Behind the Accent: Why we love GARF

There is a reason that despite the muggy Georgia heat, the rain, and in general moody mother nature, we continue to return each year to the Georgia Renaissance Festival ... and that reason is the people.

Visitors get only a glimpse at the sparkling personalities behind the costumes and characters that we present in order to provide people with a memorable experience that keeps them coming back each year. To be a Rennie, as we've been dubbed, takes a certain amount of fortitude to endure the elements in full costume and often smiling despite some inevitable annoyances that come with any job concerning the general public.

Many Rennies hold an assortment of jobs and degrees that they employ during the week. That fellow putting on your elf ears has a masters in Computer Science. That scotswoman is so good with children because she is a teacher during the week. And whether this is their full time job, like some of us merchants, or just something they do on the weekends, we roll out of bed Monday morning exhausted, but we'll be back for 8 weekends, because this is a work of passion.

Part of the passion comes from the people behind the scenes. Last week, the festival lost a patron, but one so well loved by the family that is the festival, there was a wake at a local Rennie haunt in his honor. This particular Rennie haunt is long suffering and patient with the throngs that frequent its interior and exterior after the gates close on a Saturday or Sunday night. But we gather there for the company as much as the food. So when they were short staffed they barely batted an eye, and were actually thankful when we ordered a pizza on the down low to eat.

While we were there, the granddaughter of the amazing man who passed away arrived at our local haunt. She looked like a princess in her sparkling shoes and flowing white dress, complete with a crown. Her obviously grieving mother explained how her daughter had missed school because of her Opa's death on Thursday so she was not allowed to go to the formal dance for which she was dressed to attend. That was when my friend Taylor (who hawks for my booth) stood up, took her hand, and asked her for a dance. Her eyes lit up and i have to say mine teared up a bit, as this handsome fellow of 23 spun this preteen princess, transforming a dark time with one shining gesture.

So when you see that person sweating in a thick wool cloak, in layers of clothing on a hot May Day at the Georgia Renaissance Festival, give them a smile, because really THAT's why most of us are there.

Marble Renaissance

When Pearl art store went out of business in Atlanta, I snagged the last marble I could get my hands on while there. After working with soap stone I felt a little more confident to tackle the classic carving stone that I had been wanting to undertake since I can remember.

My plan when I purchased the stone was to sculpt an angel to put on the grave of a very dear friend who passed. I miss statuary in graveyards, and one of his favorite works of mine was "Tears for the Lost".

Placing a table outside the booth where I would only subject myself to breathing in marble dust all day, I took hammer, chisel, and rasps to the stone. The hammer and chisel were new to me, though I had used a rasp on the soap stone. It felt natural though, and after two days of working from open to close on the stone at Renfest, the angel took shape, rendering these results.

Although it was time consuming work, the absence of color made it much easier to stop and talk to people coming by. I could not have done that while painting. However, now that I have gotten it home and am no longer limited to Renaissance means... I'm probably going to take a dremel tool to it!

Some observations about working in marble if you are considering it yourself. It's MUCH softer than I had first thought. With the exception of hitting a vein, it did not break off as easily as working with plaster. It was not quite like working with soap stone, but it was much easier than I anticipated. So if you are afraid of working with marble, don't be. There's a reason that artists preferred it!

Texture

Recently I finished "Beauty in Bloom" in which I used a texture technique that I've become quite fond of recently.

Forgive the quick pic taken by my Mac's Photobooth program. When the painting is dry, I'll have something better to show.

So the secret to the texture for "Beauty in Bloom" and several other of my recent images is gesso canvas primer. Gesso is generally used on masonite board and canvas to create a smoother art surface that is more receptive to oil paints. However, if you have a balled up paper towel or a sponge, it makes a great texturizer, even over a previous coat of paint. Let the gesso dry, or take a paper towel and twist in a circular motion while the gesso is drying to create a nice texture. With a thin wash of oils over the dry gesso texture, the paint gathers thicker in the crevices and appears lighter over the thicker gessoed areas. This creates a very organic feeling to the painting. If the lighter areas are not showing up properly, I will often take a paper towel and wipe it over the areas that I definitely want to be lighter. The gesso usually stays stained a little lighter and shows up better.

Long ago I experimented with texture in an older piece "Elf Portrait". The technique I used for this one was a bit different. I used white and black gesso paint, that I often use in watercolors. Mixing each with water in separate spray bottles, I spritzed it onto the painting letting it dry. Then would do a wash over it and spritz again. I really loved this effect, but not having a spray bottle always handy, the previous method seemed easier to accomplish.

Also if you forget to clean out those spray bottles *ahem* it clogs them up and makes them difficult to use again. Obviously I figured this out by experience.

If you love oils and need a way to shake up a portrait, these texture techniques will add a certain old world feel. Also the spray bottle (if done right) can make a nice starry sky.

New Year Oils in Progress

Two glorious days this week, I got to immerse myself in oil paints. As usual it always seems like I get more paint on me than the canvas. Two more pairs of jeans have been officially baptized into the world of art. Here are the in progress images of what I've been working on for your viewing pleasure...

One of the things that I do and why I have SO many unfinished paintings, is I rotate through paintings, working a layer on each one and then switching to the next and the next. This allows me to keep working while one is drying. It also prevents me from getting my hand in the paint and messing it up from dragging it across other wet areas, or getting bored and pushing it which usually ends up in a lower quality image.

The first painting is a portrait done from LockStock's Mucha reference pack. Lockstock is one of the amazingly generous stock photographers on Deviant Art who posts pictures for artists to use in their work. Learn more on her DA site at http://lockstock.deviantart.com/.

The next one, was a painting that I had been working on of Morgan le Fey. I was focusing on the sky at the time. Eventually the ground will be snow covered, and possibly the signs of battle will be evident around her.

Just in case you are curious, my daughter was not named after this particular Morgan, but she did inspire to keep going with this piece.

The next was a canvas that had been previously painted on, but as I was not happy with the original image, I took it and recycled it into this image.

It is inspired by my horse, Destiny, who died around this time last year. Although there is a little reference used on this image, it's probably a lot more free form, driven by the emotion of missing an animal that was closer to me than most people. Most of my adult life, she had shared with me. The figures are facing away from each other signifying the passing, but also, I used to hug her neck and lean on it. It always seemed like she hugged back by lowering her head, so in that respect it's just another expression of my love for her and how much I miss her...

This next image is a portrait of my dear friend Stacy, and is an experiment in texture. Using gesso and oils to create a tactile experience to the image, I wanted to express the rich nature of the image that I was going from.

First I did a layer with gesso canvas primer, blotting it on with a paper towel. Next a layer of oils was painted over the gesso and blotted to have the gesso show through. As this is an experiment, I'm not entirely sure how it's going to turn out. I'll be sure to post more pictures so you can see the results.

More pictures of the beautiful Stacy are available for other artists to use at my stock site http://linzstock.deviantart.com as well as many other images of other wonderful models available for use.

The last two are different ends of the spectrum of finished. The knight is nearing completion while the one on the right has just begun. The knight is painted from model Thomas Willeford who also posed as Thor for me. The woman on the right will be the norse goddess Freya. She still needs her feathered cloak.

Often I start off most oils in this fashion. It starts with a pencil drawing then rendered in black and white with black gesso paint / acrylic and then painted over with the more opaque oils. It helps the under layer to shine through as a guide.

2010

This new year, I spent ringing in while drawing. So I hope that is a good sign for 2010. No mystery that I've been frustrated by the lack of creative time since becoming a mother, but I'm hoping that soon once I kick the Christmas crud out of my system, I'll be burning the midnight oil on some more creative endeavors.

The easiest medium to clean up, pick up, and put down if need be, has been colored pencils. Although it lacks that velvet touch that I so love with oils, or the texture of watercolors, I'll just have to make due.

In this case, while rearranging the studio I found lots of things that grew legs over the years. The stack of unfinished art is still intimidating, but the oils will have to wait. I found this watercolor from 2003 that was yet unfinished, and decided to give it an upgrade with color pencils. Obviously it is far from finished, but hopefully I'll be able to put something out soon, and won't feel so frustrated by the lack of new art.

Among the great finds was the long lost sketch book with my Ik pics. I'm excited to be able to be able to finish those off. If you liked Snuzzles and Drat, then you will be pleased with these. They exude all manner of cuteness.

I am on a mission to finish all my old pieces before starting anything new, which is driving me nuts as I have one oil painting wanting to virtually explode out of me, but it will have to wait. Maybe it will just encourage me to work faster.

The other thing I found was a stack of discontinued prints, that I am matting for sale at the GA Renfest. The show schedule is a little up in the air, but I don't have to pass jury for Dragon Con after winning an award, and I am pretty well locked into GA Renfest from here till Doomsday.