So many things I want to write about, and so little time!! Hopefully I'll be able to come back to writing next week.
In the meantime, know that I haven't forgot about you. I've been very busy finishing up artworks, submitting works into juried exhibitions, teaching, and preparing to receive Texas artists, Michelle Belto in my studio for her workshop this weekend!! You can read about the one I took with her in Dallas last year here. Just know that I'll write about the whole experience and will post pictures soon!
Stay tuned!!
28.3.12
My Monthly e-Newsletter for April 2012
My April Art Newsletter is out...you can read it following the link below:
April Art News from Corina S. Alvarezdelugo
Want to have the next issue delivered directly to your Inbox? Just click on the "Join Our Mailing list" label, at the bottom left margin in the newsletter. Already on my emailing list? I invite you to please UPDATE YOUR PROFILE by clicking on the link at the Join my Mailing List button. Please, sign up for one or more of the lists I offer, as I'm trying to organize my mailings according to interests. You can also unsubscribe at any time if you no longer wish to receive my communications. I only ask that you take a minute to let me know what I'm doing wrong, so I can make it better in the future. Thank you!!
If you have enjoyed this newsletter, I encourage you to share it with anyone and everyone. I'm trying to build a bigger audience for my work and art classes, and can only succeed with the help of friends like you. Thank you!
Enjoy!
April Art News from Corina S. Alvarezdelugo
Want to have the next issue delivered directly to your Inbox? Just click on the "Join Our Mailing list" label, at the bottom left margin in the newsletter. Already on my emailing list? I invite you to please UPDATE YOUR PROFILE by clicking on the link at the Join my Mailing List button. Please, sign up for one or more of the lists I offer, as I'm trying to organize my mailings according to interests. You can also unsubscribe at any time if you no longer wish to receive my communications. I only ask that you take a minute to let me know what I'm doing wrong, so I can make it better in the future. Thank you!!
If you have enjoyed this newsletter, I encourage you to share it with anyone and everyone. I'm trying to build a bigger audience for my work and art classes, and can only succeed with the help of friends like you. Thank you!
Enjoy!
23.3.12
How well do you see color?
When I went to design school, a way back, I took a Color class, the old fashion way, that is. In the sense that I had to mix my own colors by hand -not on Photoshop- starting from the primary colors. So I thought, that's easy, those colors that cannot be made from other colors (primary) are blue, red and yellow, right? As it turned out that was not completely true.
There are Additive Primary Colors of light, that when mixed together produce white, which are red, green and blue.
..and the Subtractive Primary Colors: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow, that when mixed in equal parts, as all the light is subtracted, they make black. Subtractive color mixing is more complex than the additive color mixing you get with colored spotlights (as seen in the image above).
This was only the beginning of an enlightening class for me, as I learned to actually SEE color, by mixing the subtractive primaries: Cyan, Magenta and Yellow in different proportions, using eyedroppers to control the amount of pigment in each mixture.
We also combined the resulted colors with black, or white or with the gray scale (by mixing white and black in different proportions to go from white to black). And learned that, when colors are combined with white or black we create tints (lighter tones) and shades (darker hues) of these colors.
This tedious exercises of mixing colors, over and over again, drop by drop, sharpened the way I see colors now. It actually made me aware of the colors within a color. So I really recommend this kind of exercises if you're an artists, painter, designer, or decorator... Take some time to learn to see color, and the best way is by practicing mixing colors together by hand and experience for yourself the changes in a color when adding a few drops of another color and so forth.
Just recently, one of my good friends had a bunch of paint color swatches and challenged me to work with them for the fun of it. I immediately jumped to the opportunity. I picked three swatches with different shades of grays. One was black and white with a hint of blue, the other one had a hint of green and the third one had a hint of red. My friend suggested to create curvy lines overlapping each other on a piece of paper. The challenge was to try to mimic the colors picked from the swatches, as each one should have a different color value.
I worked with Acrylic paint on paper, and my palette included Payne's Grey, Mars Black, Ivory Black, Titanium White, Hookers Green and Cadmium Red Hue.
... but still looked too flat to me, so I detached the dried paint from my palette carefully and glued it to areas of the painting. This gave it the effect of actually having splashed some of the paint on top of the painting, giving it a 3-D effect.
What I like about this process is that there, in the palette, are all of the shades as I was mixing the colors together, mimicking the mesh like design. So it adds an extra layer to capture the eye of the viewer.
I really enjoyed going back to color basics with this exercise, and I'm sure you will too! So try it and share with me your results...
In the meantime, I invite you to take this fun and interesting ONLINE COLOR CHALLENGE. Enjoy!
There are Additive Primary Colors of light, that when mixed together produce white, which are red, green and blue.
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| Additive Primary Colors |
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| Subtractive Primary Colors |
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| One of the many color exercises I did during the Color class |
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| Grey Scale |
~~~*~~~
Just recently, one of my good friends had a bunch of paint color swatches and challenged me to work with them for the fun of it. I immediately jumped to the opportunity. I picked three swatches with different shades of grays. One was black and white with a hint of blue, the other one had a hint of green and the third one had a hint of red. My friend suggested to create curvy lines overlapping each other on a piece of paper. The challenge was to try to mimic the colors picked from the swatches, as each one should have a different color value.
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| Here are the three swatches I chose (I checked the values I used for you to see) |
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| My working table. I made zen-doodle like lines with spirals inside. |
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| Finished painting my greys. |
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| Added a contrasting color to the background using the Cadmium Red Hue, that was also used in some of my gray hues... and of course my circles had to show up too, so I glued a few swatches circles here and there! |
The final product resulted too flat for me, so I then went ahead and shaded the lines to add dimension to the painting by using graphite, charcoal, and a Stabilo's Aquarellable pencil in black (got a love those pencils)
 |
| A little bit of water and voila! |
What I like about this process is that there, in the palette, are all of the shades as I was mixing the colors together, mimicking the mesh like design. So it adds an extra layer to capture the eye of the viewer.
To finish it up, I glued the painting to foam core and overlapped it to another piece of foam core that I had previously cover with grey-wash pages from an old encyclopedia.
 | ||
| IT'S COMPLICATED! 15.5 x 19.5 inches mixed media on paper (c) Corina S. Alvarezdelugo |
In the meantime, I invite you to take this fun and interesting ONLINE COLOR CHALLENGE. Enjoy!
14.3.12
The 1st One-Day Encaustic Intensive Workshop at my new studio was great!
Last Saturday, I gave my first encaustic workshop in my new studio space, and it was great!!! I feel so blessed to be able to offer classes now and pass along a lifetime of accumulated knowledge in the arts field. This new space lends itself very well to all sorts of media experimentation and art creation, as I'm able to move the furniture around according to the media and/or technique I'm teaching. A dream come true, not only for me, but for the people that come to learn and enjoy this wonderful creative space.
In this way, my first students had a blast along with me!! It was an introduction to Encaustic Painting, VERSATILITY IN WAX. In this hands-on intensive workshop, they got the chance to explore the luminous beauty and versatility of encaustic art - painting with molten, pigmented beeswax. They learned the basics of this ancient technique that has evolved into one of the most versatile mediums available for artists today, offering many exciting and creative possibilities!
I taught my students about the basic materials and formulas used in encaustic, and we discussed safety procedures, supports, and grounds, along with a variety of tools and techniques for fusing. As well as demonstrations for glazing, transparencies, building up of texture, layering and scraping/scribing, alongside image transfer and how to embed collage elements. As shown in the pictures below...
And here's what my students did...
The end results...
Thanks to Cheilaugh Harvey for taking most of the pictures above!
I started a second intensive workshop this week that I have divided into two mornings, and here's what my students have done so far...
In this way, my first students had a blast along with me!! It was an introduction to Encaustic Painting, VERSATILITY IN WAX. In this hands-on intensive workshop, they got the chance to explore the luminous beauty and versatility of encaustic art - painting with molten, pigmented beeswax. They learned the basics of this ancient technique that has evolved into one of the most versatile mediums available for artists today, offering many exciting and creative possibilities!
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| Melting the encaustic paint |
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| Different torches, good for fusing along with the heat gun |
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| Mixed media materials, stamps, stencils and more.. |
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| The resources |
I taught my students about the basic materials and formulas used in encaustic, and we discussed safety procedures, supports, and grounds, along with a variety of tools and techniques for fusing. As well as demonstrations for glazing, transparencies, building up of texture, layering and scraping/scribing, alongside image transfer and how to embed collage elements. As shown in the pictures below...
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| Fusing with the heat gun. |
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| Demonstrating different techniques on how to incise and scrape the surface |
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| Transferring images into the wax |
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| Applying other media in this case, Pan Pastels |
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| Fusing powdered charcoal (Demo) |
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| My "Demos" |
And here's what my students did...
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| Layering |
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| Fusing the layers |
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| Layering |
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| Masking, scraping... |
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| Transferring images |
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| Pan pastels |
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| Using Mixed Media techniques with encaustic |
The end results...
 |
Thanks to Cheilaugh Harvey for taking most of the pictures above!
I started a second intensive workshop this week that I have divided into two mornings, and here's what my students have done so far...
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| And the fun begins... |
 |
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| Some of their works! |
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| The proud artist with her textural work! |
9.3.12
My Monthly e-Newsletter for March 2012
My March Art Newsletter is out...you can read it following the link below:
March Art News from Corina S. Alvarezdelugo
Want to have the next issue delivered directly to your Inbox? Just click on the "Join Our Mailing list" label, at the bottom left margin in the newsletter. Already on my emailing list? I invite you to please UPDATE YOUR PROFILE by clicking on the link at the Join my Mailing List button. Please, sign up for one or more of the lists I offer, as I'm trying to spread my mailings according to interests. You can also unsubscribe at any time if you no longer wish to receive my communications. I only ask that you take a minute to let me know what I'm doing wrong, so I can make it better in the future. Thank you!!
If you have enjoyed this newsletter, I encourage you to share it with anyone and everyone. I'm trying to build a bigger audience for my work and art classes and can only succeed with the help of friends like you. Thank you!
Enjoy!
March Art News from Corina S. Alvarezdelugo
Want to have the next issue delivered directly to your Inbox? Just click on the "Join Our Mailing list" label, at the bottom left margin in the newsletter. Already on my emailing list? I invite you to please UPDATE YOUR PROFILE by clicking on the link at the Join my Mailing List button. Please, sign up for one or more of the lists I offer, as I'm trying to spread my mailings according to interests. You can also unsubscribe at any time if you no longer wish to receive my communications. I only ask that you take a minute to let me know what I'm doing wrong, so I can make it better in the future. Thank you!!
If you have enjoyed this newsletter, I encourage you to share it with anyone and everyone. I'm trying to build a bigger audience for my work and art classes and can only succeed with the help of friends like you. Thank you!
Enjoy!
17.2.12
Facebook Fan Page First Giveaway, a great success!
On February 6th, after emailing everyone on my FB friends list, I posted on my Facebook page wall that I needed to reach 200 likes on it. I asked them to please spread the word and share it on their wall/ with friends. I also told them that once I reached 200 I will do a lottery to give away one of my original Pen and Ink Zentangle(R) inspired drawings.
Well, it was like a roller coaster!! Within hours of starting the promotion I got the 200 LIKEs I was asking for and it has now surpassed the 200 mark. What a thrill!!!
So, I went ahead to make the raffle. My friend suggested it was very easy, just put all the people who like your page on a spreadsheet and run a Macros program... I said, a Macros what? To which she replied: It's an IT program that you can code within MS Excel. Oh no!!! This sounds like another language to me!!! Somebody help me!!! What have I gotten into...? So I thought, I better stick to what I know, I mean the old fashion way of course... I printed out the first 200 names from my FB page, cut them out and placed them inside a bowl. Then I asked an innocent hand to pick one...
... and the lucky winner is............. Valentina Toledo
She won my original, Zentangle(R) inspired drawing on a card, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches (Blank inside, includes envelope in case you want to give it away or just frame it if you rather keep it)...
Thank you all who LIKEd my Facebook page. I really appreciate it. I also want to thank in a special way two of my wonderful friends that went the extra mile by promoting my Giveaway on their Facebook walls. They are Ellen Walsh Swercewski (http://terribrodeurbreastcancerfoundation.org/) and the amazing Ann Nyberg (http://www.NetworkConnecticut.com). They give back so much to the community, please check out their links to learn more about what they do...
So, Ellen and Ann, to thank you both I specially created two Zentangle(R) inspired little drawings (ACEOs) an they're already in the mail going your way! Love you both!!!
These are the two ACEOs I created for them, though they are going to have to wait to get it in the mail to know who got which!!! Sorry about that ;)
*ACEOs are highly collectible art cards (ACEO: Art Cards, Editions and Originals). They measure 2.5" x 3.5", which means you can fit them in baseball/trading card sleeves to create a gorgeous book full of art from around the world. Or of course you can always frame an ACEO. To learn more about ACEOs (ATC) please go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards
And the fun continues...
Since this first giveaway was such a success, I have decided to continue running this raffles every time I get 50 more LIKEs on my Facebook page, and I'll be doubling-up my fans chances of winning as well. In this way, whoever promotes my page on their FB wall or on Twitter, or in LinkedIn, or anywhere else, their name will be added to the bowl, as many times as they promote my page. So make sure to let me know every time you do that.
Remember, to let your friends know that to like my Facebook page, they just need to go to Corina.- (Corinadotdash) and click on the "LIKE" button on the top of the page. Thank you so much for your support. I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't for you!
NOTE: Please, when promoting on Twitter add @corinadotdash to your twit so I can add your name to the bowl!
Well, it was like a roller coaster!! Within hours of starting the promotion I got the 200 LIKEs I was asking for and it has now surpassed the 200 mark. What a thrill!!!
So, I went ahead to make the raffle. My friend suggested it was very easy, just put all the people who like your page on a spreadsheet and run a Macros program... I said, a Macros what? To which she replied: It's an IT program that you can code within MS Excel. Oh no!!! This sounds like another language to me!!! Somebody help me!!! What have I gotten into...? So I thought, I better stick to what I know, I mean the old fashion way of course... I printed out the first 200 names from my FB page, cut them out and placed them inside a bowl. Then I asked an innocent hand to pick one...
... and the lucky winner is............. Valentina Toledo
She won my original, Zentangle(R) inspired drawing on a card, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches (Blank inside, includes envelope in case you want to give it away or just frame it if you rather keep it)...
Thank you all who LIKEd my Facebook page. I really appreciate it. I also want to thank in a special way two of my wonderful friends that went the extra mile by promoting my Giveaway on their Facebook walls. They are Ellen Walsh Swercewski (http://terribrodeurbreastcancerfoundation.org/) and the amazing Ann Nyberg (http://www.NetworkConnecticut.com). They give back so much to the community, please check out their links to learn more about what they do...
So, Ellen and Ann, to thank you both I specially created two Zentangle(R) inspired little drawings (ACEOs) an they're already in the mail going your way! Love you both!!!
These are the two ACEOs I created for them, though they are going to have to wait to get it in the mail to know who got which!!! Sorry about that ;)
And the fun continues...
Since this first giveaway was such a success, I have decided to continue running this raffles every time I get 50 more LIKEs on my Facebook page, and I'll be doubling-up my fans chances of winning as well. In this way, whoever promotes my page on their FB wall or on Twitter, or in LinkedIn, or anywhere else, their name will be added to the bowl, as many times as they promote my page. So make sure to let me know every time you do that.
Remember, to let your friends know that to like my Facebook page, they just need to go to Corina.- (Corinadotdash) and click on the "LIKE" button on the top of the page. Thank you so much for your support. I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't for you!
NOTE: Please, when promoting on Twitter add @corinadotdash to your twit so I can add your name to the bowl!
8.2.12
Keeping up to date information despite technical difficulties.
In today's date and age, it is very important for us artists to keep our information up to date on the web, and our websites are our best ally.
Let me explain, art collectors, galleries, curators may like the work you have at a show, art fair, etc; however they might want to see more. People that are serious about art want to make sure the artist is worth their attention before they go any further. So they'll turn to your website to see what else you have in store, so we better have something good to show, because if they like what they see, they'll want to contact you and even schedule a visit to your studio. This could turn into a potential sale, exhibition opportunity or even a gallery representation. Therefore, our websites are well worth our attention.
Now, knowing all these I realized I haven't been able to update my website since February of 2011, and this is especially mortifying since my current mixed media artworks are not portrayed in it. You see, last year my old computer died and I had to get a new one, all this happening while other issues where going on in my life. So, to make a long story short, I cannot find my Dreamweaver and I would hate to have to buy a new one. Not only because a newer version would mean that I have to learn it all over again and don't really have that extra time right now, but also because I can't really afford the expense at this time.
This really got me thinking, what can I do in the meantime to keep my "cyber presence" up to date? Hmm ...what's the next best thing after our websites? It's got to be our blogs, don't you agree?
So meanwhile, to deal with my current technical difficulties and to keep you informed. I have revamped my blog to make it more professional looking, and I will be posting my newer artworks and recent information about me and/or my work herein. At least until my website issues get resolved. I really hope you can enjoy my works here as much as you have enjoyed them on my website. Just browse through the tabs above and enjoy!
**I'll be uploading images of my works starting tonight, so stop by often to check the tabs above as there will be new images everyday or so.
You also, may want to read here for my 2011 overview post. There's lots of information there about art shows I participated in last year and more.
NOTE: You can still visit my website at http://www.corinadotdash.com for information about me and my work until February 2011. Just remember it's not current.
Let me explain, art collectors, galleries, curators may like the work you have at a show, art fair, etc; however they might want to see more. People that are serious about art want to make sure the artist is worth their attention before they go any further. So they'll turn to your website to see what else you have in store, so we better have something good to show, because if they like what they see, they'll want to contact you and even schedule a visit to your studio. This could turn into a potential sale, exhibition opportunity or even a gallery representation. Therefore, our websites are well worth our attention.
Now, knowing all these I realized I haven't been able to update my website since February of 2011, and this is especially mortifying since my current mixed media artworks are not portrayed in it. You see, last year my old computer died and I had to get a new one, all this happening while other issues where going on in my life. So, to make a long story short, I cannot find my Dreamweaver and I would hate to have to buy a new one. Not only because a newer version would mean that I have to learn it all over again and don't really have that extra time right now, but also because I can't really afford the expense at this time.
 |
| My obsolete website... |
This really got me thinking, what can I do in the meantime to keep my "cyber presence" up to date? Hmm ...what's the next best thing after our websites? It's got to be our blogs, don't you agree?
So meanwhile, to deal with my current technical difficulties and to keep you informed. I have revamped my blog to make it more professional looking, and I will be posting my newer artworks and recent information about me and/or my work herein. At least until my website issues get resolved. I really hope you can enjoy my works here as much as you have enjoyed them on my website. Just browse through the tabs above and enjoy!
**I'll be uploading images of my works starting tonight, so stop by often to check the tabs above as there will be new images everyday or so.
You also, may want to read here for my 2011 overview post. There's lots of information there about art shows I participated in last year and more.
NOTE: You can still visit my website at http://www.corinadotdash.com for information about me and my work until February 2011. Just remember it's not current.
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