Jana Bouc, Artist

2007 Art Plan: Balance

Watercolor on Arches paper, 8 x 10.5″
(To enlarge, click image, select All Sizes)

Since I posted my 2006 art accomplishments I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my art plan for 2007. In December I decided my goal would be to have a one-woman show by the end of 2007. But within a couple weeks of saying that, I already had one scheduled for March so I had to come up with something else. I thought about my art plan during a long day and night of matting and framing my paintings from ’06 (including the one above that began as a watercolor class demonstration of painting glass).

While doing nothing but art business the past two days, I kept thinking that all I really want to do is paint, draw, explore, play, investigate, dream, learn, experiment, write about art on my blog, read art books, look at pictures, hang out in my studio, visit other artists’ blogs and share the fruits (and challenges) of being an artist.

It reminded me how important balance is. Not enough and you fall over, too much and things are boring and static. So… my art plan for 2007 is:

Continue my explorations, follow my inspirations, investigate, learn, and play all while maintaining enough balance to take good care of myself and the people I love. That means doing enough art business but not so much that it intereferes with doing art. My plans will evolve as the year does. I don’t need to turn my art into a job with rules and deadlines and schedules and business plans. I already have a day job for that.

Art is the center of my life, the thing that brings me joy and meaning (and struggle and challenge), the reason I’m alive, the question that can only be answered with another question, and another. It’s more fun than just about anything else I can think of (or at least anything that can be done for hours at a time). I can’t wait to get started!

Life in general People Watercolor

Reflecting on 2006

Watercolor on Arches paper, 11×8
(To enlarge, click image, select All Sizes)

I like to spend New Years Eve quietly reflecting on the past year and the new one. This year Michael’s home sick and I’m spending the evening more quietly than usual, alone in the studio thinking about life and art. I decided to make a self-portrait and will plan to do that each New Year. As I get older, it is both fascinating and disconcerting to see the changes gravity and age are leaving on my face.

I took a few photos holding the camera at arms length and then picked this one to paint from. After doing a freehand drawing, painting it, wrecking the painting, and not having enough time left in the evening to start over from scratch, I must admit I used a lightbox to trace the basic shapes for the painting above.

In her post, Celebrate Your Progress in 2006, on her blog Making a Mark, Katherine Tyrrell posted a list of topics for artists to write about. I decided to take the challenge and write about my art accomplishments in 2006:

Blogging: In May 2006 I discovered the wonderful, world-wide community of artist bloggers and started my own blog. In August 2006 a reporter from the Oakland Tribune interviewed me about my blog and the article appeared on the front page of the paper. My blog was also featured on Best Blog on WordPress and Moleskinerie. Some stats: I’ve made 205 posts, received 2,004 generous comments with nearly 47,000 total views. The most views on any one day was 498; the average is between 250-350 a day.

Numbers of art works completed: More than 300 paintings, drawings, sketches, monoprints, and digital illustrations.

Study/Learning:
Drawing: As a result of daily drawing, I’ve seen my ability improve tremendously. I used to draw and paint only from photos that I composed and enlarged in Photoshop and then traced onto watercolor paper. Now I draw most things freehand.
Classes: I’ve taken one weekend painting workshop, signed up for a painting trip to Mexico in February 2007 with watercolor teacher Judy Morris.
Study: I’ve read piles and piles of books on art, design, drawing, painting, digital art, and art history. New Media/Technique: I began doing plein air painting in Summer 2006 and learning about landscape painting. In the past couple months I’ve been exploring monoprinting and other print-making techniques and began studying oil painting. I also purchased and began to use Painter to do digital drawing and painting illustrations.

Art business (always a challenge — I’d rather paint):
Teaching: I’ve had the privilege to teach several sessions of watercolor classes to some very inspiring and talented artists from whom I learned at least as much I taught.
Sales: A buyer in another state found my website via a link to it from the California Watercolor Association’s website and made a major purchase of one of my favorite paintings.
Shows: I was selected for a one-woman show that will be hung in March of 2007. I had slides made and submitted them to the CWA National Show but otherwise have not been focusing on showing in 2006.
Prints: I’ve worked with a local studio to make professional scans and giclee prints of my work.
Framing: I am currently in the process of framing 8 watercolor paintings.

So those are the accomplishments. I’ll write about the challenges tomorrow as part of my Art Plan for 2007.

Tags People

Cartoon art Dreams Life in general People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Stage Fright (Dream)

Ink & Watercolor in Aquabee 9×12 sketchbook
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I woke this morning at the apex of a terrible anxiety dream…but with a slightly different take than usual. First I should say that I have terrible stage fright and cannot sing to save my life. My family used to slam doors shut and turn on the radio to avoid hearing my awful singing along with my pretty bad guitar playing when I was a teen and it never really improved.

I’ve had this dream many times, where I find myself on stage, about to sing or play guitar or both, and realize I’m completely unprepared. In last night’s dream I’d been selected to perform as “Jana and the BlackAttack” and was supposed to be leading some sort of soul/hip-hop group at a very prestigious and large theatre. I was calm and relaxed about the whole thing, trusting that the event organizers knew what they were doing in selecting me. I took a seat in the theatre, watching the opening acts. Then it was time for me to go on stage and the MC was stalling and worried since I hadn’t yet appeared backstage. I walked out onstage, noticing there was a steaming pot of potato-leek soup available for performers and stage hands. I picked up the mike and then…

I realized I didn’t know what songs I was singing, what the tunes or words were, where my band was….basically I realized I was ME. I didn’t want to let the organizer down or ruin my reputation by walking away. Then I realized I had no reputation to lose: I’m not a singer, I’m an artist and I woke up, heart pounding.

Gee, do you think I might be having a little performance anxiety about my painting…(I was struggling with oil painting before I went to bed) or even more likely, about the one-woman show of my watercolors in March that will be held in the lobby cafe of a newly restored art deco THEATRE?!!!! I thought I wasn’t worried about the show but the sleeping mind never lies….or does it?

Tags Pen and Ink, People

Other Art Blogs I Read People Sketchbook Pages

The Impressionists – Great DVD!

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 27, 2006
12 Comments on The Impressionists – Great DVD!

Ink line and wash in Moleskine large watercolor notebook
(To enlarge, click image, select All Sizes)

While I was out doing errands today I stopped at Silver Screen, my local video shop, and found this wonderful, new BBC mini-series, The Impressionists, about Monet (and Manet, Renoir, Degas, Bazille and others). The story ties right in to the biography of Matisse I’m (still) reading (interspersed with several other books) and am now inspired to finish it.

The visuals in the movie are fabulous. One sees the images, places, and light that inspired the paintings and then sees the paintings being painted and finished. Monet as an old man in 1920 is telling the story of the Impressionists and his life as an artist to a journalist. Through flashbacks we see the stories take place, acted by the most divinely beautiful young men and women.

The scene I sketched above is at the point where the not-yet-named Impressionists decide to hold their own show because none of them can get their paintings accepted into the official, state-sponsored “salon”– just about the only venue for sales of paintings and they’re all desperately poor.

Here’s the DVD cover:

I’m so tired tonight from from three nights of semi-insomnia that I didn’t think I’d do any drawing. But while I didn’t want to stop the film, I got so inspired watching it I had to stop and draw and paint something! Tomorrow’s my last day of work for the week and then I have another 5-day weekend so hopefully my ability to sleep and hence my energy will return.

Tags Pen and Ink, People

Monoprint Watercolor

From Sea Turtle to Swan

Monotype 2: Swan. Ink & watercolor on Arches 88 printmaking paper
(To enlarge, click images, select “All Sizes”)

Monotype 2: Sea Turtle, Ink on Arches 88
(Same monotype as above but in original orientation and scanned before painting)

Monotype 1 – Massage Dream. Ink & watercolor on Arches 88
(Click to enlarge)

I was working without too much of a plan for these monotypes. I started with the image directly above (Monotype 1) with an idea from a dream I had about a massage. I rolled the ink onto a plexiglass plate, removed it in places, and then printed onto paper. Then I started over with Monotype 2 with no image in mind, just making marks, until a swimming sea turtle appeared, which soon had long flowing hair. (No I wasn’t high, just being playful, not attached to the outcome. It was sort of like watching clouds float by, seeing shapes appear in the clouds.)

Today the prints were dry so I added watercolor, using the same playful, “see what happens” attitude. I’d never painted on Arches 88 printing paper before and it was really interesting. The smooth, unsized paper immediately absorbs the paint — there’s no moving it, blotting it or changing it, except to add more color. I painted #1 (the massage picture) first and was thrilled with the colors that appeared and how it seemed to turn into an underwater scene. When I prepared to paint #2, I turned the paper around a few times to see which direction worked best. Turned 180 degrees I saw a swan-like creature so that’s what I painted.

A note on printing ink. I’ve been testing printing inks to determine which I like best for “reductive” monotypes. I used Graphic Chemicals Bone Black Etching Ink for these, and liked it a lot. It’s easy to apply and wipe off, and prints a rich, dark black. I also experimented with Daniel Smith oil-based relief ink and a sample that Gamblin sent me of their Portland Black oil-based ink. The prints I made with those inks are still wet so I can’t scan them yet. The Daniel Smith was the stickiest and hardest to wipe (though it can be thinned with burnt plate oil to make it easier to work with) and the Gamblin ink was somewhere inbetween the GC and DS. So far I like the Graphic Chemical ink best.

Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Peace on Earth

Watercolor in Moleskine watercolor notebook (plus a little salt)
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For most people, today was all about celebrating Christmas. For me it was a luxuriously quiet and spacious day. I did this little painting of a glass dove candle holder that my mother gave me as a first year anniversary present many years ago. I didn’t like it at the time as I felt it had too many pointy edges, though I don’t understand that thought now.

A crystal dove, the symbol of peace seemed a good subject for Christmas day. Spending the afternoon at my drawing table, sipping a cup of sweet pomegranite-flavored green tea while listening to a good book and painting as the sky darkened and the candle glowed was very peaceful.

As the days begin to lengthen, I wish you, and all the world, Peace.

Colored pencil art Monoprint Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages

Monotype – Larkspur Landing

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date December 22, 2006
11 Comments on Monotype – Larkspur Landing

Monotype and colored pencil on Arches 88 paper 6″x8″
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

This is the second monotype I made of this scene from this sketch. Monotypes are one of a kind, so if you goof it up, you start over from scratch. With this kind of “reductive” monotype, you spread the ink on the plate (a piece of plexiglass) and then using Q-tips, rags, pointy things, and/or fingers, you wipe away the ink in the places that you want to be white or where you want to apply color later. It’s sort of like carving a woodblock or linoleum block except that instead of ending up with an image you can print repeatedly, once you press the paper on the ink to make a print, you have nothing left.

The first monotype I made of the scene printed too lightly and when I tried to press it again (by hand using a flat disk called a baren), the plate slipped. So all my work creating the image was lost because it made an off-register double image that was still too light (see below). So I wiped all the ink of the plate, reapplied it, and starting over, removing the ink to create the image above. When it was theoretically dry I applied colored pencils.

It’s double-vision image is sort of interesting, so I might still play with it a bit, adding some color and seeing what happens. The thing I love about monotype is that forces you to let go of control and play and experiment.

A note about inks: I used water-based Akua Intaglio ink on these, and though I like the way the one at the top turned out after being colored, I didn’t like this ink. It continues to smear and is still water-soluable weeks after it was printed. I’ve found that oil-based inks are much nicer to work with, make a darker image, don’t dissolve if you add watercolor and dry more quickly than this ink. To my surprise, they clean up with a little vegetable oil and some soap — no need for solvents.

Sketchbook Pages Subway drawings

Subway Drawings (BART)

I first sat behind her and was sure she was holding a can of Budweiser. It seemed so sad at 8:30 a.m. I couldn’t stop thinking about her sad life, dressed in business attire and having to drink a can of beer on her way to work so I moved to a seat to the right and slightly behind her. When I looked again, I discovered it was a can of Slimfast, not beer. She spent more time staring at the can than drinking it. I tried that stuff once and it was like drinking liquid cake batter (ewww!). I just noticed I entered the date in my sketchbook as 9/20/06 but it was really 12/20/06. Wishful thinking?

Micron Pigma pen in small Moleskine sketchbook
(To enlarge, click images, select “All Sizes”)

This position is becoming increasingly familiar as I draw on BART — people playing games on their cell phones while listening to their iPods. I was so tired coming home tonight I didn’t even want to read or draw, just wanted to close my eyes, but then I saw this guy and had to draw him. I got the date wrong again when I entered it in my sketchbook — this time I wrote 10/21/06 and then corrected it to 12/21/06. I seem to be having trouble dealing with December!

Tags Pen and Ink, Subway drawings

Dreams Outdoors/Landscape People Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Watery dream

Ink & watercolor in HandBook Co square sketchbook
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For years I used to get up every morning and sketch my dreams before I did anything else. I have volumes of dream journals full of weird, amusing or x-rated drawings, depending on what the night had in store for me. I often painted the images too. I’m not sure when or why I stopped but I recently discovered an artist who works primarily from her dreams in monotype, Denise Kester, and got inspired to explore my dreams again.

My dreams are often humorous (to me anyway, but then I’m easily amused) or insightful — sometimes I wake up having invented something important and funny, as I illustrated here (one of my very favorite posts) or just quirky, like this one.

In the quickly sketched image above from last night, I dreamt that Sharon and I were canooeing down a pretty river when I realized that we had sunk up to our necks and that I was still wearing my fanny pack containing all my electronic gadgets (cell phone, digital camera, PDA) and they were all ruined. There was more about trying to put on ill-fitting overalls after nude sunbathing but I always hate it in novels when writers go on and on about a character’s dreams so I won’t bore you further with this one.

One last thing, this image of a river with tall banks is the same one I tried to make when I was 10 and convinced my father to let me paint with his oil paints. Unfortunately he gave me a piece of waxy palette paper to paint on and I remember it being so terribly frustrating to not be able to capture the image or anything at all, really, on that horrid paper. It kept me from trying to paint again for another 20 years.

Tags Pen and Ink, People

Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Cold morning

Watercolor, then Micron Pigma Brush Pen in Moleskine large watercolor notebook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I did this quick little painting this morning of the view out my living room window (more than slightly imaginated) (imaginate is my word for imagine and exaggerate). Even with the color in the sky, everything looked so cold, with frost on all the rooftops.

I’m counting this as yesterday’s post because last night my painting group got together for a little holiday celebration pizza dinner and I had some wine (which I usually don’t and so it tends to make me quickly tipsy) and even though we all sat around eating and talking and I could have been sketching them, it didn’t occur to me until just before everyone went home. I kept thinking we were going to get back to our original plan of taking a group photo, quickly printing and handing it out, and each of us spending an hour drawing/painting from the same photo and then seeing how different all of our paintings were. But with two pizzas, two bottles of wine, a yummy salad and lots to talk about….it just never happened.

Tags Pen and Ink