Recently, I had the honor of being asked to contribute to the 2020 Mitten Project. This not only meant making a new piece of original art, but also working out of my comfort zone a bit. I wouldn’t be using my usual materials of paper and watercolor paint, or even digital art.
Nope, this time I’m using wooden cutouts and acrylic paint. ::gasp::
Helping Lansing Schools
The Mitten Project features works by several Lansing area artists. The project acts as a fund raiser for the arts in Lansing schools. Each artist gets a pair of wooden cutouts in the shape of Michigan’s two peninsulas. Then, the artist decorates the cutouts however they want. Not accustomed to working with wood and acrylic, this was a challenge for me. A challenge I welcomed, however.
Thankfully, I not only have plenty of artist friends to ask for advice, I live with an artist who works with acrylics all of the time.
After the artists finish the cutouts, the pieces will be put on display at the Cedar Street Art Collective. A silent auction follows, and all of the proceeds go to helping fund art programs in Lansing schools.
Monster Mitten
Given I was working in a new medium, I decided to keep things simple. I settled on painting the cutouts white, and making colored shapes on top with Uni Posca paint pens. Then, I would turn the random shapes into goofy monster faces using a black paint pen.
As the top photo shows, I started making shapes with the Posca paint pens. I ordered extra pens after taking a break, as I as I’m using the same colors for both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. I didn’t want to run out of paint! Filling in the larger shapes definitely took longer than I planned, as I should have bought larger tip Poscas. The cutouts were much bigger than I expected (which is fine), so I didn’t think to get the bigger pens at first.
Bidding on the finished Mitten Project pieces starts on Feb. 9th at noon at the Cedar Street Art Collective. The pieces are viewable until the end of February. Bidding is open during that time.
