Color Night for Content Magazine's ContentLAB

Sometimes you only see the surface of things. A book's cover or the shiny objects. When you look at Content Magazine, you see beautiful images and great interviews with South Bay locals and businesses. Their photography is gorgeous, as is the layout and typography. What you don't see is the incredible team behind the magazine. It is run by some of the nicest, most talented folks around here. 

I think you don't realize how much the South Bay needed Content until you remember that we once didn't have this resource. If you look over their blog, follow Content on Instagram, follow Daniel Garcia on Instagram. The magazine highlights all things in the South Bay or up the Peninsula (aka NOT San Francisco). They also run events like ContentLAB, evenings where they combine food and drink, chefs, floral designers, artists and more. 

The setup before guests arrived

That being said, ContentLAB's Color Night turned out to be a super fun and amazing night! I was really impressed with Content's setup from the lighting to the fancy food and drinks. 

Guests starting to arrive. Isn't that red hair gorgeous?

Juan Sanchez from Baunfire marketing agency talking about color theory.

The palms surrounding the patio

Reena Williams, of Kwench juice in Campbell, led a really entertaining juicing demo. This woman had so much charisma, I wanted to march myself down to her shop and make myself a regular customer immediately. 

Photo by Daniel Garcia

Once day turned to night, it was my time to lead the watercolor demo. The folks at Content made a mirror to hang above me so everyone could watch me work. I wore a Janet Jackson microphone headset so that everyone could hear me:)

Discussing watercolor techniques with watercolor examples in the mirror above. Photo credit: Scott MacDonald

Showing examples of my work. Photo credit: Scott MacDonald

Photo credit: Arabela Espinoza

Before I share the gorgeous work everyone made, I thought I'd share the materials we used. You can see I prepared some cards with textures and color theory ahead of time for class. This really helped demonstrate the work. The orb in the upper left corner is an example of what I wanted everyone to make: a world, an orb, a moon. 

Here are the materials to make one: 

• 5x7 watercolor paper (we used Canson paper)
• Winsor and Newton watercolors (Ultramarine Blue, Winsor Blue Green Shade, Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson)
• Brushes (Artist Loft brand combined with my personal collection)
• And to create textures: rubbing alcohol (applied with q-tips), salt, paper towel blotting
• Cups for water and plates for paint palettes (and you can trace the cups to make the circle shape)

Talking with a lovely and happy painter. Photo credit: Scott MacDonald

An artist at work doing a great job blending colors.

Psychedelic worlds. This artist let the colors blend in a controlled way, keeping it bright. 

A gorgeous pink moon. This artist used the rubbing alcohol texture in a really beautiful way.

This one, by Pen and Paper Addict, really blew me away! The control and flow were done so beautifully, as well as the textures with salt and rubbing alcohol. It makes sense of course since she is an amazing calligrapher. 

I wish I could credit all the artists for their beautiful work. If you or someone you know made one of the uncredited images, please let me know who the artist is. 

And I must give a huge shoutout to Kristen and Daniel of the Content team. Working together was amazing! 

The End of the 100 Day Project and Days 91-100

Wow! I can't believe I'm finally done with the 100 Day Project! Sure, it was supposed to take place in 100 consecutive days, sure it was supposed to be completed by 2015, but who cares?! Even if it took me 278 days, I made 100 pieces of art based on Brian Eno's deck of cards, Oblique Strategies. I am feeling good today.

Regarding daily art projects, it can be difficult to get work done everyday.  Whether other freelance work to do: packing orders, painting orders or being stumped by the card, I found myself not staying super consistent with the project. Perfectionism also got in the way. Still, I was determined. 

I really liked straying from my usual materials when I did (embroidery, collage, weaving), but those tended to take more time so I couldn't do that frequently. I actually thought I would push myself more with size and that kind of thing, but with the decision to sell everything for $20 each AND with my other freelance work, there is just only so much time in the day so a lot of these pieces are on the small side. 

Some things I have found with what I made:

• Blue - I really love using blue. Maybe it's my love of the ocean, the sky...I don't know, but I do like it. 
• The natural world - I love painting nature. Whether space, water, plants, I love it all.
• Humor - I really like a little humor and wit in my art. I actually didn't learn this until 2012 at my solo show at Seeing Things Gallery.
• Mystery and Experiments - when I made a sudden decision to add a crazy color or cover something or run the art under faucet water, awesome things happened.
• Style - I think my style evolved with the 100 Day Project. 
• My - The work from this project felt like it was 100% me: from my experience, knowledge, memories and passions. 

The Future:

• Books - I feel like I am ready to continue working on my book proposals now that I am clear on how I would like to illustrate them
• Big - I am looking forward to bigger illustration projects, bigger paintings and installations after working so small
• Ideas - The way ideas formed from this project blew my mind. The mental process of getting to something requires a mixture of stepping away to do something completely different and just sitting and plugging away at it until something happens. 
• Change - I foresee a year of unexpected and magical new things

Please stop by Seeing Things Gallery on February 6th to see the last 20 drawings and any available 100 Day art. All will be for sale for that same fun $20 each price. 

And these are the last 10...

Day 91 Accept Advice

I asked Bryan to tell me what to paint and he said, "Paint about how you thought Interstellar would be and then paint how you felt about it after." At first I didn't want to do it, but then I thought it would be a good challenge. I wanted to paint on Color-Aid paper, a material I have used a few times in this project. As you can see, I thought it might be 'garbage in space', but then felt it was more like 'silly confusion in space.' Yes, I used a vintage Spirograph.

Day 92 What would your closest friend do?

My sister would stay at home in her slippers and save money so she can travel the world. 

Day 93 Is there something missing?

I have been frustrated with the real estate market for my friends and family. It's insane in the Bay Area right now. It feels like unless one or both heads of household work in tech or you bought years and years ago, good luck getting a house in this area. There are waiting lines and bids for homes in places you wouldn't think would be competitive. It's nuts. 

I proposed that the community above has a community garden, basketball court and park. Each home has a full basement, clawfoot tub and porch. Each home would be $1,200 a month with options to buy. 

Day 94 Distorting Time

This one is pretty self-explanatory:)

Day 95 Use 'unqualified' people

I asked my non-artist dad and brother to name a color and a country. My dad said blue and my brother said Republic of Congo. 

Day 96 Ask people to work against their better judgement

I have been thinking a lot lately about how we all need to push ourselves more and do things we are afraid of. You can stand on a cliff and look at the view or you can dive in.

Day 97 How would you have done it?

I got a terrible flu last week and although I was able to break the fever in 24 hours, I did have a lingering cough and lethargy for days after. On this Sunday, I felt like a blob on a couch all day, watching movies and documentaries.

Day 98 Go to an extreme, move back to a more comfortable place

Of course this was painted on a very wet day in San Jose. A-Frames are something I paint frequently so its symbol of comfort has double meaning here. 

Day 99 In total darkness or in a very large room, very quietly

Another one relating to darkness, but in a different way. I painted this portrait in complete darkness on a 15 minute timer. I used one brush. I would dip it into the paint or onto the palette and test it on my fingers to feel if I picked up enough paint. I used my fingers to sort of pinpoint where the shapes were going in relation the edges. Such a fun experiment!

It's funny, throughout this project I did scratch some of the art and start over that day. I would feel like it wasn't good enough. I feel like I would have never shared a painting like this one before since it's so crude. It felt like no big deal when I did. 

Day 100 What wouldn't you do?

And the last one! I thought about this one for a little bit. I wanted it to be amazing or the best one or whatever, but as I brainstormed it I just wanted to convey the achievement I felt. At first I thought of painting a trophy, but that wasn't quite right. I then came up with this, which I think works perfectly. 

100 Day Project: Days 11-20

I have been having fun with the 100 Day Project. Actually, it has caused some anxiety since I haven't been making work daily as planned. Some of these Oblique Strategies cards have really stumped me! I have been finishing up some bigger projects and events lately so this project has not been as "daily" as I would have liked. Still, I've now completed 21 total and I'm happy to share with you 11-20 in this post. Even though I still have 79 to go, I am intrigued to see where this project will go. What has been really exciting is to follow others participating who are ahead of me. Many of these artists' projects have taken such exciting turns! I have a good feeling about the future of this project and I want to dedicate myself to doing it daily from now on. Search the hashtag #100dayproject on Instagram to see what everyone else is doing. 

Last week, I announced in my newsletter that I will be selling the first 20 today, June 9th, at noon. They will be $20 each and sold on a first come first serve basis on my website. If you have connected with any of these paintings, now is your chance to get your hands on one!

Day 11 Repetition is a form of change

This one feels pretty self-explanatory. I wanted to give the dominoes a nice vintage feel with that yellowed look. I love this phrase. It's like when you practice something you get better at it until it becomes an actual thing. 

Day 12 Simple subtraction

This was a pretty easy one to come up with. Every morning I make coffee in a French press. It's a ritual to start my day right. I was really happy with the galaxy-like quality of my camp coffee mug. I really enjoyed letting go of perfect perspective and working with that deep blue. 

Day 13 Decorate, decorate

Originally, I wanted to paint something really elaborate and decorative, but instead decided to paint my living room. It looks more vibrant in this painting than in person. 

Day 14 Slow preparation...fast execution

Since I often paint portrait, I figure that is my slow preparation and here is my fast execution. This was the fastest drawing or painting I have made yet for this project. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as a lot of these have been, but sometimes you just have to knock 'em out and move on. 

Day 15 Is it finished?

This is pretty funny to me. On Day 13, I painted this scene and my furniture designer friend wondered why I didn't include his coffee table in the painting. I think it looks much better with it and the terrarium.

Day 16 Be extravagant

My trip to Spain last fall felt extravagant so I painted the little casita we stayed at in the town of Frigiliana. The place was pure magic, built into the rock mountainside. I am hoping to do more 3D art with the 100 Day Project. 

Day 17 What to maintain?

My bathroom routine is pretty simple so I wanted to convey that in this image of my maintenance. I don't curl or flat iron my hair (I've tried and I get bored) or spend countless hours in the bathroom. I like how this image could be for a beauty routine while camping or at home. 

Day 18 Always first steps

This one came to me quickly. I pictured a nearly all black image with feet at the start of the stairs. So I painted it. Had to throw some Converse high tops on those feet. 

Day 19 Turn it upside down

I was painting this image with the blue as the sky at the Maker's Market over the weekend. A customer came by and said, "Whoa! You are painting that upside down?" When I turned it around I saw what he meant with the yellow as the sky and blue as water. So, it changed. 

Day 20 When is it for?

Now or never. That's when it's for. I have been meaning to make this as a book painting for my Fake Book series on wood. I decided to just go ahead and to this on paper. More of these are coming this summer.