Table of
Contents
DIY: Hot Glue Art Local Artist Spotlight: Liana Spinner What is the Staff Up To? Artist Spotlight: Vladimir Kush Art Form Spotlight: Watercolor FanARTic Adventures: The Choice June Birthstone Creations Coloring Page Crossword: Sewing Photoshop Fun With Megan: Low Poly Art Sarcastic Designer vs. Vague Client, Episode 4 Submission Guidelines
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Do It Yourself
Hot Glue Art
A fun and easy way to add texture to your artwork is to add hot glue to the canvas. As the various images on Pinterest show, making this art is very simple and allows for a lot of creativity.
TOOLS
All you need for this project are: Any sized canvas A hot glue gun A pencil White acrylic paint Any kind of colored paint you want (I used watercolors) Once you’ve got all that together, it’s time to start!
Step 3
Paint your whole canvas white. This step is needed if you are using watercolor, as it won’t show up well on the glue. If you are going with acrylic or any other kind of paint, this step is not necessary.
Step 1
Draw out your picture
Step 2
Using the hot glue gun, trace over the lines that you want to be raised
Step 4
Paint your canvas! You can use any color you want, make the raised lines darker, or even leave them white.
Megan
Submit your own hot glue art creations for a chance to see them in next month’s edition!
Christine
Local Artist Spotlight
Liana Spinner
Where are you from, and where do you live now? I was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and spent my childhood in Buena Vista, Virginia. I spent my teen and adult years in Charlotte, North Carolina, and now I live in Rock Hill, South Carolina. What is your favorite art form and why? I don’t have a favorite form of art, but I do find that I lean more towards non representational or abstract forms. I find it more interacting to create forms or manipulate forms that can be unrecognizable. I like to have the viewer tell me what they see versus me telling them what I want them to see. Where do you like to create your art? I mostly create art in the comfort of my home and sometimes I create art while I’m actually at work. Do you practice many different forms or do you prefer just one? I like to experiment with many different forms and use different mediums. Due to this variation, some art viewers don’t believe my artwork is created by me, but someone else instead. I use this to my advantage to create new works of art that are difficult to associate as mine and to see the reactions of the viewers. Where/Who do you draw inspiration from and why? I get inspiration from my surroundings, mostly from plants, shadows, and shapes I see in popcorn paint on the ceiling of bedrooms. Since these places are stationary I can always go back to them if I ever need more inspiration. Just the sight of them can be relaxing if I stare hard enough. I enjoy viewing and seeing the beauty in all things and manipulating it to make it unique. What is your favorite subject to incorporate? I don’t have a favorite subject, but I tend to add various shapes with a straight edge and use the colors red and black often. I also tend to attach objects to paintings to make them more interesting. Basically, anything I can get my hands on I’ll create a painting with. As for digital pieces I tend to manipulate photos and obscure them to where viewers can’t quite tell what the object is sometimes. Where can readers find out more about your work? My facebook page is www.facebook.com/lianasartwork. My website is www.lianasartwork.wix.com/lianasartwork.
Do you have any specific works you have done that are your favorites? I have a digital piece that I call “Tonsillitis 4”. It is one of my top favorite pieces because it is very personal to how I was feeling at the time I created it. I actually had tonsillitis when I made that piece and the repetition of the shapes indicates how long I had it. There is a painting that is also one of my top favorites. It is called “Bruised,” because at the time I had just donated blood and received a bruise that was very painful. That was the first time I had used extra canvas pieces and tape in a painting. Did you formally study art? If so, what was your major specifically? While at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke my major was Digital Art, and I also took various painting courses. I also have a minor in Media Integration. Why do you create artwork? What caused you to begin making art? I create artwork because I appreciate art and I find that it can be relaxing and it enables me to explore my creative side with no boundaries. I first realized I was interested in art when I was younger. I created a little man and per grade school requirements I took art classes and just became more interested in it over time. What really sparked my enthusiasm for art was having a Graphic Designer come to my high school art class and show us her work and demonstrate a little bit how she created it. After class I started doing my own research and became intrigued with the vast pieces of digital work, and from that point on I knew that studying art in all its digital formats was what I wanted to do. What/whose art do you most identify with? I honestly do not know. I haven’t any idea who I most identify with. I haven’t thought about it. What subjects inspire your art work? (People, places, thoughts, etc.). It depends on what I wish to create, but for the most part it’s family, plants, the shapes animals make when they walk or sit or lie down. What is the main challenge you face when beginning a piece of art? The first thing that pops into my mind is, “What am I going to create today?” Typically, I don’t know what to create until I stop looking at the blank screen or canvas and I look to my inspirational locations. How has art influenced other aspects of your life? Art has taught me to see things differently; not just from one perspective, but all perspectives. The art of expressing myself and experimenting with different mediums through the years has helped me think outside the box.
If you don’t already know, we love to craft! Check out some of the things we’ve been working on!
Rebekah We are all making cosplays for an upcoming anime convention, but I do not want to give away too much yet! Shown below are a couple of work in progress photos, as well as a wig that I will be altering. Stay tuned for more details!
What is the Staff Up to?
Christine
Along with making cosplays, I’ve also been working on crocheting. Here’s a scarf I recently made!
Artist Spotlight Vladimir Kush
Vladimir Kush is a Moscow-born artist that specializes in surrealist painting and sculpture. He was born in 1965, and at just seven years old he enrolled in art school. He continued to study the arts, most notably Renaissance, Impressionist, and Modern, and went to Moscow Higher Art and Craft School when he was 17. He continued taking classes there until he was drafted the next year. While in the military, he was assigned to paint propagandistic material. After serving in the military, Kush would go on to participate in art exhibitions hosted by the Union of Artists, where almost all of the pieces he brought would be sold. In 1990, after a successful exhibition, he flew to Los Angeles, California, to sell more artwork. Unfortunately, he was not very successful until he was spotted in 1993 by an art dealer who set up an exhibition for him in Hong Kong. This exhibition proved to be extremely successful, and after a few more successes in China, Kush once again tried his hand at exhibiting in America. His string of successes carried over to the American market, and Kush was able to exhibit and even open his own art galleries in states such as Washington and Hawaii. Currently, he has a gallery in Hawaii, California, and two in Las Vegas, with more openings to come. To find out more information, check out vladimirkush.com!
Art Form Spotlight Watercolor Painting Anyone with small children should be familiar with this month’s art form spotlight. Around since ancient Egyptian times, possibly earlier, watercolor painting is a form of art which utilizes water as the vehicle for transferring pigment to canvas. Essentially, a tool (paintbrush, sponge, finger, etc.) is dipped in water, onto the dried paint, and then onto the canvas. Alternatively, watercolor pencils are also widely available, and only require the pencil to be dipped in water. Using a wet brush or pencil on dry canvas allows for greater precision and technique. However, wetting the canvas beforehand creates a more abstract painting, as the water on the canvas is allowed to flow throughout on its own. This form of art can be seen in works by artists such as Audubon, Georgia O’Keeffe, and John Marin. For more information about this form of art, check out http://watercolorpainting.com/!
June Pearl Welcome to June’s installment of our Birthstone Creations! As with previous months, the only rule is to keep the creations the same color as the birthstone. One of June’s birthstones is pearl. This shiny gem is the only one to come from an actual living creature, the oyster, and requires no polishing, as the oyster does that job for us. While most of us are familiar with the round white or offwhite versions of this stone, pearls have been cultured in an array of shapes and colors such as oval, black, blue, or pink. Check out our pearl-inspired creations, and don’t forget to send your creations to fanARTicmag@gmail.com.
Christine
For this month, I wanted to showcase the different colors that pearls come in. Most people who know me know that I hate the color pink, so I decided to go with blue, dark gray, and white. The variegated yarn that I picked up was really soft, so I decided to make something for a baby with it, since babies and pearls are both precious. I went with a cocoon. It incorporates the three colors I chose and is soft enough for a baby to sleep comfortably in.
Megan
For this month I wanted to incorporate something a little different with the birthstone submission. The personification of the pearl gemstone is also entangled in pearls, wearing a very ethereal gown in the shade of a pink colored pearl. The piece also has a representation of one of the June zodiac signs: Cancer, the crab. The emotion on her face I hope indicates a wonder and interest in something wonderful.
Rebekah
This month I decided to craft a different type of accessory than I usually work with. For this circlet, I used imitation pearls and jewelry wire to create bead links, and also attached pearl drops. The circlet incorporates lengths of chain between the pearl links, as well as for the back closure. While I was trying to decide on a color scheme, I ended up putting together a warm palette of red, orange, and yellow. The pearls are in differing sizes for visual interest. The overall look is fiery yet elegant.
Chelsey
This month, I decided to go with something a little less conceptual and actually used pearls in my imagery. The photo is of my pit bull, Nova. I strung the pearls on her to be in the shape of an infinity symbol. I did some editing to give it a more whimsical effect, as pearls make me think of fairy tales, weddings, and eternity.
Call 910-779-2141 to order your lovingly crocheted gift today!
Patterns made especially for you!
Karen’s Krochets
Sewing Crossword 1
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3. Decorative needlework in which designs and pictures are created
1. One of two finished edges on a bolt of fabric that does not fray. Manufacturer information is often printed here
6. A device that closes openings in clothes
2. A join between two adjacent clothing panels
12. Cloth gathered into a frill
4. A fabric of varying thickness that is used to stiffen fabric and help it hold shape
14. A special type of sewing machine used primarily for finishing hems to prevent fabric fray 15. The area between the stitched line and the cut edge of fabric
5. A plastic mesh used to stiffen parts of clothing that need to hold a shape on its own with minimal support, such as skirt hems and hat brims
16. The finished lower edge of a sewn work that prevents the item from fraying
7. Fabric which is woven strips of rubber that returns to its original width and length after stretching
17. Protective shield worn on the thumb or finger
8. Layers of fabric or padding that are joined together by stitched lines
18. A small bag sewn into clothing for the purpose of storing small items 20. A thin type of yarn used for sewing
9. A method of hand sewing which keeps the stitches from being visible 10. A type of fold formed by doubling fabric back on itself and securing it in place
Crossword Challenge: Crochet d
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6. method of crocheting using a graph; also known as picture crochet 8. the foundation of every crochet project 9. stitch made by crocheting two single crochets in the same stitch 11. a Japanese style of crocheting small animals and other figures 12. symbol in patterns indicating steps should be repeated 13. a method of crochet using varied increases to create a uniquely ruffled project reminiscent of coral 14. one of the oldest crochet methods; works are made using slip stitches only
2. a set of clothing created for newborns 3. adjustable or _______ ring; technique for starting crochet in the round that eliminates the hole in the center 5. a style of needlework that uses elements of both crochet and knit 7. method for joining two skeins of yarn or switching colors that leaves no tail behind 10. tool used to make stitches
Photoshop Fun With
Megan Low Poly Art Greetings, FanARTics! Our staff has a wide variety of interests, one of which is Photoshop. This month begins a lesson series about how to do some really cool effects in Photoshop. So with that, the first lesson is on low poly art. Low poly art is using a photograph of your choosing and giving it this very cool geometric effect. So, without further ado, let’s begin! First we have to pick an image. I will say that it is much easier to work with an image of a person looking straight on (or fairly close to), hence my choice of this photograph of Courtney, from a project in 2014. The reason that it is much easier to work with a person or other symmetrical image is because you can work on one half of the image, and then simply duplicate it and flip it. If it is not symmetrical then you have to spend more time with the entire piece. If you are not a photographer or have any images of your own but you have Photoshop and want to try this project I recommend using the website www.pexels.com. These images are free to use.
Step 1 is opening the photo in Photoshop. Make sure you make a copy of the regular image on a separate layer (click on the “Layer” menu, then “Duplicate Layer” or press Ctrl + J or Cmd + J for Mac users). This is for just in case you need to reference it again, a mistake happens, etc. It’s always best to back up things, and this should be a standard practice for anything you do with Photoshop.
Step 2 is setting up a grid. This can be done by going to the “View” menu, selecting “show”, then “Grid”. There is a default grid, but depending on what you are going for you can click Ctrl + K to bring up the preference menu (if you have a Mac it’s CMd + K) and choose the grid spacing. I used the 2 centimeters by 2 subdivisions spacing. Once you’ve done this you should note the lines of the grid being visible.
Step 3 is actually making the low poly artwork. In my case, I picked the side of the image I felt like best showed changes of color and such. You want to zoom into the piece so you can see a close up of what you are doing. Just like with any project it’s good to zoom out to see how it’s looking overall every once in awhile. One you are zoomed in you want to
select the polygon lasso from the tools menu (shown in pic). This is the part that gets repetitive. You want to draw a triangle with the lasso tool, trying to capture a selection to create the polygon. Bear in mind that in this process you want to make smaller triangles to emphasize detail, as bigger polygons will make for an even lower resolution. Once you’ve created the triangle you can move on to Step 4. In step 4 you want to go to the drop down menu for “Filter”, select “blur”, and then finally “Average Blur”. After selecting this you will notice the triangle is now a solid color. From this point on it’s just a repeat of Steps 3 and 4 until you get the desired design. Another nifty trick is the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F (Cmd + F) which will automatically select the Average Blur once you have selected it one time.
MEGAN
This last part is optional. You can cut some of your time if you have a symmetrical piece, and do only half of the image and then flip it. To flip it, go to the “Edit” menu and select “transform” and then “flip horizontal”. This will allow symmetry for your artwork.
If you enjoyed this Photoshop Fun please feel free to submit your own! We would love to feature you in our next issue.
PHOTOSHOP FUN
Christine
You Could Be Here
Contact fanARTicmag@gmail.com About our ad prices
Submission Guidelines We would love it if you shared your creativity with us! At FanARTic we hope to showcase so much more than our own work for your viewing pleasure. You can submit the coloring page (see page 18) and submit it to: FanARTicmag@gmail.com for the chance to appear in our March FanARTic edition. You can also submit it via Facebook by uploading your finished masterpiece and tagging FanARTic Magazine. If you are an artist looking to get your name out there, please feel free to contact us. We would love to help, whether it be by placing an ad in our magazine, being our featured artist spotlight, or just having your art showcased in our magazine! When submitting, please make sure we have: The name you wish to be addressed by Contact information (email/phone whichever is preferred) What you want to call the finished work or any message you wish to appear in the magazine There are no rules for artwork or coloring page submissions. You can use whatever medium suits your taste! Please note FanARTic is not liable for any compensations for showcasing your work. By submitting, you have agreed to let us publish your work and are not expecting anything more than the free exposure. If you have any questions please email us at: FanARTicmag@gmail.com.
s All of us here at FanARTic Magazine have dreams of traveling to various places in the world. This month's cover is inspired by some of our dream destinations. Megan has always wanted to visit a castle in France, while Christine has long dreamed of vacationing in a cabana in Bora Bora. Chelsey's idea for a dream vacation is a nice quiet beach, while Rebekah hopes to one day visit Japan. In keeping with the travel theme, hot air balloons float through this dreamy landscape, while serene lanterns float away to parts unknown.