to choose them as my subject and further explore how to draw a cat through this daily practice. For 30 days in January/February I drew one drawing of a cat each day and posted each drawing to Instagram. Most were from photos I took myself, but some were from photos friends' shared with me of their cats, and some were from cats I found on Instagram. These original drawings are for sale and can be purchased HERE.
A morning cup of tea, with an ink bottle, vintage nib pen and a special edition rose chocolate bar by Valerie Confections in collaboration with Edible Gardens LA. photo by Brianna Lamar
The drawings were executed in graphite pencil, charcoal pencil, watercolor brush pen, and pen and ink. Although I have worked a lot in ink, and it's one of my favorite mediums, I have mostly worked abstractly with the ink nib pen. It was fun to try out this medium to render a more realistic drawing utilizing some crosshatching techniques. Since it is a bit of a different process than drawing in pencil, I thought I'd share with you the basic steps I took to approach a pen and ink drawing of a cat....for the curious cats out there ;)The Art Haus Is Officially Open
After my initial launch of The Lucid Lush™ Art Haus in late November 2018, I went on a yearlong hiatus, diving deeper into my art studies and considering my long term goals as I transition back into my fine art as a focal point for this next chapter, after having focused more on working in design this past decade since leaving the gallery I was working with ten years ago. It's been a heavy learning curve for me to build this site, with a lot of troubleshooting, and I'm happy to finally have it to the point where it's design and functionality are up to par with the needs and vision that I have. I want to offer a clean, comfortable space where people can find out more about my artwork, my art practice, and shop confidently for a work that is unique and speaks to them on a personal level.
Life Drawing Sketch in Charcoal, Brianna Lamar 2019.
I'm a visual romantic, but a tactile one as well, and physical product has always enthralled me. Perhaps that is the Taurus in me, in love withOpening on Friday
I really love black, so I suppose it is befitting to open shop on Black Friday. Thank you for stopping by!
