Non-Obvious Art Tools
Art
comes from everywhere: we perceive the world around us, take in details with our
senses, and create art based on our impressions and interpretations. We can
apply this process of artistic inspiration springing forth from our world to the
things we use to create our art as well. Any object in your world can be used in
art; we want to look at a few everyday things that can be used for specific art
techniques to expand your artistic set of tools.
Old
Toothbrushes are an excellent way to create spray and splatter
textures. Dip the bristles in some paint. Then, while holding the brush bristles
near your paper or canvas, run the thumb of your holding hand, or
the index finger of your opposite hand lightly over the bristles. This makes
interesting spray and splatters textures which can be controlled by the speed
and pressure of the finger strokes over the bristles. The thickness of paint
will create different splatter characteristics, so it's best to experiment on
scrap paper or canvas before you spray on your working art
piece. It gets even more interesting when you dip half the bristles in different
colors.
Fruits
& Vegetables make excellent pattern stamps, not just in their fresh
form, but when dehydrated (by drying them out in the sun), their consistency and
fibers allow you to carve them for some really exciting patterns of your choice.
Take vegetables like cucumbers, okra, zucchini and slice them in half - let the
moisture of the fresh cut dry out a little by dabbing the chopped end on a paper
towel.Then dip the chopped end in paint and stamp away. The patterns usually
tend to look floral, but if placed together in a planned way, can make some
incredibly amazing geometrical patterns. Slices of vegetables such as carrots
and potatoes can be dehydrated to be used as little blocks which can be carved
to make stamp patterns of your choice. Dipping these stamps in paints of various consistencies and wetness,
create endless possibilities of stamp patterns.
Rocks
& Bark are incredibly unique sources of texture making. Even though
they are available in abundance, each piece of rock or bark is one-of-a-kind.
Therefore, if you have a collection of rocks and bark, you can not only print
textures by dipping them in paint and dabbing them on paper or canvas, you can also use them to create actual
relief textures by pressing them against paper.
Textured
Cloth & Sponges can not only be used for pattern-making by dabbing
paint soaked bunches and clusters on your paper or canvas, they can be used as brushes as well. You
could bunch up some cloth and apply paint strokes while holding them in your
hand, or bunch up some pieces of cloth and tie them to the end of a stick like
traditional brushes.
Rolling Pins are very
efficient pattern makers. Simply wrap a paper or poster board cut-out stencil of your
choice around the pin, apply some paint on the stencil and roll away. We've seen
some beautiful home-made wall papers and fabric designs created this way. Keep
experimenting with different materials for stencils. Cloth stencils are not just
great for patterns, they make some of the most characteristic textures as
well.