MY LIFE IN BOOK TITLES

I got this meme from Jenners at Find Your Next book Here, who got it from As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves, who got if from someone else.

What To Do: Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.

Please note that since I used only books I read this year (I keep a list) not all of these answers are absolutely true and some are a "stretch" as an answer to the question. But it was fun to do, so try it yourself and leave a comment with a link to your answers.

Describe yourself: The Partly Cloudy Patriot (Sarah Vowell) non-fiction

How do you feel: Cause for Alarm (Erica Spinder)

Describe where you currently live: Point Blank (Catherine Coulter)

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? The White House Connection (Jack Higgens)

Your favorite form of transportation: Gone Tomorrow (Lee Child)

Your best friend is: Mistress of the Vatican (Eleanor Herman) non-fiction

You and your friends are: The Wordy Shipmates (Sarah Vowell) non-fiction

What’s the weather like: Dark of the Moon (John Sandford)

You fear: Shadow of Power (Steve Martini)

What is the best advice you have to give: The Whole Truth (David Baldacci)

Thought for the day: Damage Control (J.A. Jance)

How I would like to die: Sudden Mischief (Robert Parker)

My soul’s present condition: Infidel (Ayaan Hirsi Ali) non-fiction

I have read fewer books this year than probably any year in a decade (only 24, so far.) I blame it on spending most of my time blogging.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS - #2 PARODY

"THE MAKEOVER"  is one of my favorite digital pieces and is also a crowd-pleaser when exhibited. 

This post is in response to a prompt at

CREATIVE EVERY DAY

Click on the link to add your own response to the

challenge or to view those submitted by others

        This post is the second in a series that features the CREATIVE PROCESS for a particular piece of art or a group of works. These posts will explain some or all of the following: how I conceived the idea, how I created the piece, how I decided on the title, and unique parts of the creative process for this particular piece.

Below, you will find the step-by-step process I used to create this image.

The Idea

        I found an old reproduction of the Mona Lisa and posted it near my computer where I was working on 50 pieces of digital art for an upcoming solo exhibit. Sometimes when my eyes were tired of the monitor, I would look at Mona wondering if she were considered beautiful in her time. One day, I thought she wouldn't look bad with a bit of makeup, some brighter clothes, and a new hairdo to replace her plastered-down do. Thus the idea to create a makeover was born, along with my apologies to Leonardo.

The Title

        "The Makeover" was the obvious title for Mona's drastic remake.

The Time
        People often ask how long it takes to create a work of art. The real answer is “all of my life” because creating art requires everything I've learned since I first held a crayon.
        “The Makeover” consumed approximately 40 hours. Much of my work isn’t visible because the layering process allowed me to experiment. New elements were added on layers, almost as if they had been painted on transparencies, one on top of another. I was able to add a new layer between layers or delete or change any layer without disturbing the others.
        When I scanned the reproduction, the result retained the textured appearance of the original paper and made it look rather old, qualities I didn't expect, but liked. Then I started to work on the 'After' portion of my piece.
        I created the initial image in about 25 hours. For several weeks, I returned to it every day, each time finding something to improve. Later, I enlarged it on the monitor to 300% of its actual size to add miniscule details and corrections, one tiny enlarged section at a time.

The Process - The Making of  "THE  MAKEOVER"

BEFORE

    1. & 2. Because my reproduction of the “Mona Lisa” was so large, I had to scan it in two parts.
    3. a. I joined the two scanned pieces together.
        b. I touched up the initial image so that the area where the two pieces met was no longer visible.
        c. The cream-colored border was eliminated.
        d. Colors were adjusted.
        e. The entire image was lightened.
        f. The “Before” text was added twice, once in yellow and once in black. The two were then overlapped.




AFTER
    4. a. I began the “makeover” portion by touching up facial flaws including adding “concealer” to hide the bags under the eyes.
        b. The neckline of the dress was lowered.
        c. Skin had to be painted in place of the dress when the neckline changed.

    5. Mona’s face and neck were lightened and smoothed and a transparent section of this lightened image was placed over image #4 to create the appearance of foundation makeup.
    6. Then, her hands were too dark for her face, so they were lightened similarly.

    7. The robe was selected, copied and the colors changed. These are the two darkest shades created for the appearance of folds and shadows.
    8. a. Lighter shades and highlights of her robe were created.
        b. I added a texture to the clothing to make it more like the original reproduction which had been printed on textured paper.
        c. Light shadows were added to emphasize her cleavage. Later, shadows were added to this same layer for her new hairdo.

    9. a. Mona received a pair of green contact lenses, painted on a transparent layer so that the characteristics of her real eyes would show through.
        b. Eye shadow was added on three different layers, then joined and blended.
        c. Three different shades of lipstick were applied in transparent layers.
        d. I added two shades of blush to her checks, the tips of her nose and chin, her forehead and her neck.
    10. To give her lips a fuller appearance, I added highlights to her lower lip.
    11. a. Unfortunately for Mona Lisa, the fashion of her day was to shave the eyebrows. I drew on eyebrows, one hair at a time, using several shades of brown.
          b. Similarly, she received eyelashes and eyeliner.
    12. a. Outlines of the irises were darkened.
          b. Whites of the eyes were lightened to eliminate their bloodshot appearance.
          c. White dots were added to the eyes for highlights.

    13. I gave Mona a manicure by adding two shades of pink in transparent layers.
    14. a. I searched magazines and catalogs, finally settling on several photographs from which I might harvest a hair style.
          b. I scanned a catalog image with the new hairdo, then eliminated the face and as much of the background from the catalog image as possible.
          c. I overlapped the hair over Mona’s face. It didn’t fit exactly, so I enlarged it, erased what hid her face, and “cloned” the curls to place more curls in areas that needed more hair.
          d. Finally, by enlarging the image on the monitor, the background from the catalog image could be eliminated from around and between the curls so that the image of DaVinci’s painted background could show through.

    15. a. The hair was highlighted by selecting the lightest strands from image #14, lightening it, making it slightly transparent, then pasting it over the previous image.
          b. Earrings were drawn in pink with white highlights.
          c. I made final touch-ups on all parts of the image.
          d. The “After” text was added in two layers (yellow and black) and overlapped.

    Finally the “Before” and “After” images were placed side-by-side.

(Art work and text ©2002 C.J. Peiffer)

Products featuring "The Makeover" image can be found HERE.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS: #1 CREATIVE CROCHET

"Where Sky and Water Never Meet"

crochet and stitchery on unsized canvas

approx. 24" X 24"

This is the first of many posts that will feature the creative process for a particular piece of art or a group of works.  I will be explaining some or all of the following: how I conceived the idea, how I created the piece, how I decided on the title, and perhaps some other parts of the creative process, including how I resolved a problem. 

This post is in response to a prompt at

CREATIVE EVERY DAY

Click on the link to add your own response to the

challenge or to view those submitted by others

The Idea:  

        I had been creating fiber arts for many years. I worked on a 4-harness loom and created tapestries on a huge frame loom. I used batik, patchwork, stitchery, and macramé. Sometimes I even spun my own wool yarns and dyed them with natural dyes such as onion skins and lichens.

        At a fiber arts exhibit, I saw two great crocheted works. One was a sculpture of a bull dog made from stuffed crochet pieces. The other was a crochet box that had been "bronzed' the way parents used to have baby shoes electroplated. 

        When I was young, my grandmother, or maybe my mother, taught me how to crochet a lacy edge on a handkerchief, but that was as far as I had gone with crochet. However, it seemed like a medium that would be great for creating unique fiber pieces. 

        I took an evening crochet class to learn basic stitches. I followed some patterns just so I knew what I was doing, but I never used patterns thereafter. I created crocheted pieces to add to tapestries, unusual crocheted wall hangings, and unique clothing.

The Process:

        For "Where Sky and Water Never Meet" I stretched unsized, unbleached canvas on a frame.  On the back, I lightly drew a circle with pencil. Then, I started to make crocheted pieces from unbleached cotton thread. As I completed pieces, I stitched them onto the canvas, keeping them wavy, but somewhat horizontal and within the circle. I left a blank area purely for design purposes.  

        As I progressed, if an area seemed blank, I would create a new piece. Or if one area seemed to have a higher relief , I would create a piece to balance it.

        After I completed all the crocheted pieces, I made additional designs on the canvas within the circle with stitchery.

        At that time, I was "into" white or neutral colors. Everything on this piece was an unbleached white. I liked the effect of only the textures and shadows creating the design.  I placed the completed piece in a silver metal frame that fit over the canvas stretchers.

The Title:

        I had been teaching art for many years. Most of the time, I taught grades 6, 7, or 8. Some of the younger students were still drawing pictures of the outdoors with an inch or two of sky at the top of the paper and the ground on the bottom with an open space between. I often walked students to a window to point out that the sky appears to be touching the ground. If they were drawing a seascape, the sky would appear to touch the ocean.

        This piece was round, like the earth. The crocheted pieces reminded me of clouds and ocean waves.  The open space between the top and the bottom sections of crochet and stitchery reminded me of children's drawings, therefore I named it "Where Sky and Water Never Meet." 

The Problem:

        "Where Sky and Water Never Meet" was shuffled from exhibit to exhibit, stored in different rooms in my house, made a move to another house, and was left in a dusty attic for a while.  The natural white had become a dingy gray with dirty spots that I couldn't remove.

The Fix:

        I mixed some strong blue dye and painted it on the top of the canvas, allowing it to run toward the bottom. I then turned the canvas unside down and did the same on the bottom, allowing the dye to run toward the top. With the canvas flat, I brushed dye on the crocheted parts and more on the canvas, leaving some areas undyed. With multiple applications of the dye in some places, I was able to create several shades of blue. I chose blue because the title indicated sky and ocean. Thus, I was able to keep the title yet give the work a new look. 

        I had liked the effect of white on white, but the blue dye added a depth to the piece that wasn't there before. And it looked even better when I reinserted it into its silver frame.

"Where Sky and Water Never Meet"

crochet, stitchery, and dye on unsized canvas

approx. 24" X 24"

(art work, photos, and text ©2008, C.J. Peiffer)

Find Products featuring this image HERE.