Question about Tea-stain in Sketchbook Habit

[mhimeswc]

This is a question for anyone who in working on, or has worked on, the 21-Day Sketchbook Habit project by Roz Morrow.

Did you do the tea-stain exercise? Did you actually "find" anything in your page? Maybe I don't have the right kind of imagination. I had trouble doing this in the "how do I feel" pages, and now I'm stumped with this one. I left the page open, and I turn it every once in a while, but when I look at it, I don't see or find anything.

I'm thinking of just using it as a textural underpainting and doing a sketch on top of it.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated before I do this.

[Jakesgram]

Hi Michelle!

I agree with you, I had the most trouble with the coffee / tea stain exercise! I did it, but didn't care much for it. I left it out and did a little bit every day for a few days. Here's the link to mine: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/show...4&postcount=30

I think your idea of using it as a textural underpainting is fine. I think the main thing with these exercises is to just DO SOMETHING, not necessarily exactly what Suzette suggests. Or, here is a different idea - outline a few shapes and then repeat those shapes into an overall pattern. Whatever you decide to do with it, have fun and it will be fine.

Jean

[robertsloan2]

I did the coffee/tea stain exercise. What I did was mop up a coffee stain with some paper and let it steep overnight in a sealed jar, then swipe the paper a few times with it in random shapes. Then went back and drew around it.

It's like finding clouds that look like things. I often find shapes in the random patterns of the linoleum in my bathroom, it's a marbled pattern so I'll see cartoon faces, animals, distorted figures all over. Try turning the page upside down or sideways. A roundish blob could be a flower center. A long one could grow a snake's head and tail or turn into a tentacle on an octopus. It only needs to remind you of part of something.

It's a starting point sort of thing, and you can add as much as you want to try to get it to look coherent.

I think using it as a textural underpainting is a creative way to handle it anyway. You're doing something with it.

Alternately you could mix some other colors of washes, spatter the page with them and say it reminded you of a Jackson Pollock painting?

[christinemlr]

I haven't got to this one yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. Is it possible just to do a bit more staining on the page? maybe rotate the page and stain a bit more.

I find myself seeing all sorts of things in my bed cover wrinkles that distort the patterns on the cover, in the half light its almost like seeing other countries and worlds, with animals, people in different costumes and from different periods of history. I did a sketch of what I saw once, but never did it again. (it wasn't too successful) I think its time to keep a notebook by the bed and try and get some of the things I see down on paper, even if only in words.

Here's another idea you could try - tear up little bits of paper, from magazines or failed paintings and scatter a few on the stains, it might help bring something out.
Xina