Technique & Tool: Chapter 8

Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.
Style File was the first project posted and links to all 12 posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The second project, Techniques & Tools, the second project, continues now...

Participants were asked: 'The one technique or tool that you cannot live without is... ' I have added links of my own choosing to each contribution below, sometimes to products, sometimes to videos, sometimes to the artist's own work, and sometimes to something unexpected. Even the contributors do not know what I will be linking to!
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Holly Dean


In my work, I am forever experimenting with ways of combining art and word. My love of text and letterforms is evident in all that I create, whether expressed through calligraphy, typography or as pattern. I might write directly on the piece with a dip bib or brush, using acrylic ink or thinned-down paint, or I might choose to use the process of collage, transfer or hand-cut stenciling. Lettering may be obscured in layers of paint medium and imagery or it may be the focal point. In my work, it is often both.
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Theresa Plas


Sauvignon Blanc
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Bleubeard and Elizabeth


It's hard to limit my tools to one, because I use my paper cutter every day and my needle-nose pliers most days. But for painting, I guess my one tool I can't live without is my old faux credit card.
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Bonnie Clark


Collage
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Arabella Grayson


Crayons. Can't live without crayons. In addition to coloring with them, they remind me of the importance of play during the creative process.
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William J. Charlebois


Now that I am creating multi-media paintings, I'm finding out the many uses of gesso.
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Laura A. Pace (LA Pace)


My 24" curtain rod mahl stick. Works for most small canvas sizes when extended to various lengths, and can be closed down to fit on my easel or in my travel bag.
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marianne konvalinka


Currently, matte gel medium - useful for so many things - gluing, texture, layers.
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Lelainia N. Lloyd


In the last year it's been my sewing machine, with which I've been madly sewing paper for Remains of the Day Journals. Most recently, it's been my brand new Canon Rebel DSLR, which is helping me explore a whole new avenue of creativity.
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Dayna J. Collins


Well if I have to pick just one (a cruel limitation), at this moment in time it would be my wood-handled bulbous awl. I use it to draw into wet paint, to scratch and make marks into wood and plaster. I love how the handle fits in my hand and the many marks I can make with the sharp tip.
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Next 'Techniques & Tools' will be posted on Sunday, November 13th.