MIXED MEDIA THUMBNAIL SKETCHES COURSE WITH INSTRUCTOR TANSY HARGAN

 In March 2021, I participated in this two-week online course with Tansy Hargan

Enter the realm of creativity guided by the unparalleled Tansy Hargan—a maestro of art education, landscape architecture, and university instruction. Dive into the mesmerizing world of her Instagram showcase, #palimpsestparade, or embark on a journey through her captivating Facebook page, @palimpsestparade. For those eager to unleash their artistic potential, Tansy's website beckons with a treasure trove of online courses and premium sketching products awaiting discovery. Brace yourself for an immersive experience as her inspiring, intensive course unfolds, revealing a tapestry of projects that delve deep into the heart of creativity. Take in the fruits of my labour below—a testament to the transformative power of Tansy's guidance.

MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE PAPERS

View the delightful array of the first six images below and in the header above—a symphony of multi-layered, mixed media swatches adorning a diverse array of art and found papers. Each piece, meticulously crafted, serves as a vibrant palette for the collage works that unfolded during our immersive journey. Study the magic woven by the interplay of Golden fluid acrylic paint, the ethereal touch of white gesso, the bold strokes of markers, the subtle whispers of pencil crayons, and the rich hues of Woody pencils—a testament to the boundless possibilities of artistic expression.

Click on the first image to enlarge the group.

MIXED MEDIA COLLAGES, WORKING FROM BLACK & WHITE PHOTOS

These tiny abstract thumbnail collages measure just, 1.5” X 1.5”

The intertidal zone and beach scenes were buzzing around in my mind as I dove into this initial series of collages. Drawing inspiration directly from my own collection of black and white photos taken at "Big Beach" in Ucluelet, BC, I set out to capture the essence of these captivating coastal vistas. Click on the first image to enlarge the set.

BEACH SCENES - MIXED MEDIA COLLAGES

I used, a variety of collage papers, that I previously created, from the collections of swatches, shown at the top of this page. These nautical themed collages, have a neutral colour palette with touches of pure hue for accent. Interpreting and working from my sketches, I focused on shapes, lines and the division of space, to create these abstract collages. 1.5” X 1.5”

NAUTICAL PORTRAITS - MIXED MEDIA COLLAGES

TREE STRUCTURES - THUMBNAIL SKETCHES

The following 2” square thumbnail sketches are from a project called “Soft fascination”, a philosophy that describes the effects Nature has on a person, while spending time in the landscape. Using white pencil crayon, white gelly pen on black paper and the addition of black pen on brown paper.

VIEWFINDERS

The thumbnail sketches above, were created using two different viewfinders, that you see below.

• Washi tape to create viewfinders directly on the window.

• Using the Tansy Hargan “Viewfinder Clipboard”, available to buy online, a link to her website, is at the top of the page.

• Or simply make your own out of heavy paper or card stock.

  Click on image below to enlarge

ROUND THUMBNAIL SKETCHES - MOVING WATER

This series of round thumbnail sketches are inspired by observing moving water. Each new page, taken further by looking at the previous set.

“EN PLEIN AIR”, SKETCHING OR PAINTING OUTDOORS

Mixed-media thumbnail sketches, done with the aid of a viewfinder. My garden, just emerging out of winter.

You can see in the first image, the first stage of sketching. It was a cool morning for sketching, so this was done quickly. Working on top of those, I used a variety of mediums: watercolour, gouache, pencil crayon, collage, pencil and pen. This second stage, given it was cold, was done inside, looking out onto the garden; then finished in my studio.

INVENTING A STYLIZED WAY OF WORKING DIRECTLY FROM THUMBNAIL SKETCHES

FIRST STEP

THUMBNAIL SKETCHES, done en plein air

First, along the waterfront, I observed and drew moving objects, such as boats, hand gliders, kites, people walking, all moving quickly past me.

Then, I moved to the downtown area, sketching static objects, buildings, windows, architectural features, cranes, traffic signs, directional arrows, lights, fire hydrants, safety cones and objects from a construction site.

SECOND STEP

BACKGROUNDS, on Stonehenge paper.

I began this project, by first creating a background on Stonehenge paper, with marks, shapes and lines. I employed a combination of India ink, my home-made Walnut and Acorn inks and ArtGraf Viarco six color Carbon disc set. Once dry, I cut this large sheet, into 2”X3” rectangles, which you can see below.

FINAL STEP

THE FINISHED PIECES

Mixed media, Gouache, pencil crayons, watercolour pencils, Art Graf Viarco pressed pigments, white Posca pen, black Staedtler pens, black Sharpie.

These 2” X 3” mixed media pieces, were started, by working on top of the above backgrounds.

Working from the sketches in Step One, in my studio, I interpreted and extracted the visual essence, from a thumbnail sketch, along with my imagination and memory of that object or place. 

MIXED MEDIA ABSTRACT THUMBNAIL COLLAGES BASED ON TULIPS

SKETCHES

This project using tulips, wasn’t in the Tansy Hargan weekly projects; but, was based on a combo of some of the above projects.

In this first image, these sketches were done using a viewfinder. There is so much concentration, that I rarely look at my paper as I sketch, sometimes I have a sneaky peek to connect with a line. The finished collages are the second image.

COLLAGE PIECES

Working directly on top of the sketches of tulips, I adhered some of the already prepared collage swatches shown at the top of this webpage. You can also see some of the collage pieces in both of these photographs.

New collage swatches - May 8, 2021

click on image to enlarge

Mixed media thumbnail collages, working from sketches of the garden.

I made these collages by looking at the sketches/watercolours, you see on the right hand side. I didn’t sketch in any lines, but worked directly with the collage papers.

The idea is to get it abstract. Once the collage is done, I might add a bit of drawing on top, as in the bottom left, where I added some veins on the leaves.

The idea, is not to make exact, but to have a vague hint of the original. I think that the most successful of these, in that case, are the two at the top.

I want to push this method of working further and further to the abstract.

The thumbnails on the left side are abstracted collages based on the thumbnail sketches on the right side of the page.