"Peace"

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"Peace can calm the storm of any circumstance." Peace is never achieved by wearing the peace symbol or holding up two fingers. It starts with a choice to live with a focus on the God who is Peace and let it be transferred from Him to you and to others. The spirit of peace is not belligerent or rude, but kind and generous.

This piece has a rich layer of color and texture and borders on visual overload. One of the ways to calm down all of this is to introduce imagery that has a strong grounding color (like black) with some definite form. That is why I am so keen on using line engravings printed on silk tissue paper for these kind of works.

I also chose a capital "P" that has a lot of engraved detail around it and framing out the cap beautifully. The transparency is the key here and would look like it was just "stuck on" if it had been a solid opaque image. The white lettering of the quote is an "echo" of the white peaking through the engraving at the bottom. It is also good to keep in the back of your mind that white has a very calming effect on almost any piece. Just be sure to have white somewhere in the background to echo the collage. It generally doesn't look integrated to stick white lettering on a background that has no other white in the piece.

Because of my time constraints, I don't always have the option of using my owning ink drawings, but that is a wonderful option in this type of work. And the beauty of pouring medium is that it adds color and movement to an ink drawing that can sometimes feel a bit stiff and contrived all by itself on a white sheet of paper. And even if you don't feel confident with your drawing, you could trace a few elements from an image and I can almost guarantee that in time you will be adding your own touches and then drawing free hand. If you are not skilled at working with a pointed pen, there are some pens (available at Jerry's) that have black ink. They are a Prismacolor brand and to achieve a really thin line, you will need to purchase the one that is (.005) in size. It's a wonderful way to learn to draw.

After completing your drawing, you can then print it on silk tissue paper and use as a collage or draw directly on top of your pouring medium. (You will need to prepare the surface for lettering first.) And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.