In The HEAT Of The Moment

It was a whirlwind weekend!.............Full of parties and friends and family, fun and exhausting. I want to do it again!

  I had no plan on doing what I did this morning, it just kinda happened. I usually go off on a tangent such as this whenever I get into a corner of my studio I don't often visit. Like under the bed.

  I need a flat file cabinet. To keep all my art paper in. Its basically a chest of narrow drawers that keep paper and finished artwork safe. They are expensive! but I found one that is affordable and it's just a matter of going and getting one. At some point I will, but right now, all my paper is in a wooden box my hubby made me years ago, not the best way to keep paper. It lives under the bed in my studio. smaller scraps of paper just sit on the top and that is what I spent my morning taking care of.

  Lots of the loose papers were scrunched from their cross-country trip from California. I gathered up odd sized pieces and cut them all down to 3 1/2 X 2 1/2 inches with my trusty paper cutter, turning them into ATC sized cards to use for small works of art. An ATC, for those of you who don't know, stands for artist trading card. Artists create small works on these cards to trade with other artists. It's a great way to share art among creatives. I ended up with quite a large stack........................

  The good thing is now, whenever I feel like creating a small drawing or painting, the paper is sized and ready to go. I just need to choose a color. A real time saver.

  Also, this weekend, in the HEAT of the moment, I went shopping for a mahl stick. A mahl stick is just that.....a stick with a cushioned ball on one end, not much to it. It is used to steady the artists hand while painting or drawing and to keep the artists hand from touching the surface of the paper or canvas. It prevents smearing the artwork with ones hand. I use a piece of transparent glassine under my hand while I work but with some pencils, especially hybrid pencils that are a combination of carbon and graphite, the black residue from this soft lead still drifts all over the paper as I move my hand along and dirties the drawing. All that does is make more work for me as now I would have more touching-up to do.

  Okay, it's a stick,with a cushioned ball on one end like I mentioned above. Well......I shopped for one and I came to a very quick decision that they are way more expensive than I thought they would be for what they are, (did I mention that they are just a stick?), So I decided to make one myself.

  I went to Home Depot, bought a 3/4 dowel for a buck .99, cut out some felt, stuffed it with plain old cotton stuffing, tied it tightly to the dowel and viola! I have a mahl stick for 1.99! I already had the stuffing and the felt lying around. I have already used it and it works perfect. And, I have enough dowel left over to make another so that's two mahl sticks for 1.99! Can't beat that. Here it is hanging on my drafting table.........

 
  I would much rather save my money for more important things like paint and pencils and paper. So yeah, I'm proud of myself.

  I do believe I am in the mood to create a pastel this morning. Yes, I still have some work to do on the Tree Hugger drawing and I do plan on working on her some more too but when the mood strikes, in the HEAT of the moment, I have to take advantage of it. I will be back soon with more art progress, Y'all have a great Monday!