10 Tips For The Self-Taught Artist

14 years ago I wish I knew then what I know now about choosing to be a self taught artist. My journey has been filled with learning experiences about creativity, skills, business, marketing, people, and the challenges that go with even owning the label of being self-taught. 

Because I am a voracious learner, I committed to the practice of learning what I needed to so that I could be successful. The effort paid off in droves. For those of you just starting out, maybe my insight can save you some time. It is possible to be a successful artist and have a career as an artist, don't let the naysayers tell you other wise. It does take a huge amount of passion and effort though......which leads to a very, beautiful life. 

1. Fall In Love With The Creative Process

At some point, you LOVED making stuff as a child. Either with crayons or clay or even mud...you loved being a creator. As an adult who chooses to become a self-taught artist, you must fall in LOVE with the creative process all over again. 

Explore ideas with reckless abandon. Test out new techniques and supplies and mediums to see what your heart loves...and what it doesn't. View the works of master artists and contemporaries of our present day. Learn what you are drawn to, what styles captivate you, what genres you feel akin to. Then ask yourself why...and then ask again. 

Wake up with the excitement that every day is a new experience to create and learn and experience the act of being an artist....for no other reason than because you love it, because you can, and because it makes you happy. First be true to creativity itself.

2. Pay Attention To What Fascinates You About The World

A Self-Taught artist needs to know what fascinates them about the world. Are they drawn to lines and patterns or textures and light? Do birds and everything about birds keep and hold their attention like no other animal? Does love or heartbreak move them...to music...to color...to expressions? 

We are each hardwired with a brain and heart that finds some things in life more fascinating than others. When we truly find those juicy tidbits that rock our own world, we then are able to tap into our own, unique point of view which is the pathway to our artistic voice. Create in response to what fascinates you. 

3. Practice Your Art Everyday In Some Way 

There is no getting around it. If you want to be a successful self-taught artist you must practice. You must not just practice...you must adopt being a creative as a way of life. Seek out the practice that moves your joy. Create a consistent pattern of showing up and doing the work. On off days, think creatively in a different capacity...bake something, grow something, build something...but keep creating. 

When you are called to rest, rest. Give thanks for the ability to practice and do what you love, and create the next day. Practicing our gifts...and growing our skill sets is what we are called to do. There is no short cut to success...you must do the work...you must do the work. 

4. When You Decide To Go From Hobby to Profit....Learn The Business

The minute you choose to go from creating because you simply love it for fun...and that is a beautiful thing, to creating with the intent to sell....LEARN THE BUSINESS. Get a business license, study and become informed about taxes, pay attention to the market and what you are up against. I say that because in business you are always up against something....know your mountain. Learn how to climb it by viewing what other successful artists are doing. 

Make a plan. The business side can zap an artist's spirit so fast and believe it or not, not every artist is set out to be a business person. Get help. Ask.... and OWN the fact that you are now in business and that your work is ready to sell to a greater audience. 

Put meticulous care into creating the best product you can and develop a beautiful connection to customer service. It will always pay off...it will. 



5. Find Teachers/Mentors/Study Programs To Help You Master Your Skills

Be willing to study...to learn.....and to seek help. Choosing to be a self-taught artist gives us a lot of freedom, but it also calls us to truly understand our craft and practice. Depending on what type of art you create...become a master at that type of art. If there are techniques you need to learn, be willing to sacrifice if necessary to pay for the best training you can. 

Let go of the mindset that you don't have the money for workshops or mentors. Start setting aside a little everyday...or every week. Make your business and your passion a priority. Ask yourself, "What am I willing to give up so that I can do this or that?" I literally gave up eating out for 4 months to save enough money to attend a week long workshop that changed my entire artistic life. It was worth every single can of beans I ate instead. 

6. Own Your Confidence, Share Your Journey

Self-taught artists seem to come out of the gate feeling the need to prove themselves or measure up. I get it. To offset this way of thinking, know your place and time in your journey. If you are a beginner, celebrate being a beginner. Own every single moment of practice to learn and better yourself.....and to show up for the creative process. 

Do your very best not to compare. In fact...thump the comparison fairy on the head every time it flies into your head. The very fact that you are willing to show up every day and do the work is golden. Be proud of that...be PROUD. 

With that confidence, share your journey. There are many artists in the world in the exact same place you are, so sharing your journey helps them relate to theirs. Don't profess to be more than you are, but don't profess to be less than you are either. When you choose to share your journey you become a Wayshower. The world needs more Wayshowers. 

The Wayshowers 30" by 48" Ardith Goodwin

7. Practice Authentic Marketing

Be true to who you are...and to the profession of creators when it comes to marketing. If you copy to learn, bravo...but don't share that as your own. Market what you create that is uniquely yours. We are all influenced by external forces, especially visual ones, and at the end of the day, we must choose to honor the artists who create from their unique voice and honor our learning path as well. 

Realize that marketing is important, creating your own brand is important, but underneath all of that,  honesty and integrity in the business world should rule the day. Don't undercut your galleries, be consistent with pricing. Don't sell high one day and then cut your prices in half the next for a 'flash sale.' Really seek out the steps in marketing that ring true to the customer as well as your artistic brand. 


8. Serve Others 

At some point, give back. One of the beauties of living a creative life is that it gives you so many opportunities to give back. Volunteer to speak at a school, offer to share a craft with a local senior center, write a blog offering how-to lessons for free. Find a way to use your gifts for the greater good. It will fill your wellsprings, it is a community minded way of thinking, and it is so very needed in this world. 

If you are called to teach, teach...but know your subject matter. Don't jump on the bandwagon of teaching because you only see profit, truly know what you are going to teach and meet your students needs as best you can. Serving others is how we move creative love forward. 

9. Understanding That Timing Is Everything

Patience is a big deal. Just because you see a painting that you love...and you want to paint like that, doesn't mean you know how to just yet. Give yourself the time to develop as a creative. If you put in the work and the effort, the doors will open. They will...but all in good time. There is a level of work ethic that you must find your balance to...and be willing to put in the hours, but when you do, the timing of opportunity will reveal itself. 

Some artists study for years before they know they are ready to go full time. Explore, learn, have a riot of a good time, and trust your inner voice. He/she knows the way for timing. 
Trust the timing. 

10. Understand That Everyone Of Your Marks Matters 

Never let anyone else, or yourself, convince you that your marks don't matter. Every mark we make from doodling to scribbles to the fine lines of a finished piece are the steps it takes to achieve greatness. Without the little steps, the big steps wouldn't connect. We are not giants...we are humans that through courage and grace have chosen the calling to be a creative. We create marks to learn, to grow, to expand our point of view, and to share with others. EVERY SINGLE MARK MATTERS...it does. Go make your marks. 

Flowers After The Dance 18" by 24" acrylic

Ardith Goodwin is a self-taught artist of the highest order...she also loves to write and teach about her passions. You can learn more about her offerings HERE. 

A Peek Into My Process

Art Journaling has been the one shift in my professional practice that has altered it by leaps and bounds. I have many types of journals, each with a different purpose, but looking back on all of them a little bit of my style was left in clues and juicy tidbits. 

The project I started well over a year ago, The Journal Speaks, will culminate this November in a solo show that I am beyond excited about!

In the meantime, one of my students asked me how I come up with the ideas that I use for my paintings. To answer that in the best way I know how, my art journals are where my ideas soar. Here is a sneak peek into my thought process as I work through the journal page below. 

https://vimeo.com/128096257

This summer I will be making a documentary explaining how my practice in my journal has evolved onto the larger canvas. I cannot wait.... :) To see my entire journal you can view those pages HERE! 

52 Week Creativity Awareness Curriculum

For as long as I can remember I have moved through this world as a creative. As a child my vivid imagination helped me create worlds I live in, even to this day. As a student throughout my academic journey, creativity has helped me consider ways of being and living and solving problems that gave me a leg up on the ordinary. As a teacher of the young, I was one of 'those' teachers who tended to think outside every shape just to find a way to make the point and capture the imagination of my little ones. As a full time artist, learning to tap into the creative wells that I have discovered has been transformative in my own, unique point of view. And as a human, creativity has given me the tools and methods to achieve a beautiful life and love others in ways I never thought possible.

CREATIVITY has given me the pathway to move from an ordinary life to an extraordinary one.

So how does all of that relate to a class that can help you?

What I found through the practice of using my creativity every day, teaching others in the creative writing fields and the visual arts fields, and teaching the young is that teaching creative thinking and creative awareness is absolutely something that can be taught, can be learned, and can be mastered....even if you are one who feel you have no creative bone in your body. It isn't about drawing realistic, although you could. It isn't about writing a novel, although you could do that too. It is about developing a new way of seeing and moving through the world, and learning ways to apply that knowledge to what and how you live. 

The curriculum I have developed works in a cumulative way. Each week we meet on Monday afternoon in a private classroom on FB, you receive a written challenge based on very specific visual arts and creative thinking skills and practices.  You then move throughout the week seeking out the challenge and following the steps. As your practice grows, you share your insight and discoveries in group and a dialogue about creativity, awareness, perception, and nuance begins to grow. That dialogue is golden. 

Through the dynamic of a support group and accountability classroom, along with the discussions about what it means to live creatively, your creativity begins to expand.

It doesn't take hours to accomplish. It doesn't involve gobs of homework. It simply requires a commitment to learn, an eagerness to share, and a practice to apply what you learn over time.

As the weeks go by, huge shifts will begin to occur and together, we will explore ways for you to apply what you are learning to your writing, to your teaching, to your painting, to your photography, to your business, or to any part of your world where enhanced creative insight can be applied.

You might just find life to be a whole lot more beautiful, a whole lot more fascinating, and a whole lot more full of your own creative wonder!

So who is this class for? 
Artists
Photographers
Writers
Teachers (Homeschool Teachers too)
Business Professionals 
And ANYONE wishing to change their mindset that they aren't creative. 

For the beginner, they will learn they are creative.

For the experienced, they will increase their skill sets. 

For the professional, they will gain much greater insight into their own artistic point of view which, when applied, will mean greater knowing and reach in their craft. 

For the Homeschool Teacher or Beginning Art Educator they will learn a visual language and teaching strategy to share with the young. 

So what's the scoop about signing up?

First, you will need a FB account so that I can add you to our secret classroom. (If you are not a fan of FB, you don't even have to tell folks you have the profile, you can join our classroom quietly.)

The entire 12 month program is $120. That is ten bucks a month for a really in depth, practical study of increasing your own creative brilliance!

In the mean time....start counting down the days for our classroom to kick off!!! If you are interested in other online and in person classes that I offer, you can view that info HERE! 

The Fine Art of Creative Play Workshop

A few weeks ago an email landed in my inbox by the beautiful workshop host,  Lory Newsom, with an invitation to fly to Seattle and teach a workshop. If you could have seen the grin on my face you would have thought the Cheshire Cat was a close relative. Although I am a full time painter, I also teach art to young ones full time, and the opportunity to teach adults once again in person, made my heart full. 

Over the past couple of weeks I pondered and prayed about the concept for this class and around every turn the signs pointed toward teaching artists how to use creative play as a means to increase their creativity and unique voice in their own body of work. Every day I meet artists that are learning lots of skills and styles, but when they walk into their own studios, the thought of tapping into their own point of view and style is daunting. Even experienced artists come to a point where their creative well dries up a bit and they need to refresh their skill  and concept sets. 

The Fine Art of Creative Play is a workshop specifically for artists seeking to learn how to paint from their own creative storehouse and develop a body of work. We will explore the play in mark making, make our own tools, develop ideas based on our life stories, and create paintings that resonate with story, place, and deep, personal connection. I will teach you daily practices that you can apply so that you leave with the confidence to paint what you see, what you remember, and what you imagine. We will paint paper, draw, write, sketch, paint, collage...all in the spirit of work play. 

Because creativity is vital to an artist, especially those who seek to make the creative arts our full time profession,  we will spend a half day diving into some deep discussion about how creativity practices can impact our businesses. I am a firm believer that in opening the dialogue around how to tap into our creativity, how to use it for different purposes, and how to use it to alter our marketing and career paths, we can step up our game in the effort to impact our businesses and our world in the best way. 

Workshop Highlights

Miller School of Art, Seattle, Washington 

July 23-26, 2015
Thursday - Meet, Greet, Setup 2-3
                  Creative Business Talk 3-6
Friday-Sunday - 9-6 (one hour lunch)

3 Days of Intensive Study
1/2 Day of Creative Business Talk
Ebook
Preworkshop Questionnaire and Goal Sheet
Preworkshop Video
Specialty Supplies
Mark Making Tools
Meet and Greet Ice Breaker

Workshop Fee - $550

Students Will Receive a Supply List



***For those artists coming to the workshop and seeking a one on one video consultation before class, I offer 30 min and 1 hour conferences for an additional fee. This gives me the chance to review your body of work and develop specific strategies to meet some of the business goals you have. It makes the workshop more relevant, but is not required. Artists opting for the consultation tend to be those who are seeking to invest in their business and seek guidance in moving that forward on a professional level. 

30 min Consultation - $85
60 min Consultation - $160 

THE WHOLE SHEBANG OPTION - Gives you the workshop, the one hour consult, and the supplies provided for $800.

****Cancellation Policy -75% refund before June 1st. 50% Refund between June 1-July 1. No refund after July 1 unless the sky falls....but call me. 

1 SPOT LEFT

(USE THE DROP DOWN MENU FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS BELOW)

Workshop Options

Workshop Only $550.00 USD Workshop with 30 min Consult $635.00 USD Workshop with 60 min Consult $710.00 USD The Whole Shebang $800.00 USD

Supplies Can Be Provided In Full For An Additional Amount - Workshop Supplies Provided Fee $120

For additional ways to work with me and view upcoming classes go HERE

Ceramic Mark Making Tools

Finding a unique mark making tool to me is like finding the Golden Egg on Easter....a prize that puts a smile on my face so wide it might crack open. I constantly seek them out, and lately, I have been making quite a few. Last week, I opted to try making some with ceramics, and I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew I wanted to make some. 

What I gave great thought to were two things: 

1. How they would feel in my hand.
2. The type of mark they would make. 

It was harder than I thought, but I am all about seeking out a challenge, so I mushed and molded and considered what type of mark each design would make. 

I created ones that marked and that could be used for stamps. 

I created ones with little circles and big circles. I even created one with the head of a hawk because I have a thing for hawks....they are good medicine in my world. If I have a deep connection with a tool, I am more likely to use it. 

Below are the finished pieces, and they look a bit like candy lol. 

I played around with them today, made some marks, made some stamps, and overall I am a believer. They didn't all work like I thought, but the surfaces that worked well made me swoon. The weight of them felt really good in my hands too, so that was a win win. 

Here are the test papers where I played around with the marks. Many of the marks are organic type lines, but the pulled print off the marks, that is luscious. They are worth their weight in gold just for the print marking aspect! 

Sample of the marks

Sample of the pulled print marks

After I got finished with those, I made some little weird heads, because I like little weird heads. The ears look as if they would make funny marks. We shall see!

Most likely I will go back to the drawing board and refine my designs but I have to say, as mark making tools go, they are some of my top faves! 



After playing with my tools, I cranked up the Native American flute music and let my heart lead me on a romp. It led me to this piece.....  "Walk of the Cherry Picker" 10"  by 10" acrylic on paper

Lovely way to end a play session. 

Hope you make time for some play in your world these days, it is so very important! 

If you have kids, you can also let them create their own mark making tools out of potatoes, carrots, and broccoli....broccoli makes great tree marks. (just don't eat them afterwards :)

Looking Ahead:
Huge news coming your way about new workshops I will be offering in Seattle this summer and one year long classroom to teach creative awareness! Stay tuned! 

First Art Journal Page of 2015 Speak Your Truth

Join me in the journey of being creative every day this year! 

I can't recall a year that I was so excited to begin.  2014 was pretty close, but in all of my 47 years, 2015 has the rumblings of being one of my most significant and exciting career wise. For that, I am already grateful. 

I took the last few weeks off to spend time with family and be present in the moment of the Christmas season, but as the year came to an end, the excitement of what this year will hold began to get the better of me and I couldn't wait to kick it off by getting my fingers in some paint and writing. 

My altered book that I have worked on over the past year is close to fruition and as I perused the pages that were left, I immediately connected with the image of the two men showcased in "The Hidden Fortress" recollective. They were escorting the princess and her general across enemy lines, although they didn't know that, and the lack of knowing and attachment to greed struck a chord. 

As I looked over the pages I first began to understand that I have a common bond with them, and I think we all do. No one is perfect, I tend to let ambition, and what could be, get the best of me so as I began marking through the pages using Asemic writing, I felt the concept of truth bubble up towards the surface. This brought me back to a time when I wasn't sure what the truth was, I struggled with it, I doubted it, I ran from it, I camouflaged it. 

Not anymore though. This time, in these days, I know like I am breathing what my truth is. Two figures are at play on this page, one that speaks the truth and one that doesn't. Because of my faith and daily practice, I understand the difference between the two....smallness vs. bigness, hopelessness vs. belief, fear vs. courage. In our humanness we wane between the two but ultimately, if we walk upon a foundation of trust, we begin to identify the subtle differences between these two voices. 

Art journaling is where the magic happens for artists who use them. They can be our playgrounds, our best friends, our hidden fortresses of fears and thoughts and ideas that are meant for no one else but ourselves. They can also be the impetus for amazing paintings and influences for larger work, which for me, is the light to my path these days. 

2015 gives me another slate, another set of 365 days to walk the earth sharing love and light and all things Ardithian. Today, my prayers are full of gratitude that you all have walked with me this far and I look forward to the days, weeks, and months ahead. Here is the finished page: 

I speak my truth boldly this year.....with confidence, with grace, and with a love for others. For things to come I will be eagerly launching new offerings this year to work with artists looking to go from amateur to professional. There are plans in the works for a studio and I am also opening the doors to take my practice on the road....which makes the hair on my head stand up with a hell yeah! 

If you are a creative, or an artist, or one who simply loves to foster those two things in others, join me in this walk to paint the world more beautifully one heart at a time. 


TO VIEW THE ENTIRE BOOK OF PAGES GO HERE

and HERE ON FB

The Power of Glazing Acrylics

Have you ever seen a painting that seemed to glow or illuminate with color that was hard to define? Chances are the artist used layers and layers of glazes to achieve a luminosity that doesn't come out of a tube. Glazing is one of the techniques I use in every painting to achieve a depth of field that resonates with color, it is also can be a labor of love and patience as well because the process causes one to move forward  at a slow and steady pace. 

Color is an incredibly powerful force in my world. It lured me in as a child and for a lifetime, I have been at its mercy. The lack of it makes my heart grow cold, the intensity of it takes my breath away, and the manipulation of it connects me with a knowing that I was created to dance with it. Glazing gives me the steps of the dance per se, along with mark making, and as I move and undulate my layers across the paper, I sense an experience beginning to evolve and come to the surface. 

In this piece, I first layered umpteen different colors almost as a watercolor wash but I used watered down fluid acrylics mixed with a bit of glazing medium. My goal was to control the colors so that they stayed true and didn't head towards mud, but for the most part, my first layers are always about play. 

Glazing the next layers slows to a snails pace. I seek to add lights in places where the darks overpower. The dance continues as I pour complimentary colors and analogous colors to achieve a luminosity that creates its own light. These glazes are paper thin and I pour up to 30-40 at times in certain areas. 

The final steps in the glazing process is to decide which direction to go in based on cool or warm colors.  Here I opted to embrace both and glazed another 10-15 layers of them to achieve this intensity. The end result for me is total eye candy and the color evokes a power that hits me directly in the gut. Glazing is also one of the three Artistic Trinity techniques that I will teaching in depth in my online class because I love it so much. You can read more about that here. 

As I have matured as an artist over the years I have come to respect the nuances of subtle color and realize that in every hue or shade or tint, beauty is reflected. We are created with the magical wonder of sight, through the lenses and rods that give us the ability to take in color and be moved by it. I remain grateful beyond words for being hard wired this way.

For those of us who are impacted by color in such a way that it brings us to our knees, I smile with you in that knowing. I also sense that we as humans are meant to find our true colors, through the pathways of creativity and through the power of love like no other. Today I shine mine brightly and celebrate the excitement of what glazing can do for a painting. 

"To Reflect Love In Color" 22" by 30" acrylic on paper 

Proust, Painters, and Creativity Art Journal Page

Throughout this book "Perspectives on the Arts" 1961, I have enjoyed immensely getting to delve into the perceptions and points of view of the art establishment during this decade. Proust was showcased for his writings, and this morning, as I landed on the page which I would alter, I read this: 

"For Marcel Proust, communication was of the very essence of art. Among the multitudinous solitudes that populate the great Thebaid of A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, art is the only means by which any man can enter the soul of another man. Only by art can we get outside ourselves, know what another sees of his universe, which is not the same as ours, and the different view of which would otherwise have remained as unknown to us as those there may be on the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing only one world, our own, we see it under multiple forms, and as many as there are original artists, just so may worlds have we at our disposal, differing more widely from one another than those that roll through infinite space, and years after the glowing center from which they emanated has been extinguished, be it called Rembrandt or Vermeer, they continue to send us their own rays of light." 

The worlds spilled right off the page and hit me directly in the gut as powerful and moving and so very true. I sat for the longest looking at this page spread and when I looked up, I saw one of my dolls, Found Friend, who always seem to be desperately trying to make a point. The direction for the page was found and I began sketching. 

Throughout the process I kept hearing the message of how important it is for each of us to understand our value, especially in light of being created as creative beings, and with each stroke I sent forward to the hope that everything I create and share will send forth the message which is just that....we matter, our creativity matters, and the world needs us to own that. 

When I create these pages, I alway seek to stay open to the message my heart wants me to process. I paint and write and draw with the tools in front of me, and with the addition of each one, a layer is added to that knowing and in turn gives me more creative passion to hear my own, unique voice. Young artists struggle with this I think, finding their voice, finding their style. I can only share what has worked for me: 

Stay curious. 
Look for the wonder in the world. 
Make records of it. 
Seek out that which you find fascinating. 
Study that. 
Practice every single day. 
Trust your path. 
Express your wonder through the skill set you have in the moment, the heart will follow. 

I hope, for today, those of you who are aware of how very important you and your creativity are in the world will know that in a more powerful way and begin to share that message with others. With all of the hate we find in this world, our love and creativity holds the power to change that. I do believe this with every thing I am. 

Art Journal Technique Playing Through The Lines

Teaching my students the importance of play when it comes to understanding the heart of an artist is one of the most important lessons I can send forth. So many times they want to capture the realism of an object to help their minds reinforce the "I am now an artist" mindset, but I nudge them in the direction of learning they are an artist because they can create, especially when they play as they create. Realism, if their heart wants to take them there, will come.

Art journals give the creatives in the world a playground to let their true spirits soar! Modeling this, especially for the young, shows them they have their very own space to explore, learn, make messes, and find what makes their hearts buzz with excitement. Today, during Free Sketchbook practice, I modeled taking a page with random marks and turning into a raw, whimsical piece having to do with friendship, diversity, and connection. It was also a great lesson to show that 'mistake' pages can be redeemed with great value.

To Begin:  

 Use crayons, oil pastels, and graphite to make random marks on the page.

Alternate your marks using text, lines, and colors. Using fluid acrylics, start adding thin glazes of color wherever your heart leads you.

Once your page has the first layers of colors and marks, give your inner child permission to find the little beings present in your artwork. Googley eyes, big heads, crowns, or sweet lips are all elements that can enhance your these figures. Don't over think them by trying to make them look "right" just let them look like they had a romp of a good time on the playground. If it helps, use your non-dominant hand to draw them.

Once your figures are drawn, use your background to layer, mark, and glaze using blocks or chunks of color. If your figure's heads are light, make the background darker so they will come forward and vice versa. Use lines and patterns to add juicy tidbits, and pay attention to contrast as you play. 

Up Close Image of the page

My finished page  below shows my version of two best fine friends hanging out. It brings to me memories of how eclectically odd we each may be, but when we find the friend who loves us for our weirdness and has a little bit of weirdness too, we know they are meant for us and us for them. A little part of me knows that type of friendship is very rare in life, so this page, for me, celebrates the knowing of that.  

Art journaling is all about play. There are a million or so ways one can work within the pages of an art journal, but the most important one is simply to begin. Leave rules and expectations outside the book and dive in. 

Tips for Fine Artists

If you are already an artist who is working on building a body of work and achieving a looser look in your mixed media pieces this style of journaling is the PERFECT place to try some new color palettes, marking techniques, and strategies before you land on your canvas. If you look in the up close images, you can see I have glazed at least 3 different layers to achieve some of these colors. I fell in LOVE with the striped contrast and the glazing effect on the bottom of the page so I will use those again in some larger pieces. 

Using water soluble graphite is a great way to add contrast and value changes in your mark making. The black bleeds which gives a subtle greying effect to a black bleed. Deliciously yummy.