Caldwell College book signing
I've always loved to draw ever since I was little. I would love to draw mermaids, unicorns and rainbows, always collecting greeting cards, stationary and stickers, using them as my inspiration, my fave sticker to collect was the Lisa Frank Sticker Line, I loved the name and the stickers themselves.
Collecting stickers, roller skating, leg warmers, hair clips, pom poms, Hello Kitty, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, Poochie, Smurfs, Rose Petal Place, Jem, plastic charms, unicorns, rainbows, Return to Oz, Record Players, Holly Hobby Ovens, Fraggle Rock, Beneton, The Outsiders, Growing Pains and Silver City Pink Lipstick all played a part in my childhood years and still do today.
My mom would take me to Toys in the Attic in Montclair to pick a toy or to my favorite stationary store in Upper Montclair for a journal or drawing papers. Then we would stop off at either Swenson's Ice Cream or Grunnings on the Hill. I'd come home and start drawing and writing, or work on my sticker albums, perhaps make some clothes for my dolls, set up my doll scene or watch tv, I was always occupied, and no one had a computer, we had Atari and TV, that's about it, so much of my childhood was spent learning crafts and using my hands.
Once I reached high school I saw art in a new way, learning to develop it into more of a fine art route through watercolor, oil painting and sculpting. I would paint landscape scenes, figural forms and serious fantasy. It wasn't until college that I started experimenting with collage and layering techniques, eventually falling back in love with pottery and sculpture.
After college I started loving the look of collage, mixed media forms and primitive techniques. Up until around 2006, I was more of a grungy girl, loved working in muted and dark, vintage colors, then I leaped into happier moods with bolds and rainbow color blends which can be seen in mixed form in my book: Altered Art Circus! After the books release I started tweaking my color palettes and have now gone back to that tutti frutti age where unicorns soared, Betti Boop became a mermaid, and where the sweetness I loved is called Kawaii, a time when dolls were dolls, all with adding a modern whim to it.
Lately I have been mixing my images by copying in them and adding them to scrapbook paper backgrounds with a canvas or wood base. Adding layers of additional coloring, paint, glitter, etc.
These illustrations are made with Strathmore watercolor paper, and my coffee/tea process, which can be found in my book: Altered Art Circus. I then heat the paper with a heat tool, then the painting begins.
These illustrations are done on bristol board with prismacolor pencils and markers!
This multi image piece was made ATC sized and illustrated into watercolor paper using pencil and watercolors!
I will blog again about how to use your illustrations and incorporate them into your mixed media works such as atc's, mixed media painting, etc.
Magic and Joy,
Lisa!
