DIY Art Drying Rack Cart

I built this drying rack on wheels to store my Grafix Incredible Art Foam Boards. I stretch my watercolor paper on these boards to prevent warping, which happens when the paper gets wet. The fibers on a sheet of wet paper contract unevenly while drying. Stapling and taping the watercolor paper to the board keeps it flat. The uneven surface of an unstretched paper causes the new layers of paint to pool and puddle in the low spots, and the bumps show up as shadows on the scan. https://www.aliciaschwab.com/illustration

I replaced the top sheet of plywood with a thicker panel that can support much more weight when I use it as a moveable table.

Handmade Paper Craft Flowers

Brighten up dark winter days with paper craft flowers that dazzle!

First, I created a geometric flower template in three sizes in Adobe Illustrator. This program makes it super easy to line up or center shapes.

Next, I cut out the flower shapes on different handmade papers that I bought at art and craft stores. I painted and stamped patterns in acrylic ink on some of the papers to add a dark blue color. Then I layered a bunch of cut-out flowers from small-medium-large. The flower layers are sandwiched between two, one-inch wooden beads to hold the flower together. Each flower is taped and glued to a wooden dowel and placed in a pot.

Organizing Art Supplies - Soft Pastels

I create my artwork primarily in acrylic paint. But I often use additional mediums such as pastels and Caran d’Ache crayons to add to my painting on Arches Cold Press 140 lb. watercolor paper. One of the joys of working with traditional mediums is opening the boxes and seeing the supplies shine like little jewels. The pastels are neatly packaged in small boxes and lovingly protected with foam.

While storing one box is not a big deal, what do you do when you have a lot of different brands, box sizes, and box shapes? I found these IRIS USA clear flat 5x7” photo storage boxes for storing my pastels, watercolors, and oil pastels. Now I can store the same amount of multi-media supplies in 1/3 of the previous space.

Be still, my beating heart. I can’t wait to make some new art!

Fabric Succulents

Most of the time I create artwork on watercolor paper. But, sometimes it’s fun to apply color to a 3-D surface. I found a simple pattern online, but instead of using traditional green hues, I picked a multicolored pallet. I think they turned out very fun!

Playing with Liquid Frisket

I love, love, love painting with acrylic paint and inks as a water medium. Acrylic paint is a versatile medium that can be applied opaque like gouache or in translucent washes like watercolor. But one tool in my kit that I’ve avoided is liquid frisket. It’s a stinky, gooey gum media that you paint onto watercolor paper to temporarily mask the white color so you can paint in continuous strokes over that area. But thanks to Ohn Mar Win’s class, I learned how to master the techniques and avoid the problems this medium creates, such as glued-up brushes, lumpy linework, and tools that don’t work for an application.

Now that I have the right strategy, it’s fun! And I will use it again.

This masking technique brings back memories of my early years when my mom used to make batik paintings on fabric. The batik technique involves melting beeswax on a hotplate and using a special tool to draw and drip hot wax onto the surface of the fabric. After the wax cools, the fabric is dyed with color.

Thankfully, she closely guarded her workspace so none of us toddlers got scalded. But I loved the soothing smell of hot beeswax and how the brilliant hues bleed into one another.