Welcome to styled

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Jessie’s sister Emily. Since Jessie and Josh will soon be a family of five (if not already by the time this posts) they have asked me to step in and contribute to the blog. Since I’m definitely not as distinguished a writer as Jessie, Josh, or Tyler, I thought my contribution to this blog would be art-related.

I’ve chosen to call my segments “styled”. The “ed” in red indicates a nickname I’ve recently acquired form my friends at Trilix Marketing Group.  A woman who works there thought my name was Emily DePhillips from my emails which include my middle initial D.  When I started bowling with the group, she thought my initials were E.D. and it stuck.

As you may or may not know – my day job is graphic designer. When I’m not at work, I love to paint, decorate, and make crap. I’ve had the opportunity as of late to have a lot more time on my hands for these extra-curricular activities. Since the digital transition, I’ve gone without tv or internet at home. I’ll admit, it’s been a struggle… but I’ve gotten really familiar with my paints and I’m trying to see how long I can make it without these luxuries.

I hope to share what inspires me for projects as well as offer some ideas on projects you can make on your own – with little or no money!

I’ll start with a recent project of mine. I grew up on Bob Dylan. From my parents’ records to Dad’s guitar playing, the songs of Dylan were constantly playing in our house. No wonder I love his music today. This is where the inspiration came for this painting. Plus – Bob has such a cool face that I thought it would make a really nice portrait.

TIP 1: Materials: I found a great alternative to canvas. It’s called MDO, or Medium Density Overlay. It’s a type of plywood with a smooth surface. It’s a perfect surface to paint on. I always use acrylic paints, and MDO worked perfectly. It’s available at lumber yards.

TIP 2: Composition: Instead of doing a straight-on, centered portrait, I decided to make this one cropped in such a way that you could still identify who the subject is – while adding interest to the piece.

TIP 3: Take advantage of unusual spaces: I was lucky to find this space in my living room, an area between the hallway to my kitchen and the end of my bookcase…a perfect place for Bob to be peering out of. These “found” spaces work perfectly to add a little interest to an otherwise lonely part of any wall.

TIP 4: If you’re not a painter, keep the above tips in mind for photos.  Think about all the photos you may have on your computer and experiment with cropping them in unusual ways for personalized art. The large pixel capability of most cameras today makes it easy to take these photos way beyond a 4×6 print to a size you could hang on your wall.  Wal-Mart.com and tons of other retailers make it easy to order custom print sizes online.

Stay tuned for the next project!

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know you’ve stopped by!