Painting What I Know ~ The Trailer Park

This is one subject that until this past month hasn't seemed to inspire me and I'm not sure why. I've lived in this park for over 20 years now. I actually lived down here for a short time in the mid 70's with my husband and my first son. My youngest son was born here. Well, while we lived here. Then we moved on like most folks that live in these parks but I never forgot how much I enjoyed park life. I returned in the mid 90's and the rest is history. This particular park sits right above Lake Charlevoix with lake access for the park residents. Lot rent is reasonable and that's saying something in Charlevoix, believe me!

My intention at this time is to...ummmm...I'm not sure what my intention is. I think I'll let it come to me as I go along. Maybe I'll chronicle the features of the place that stand out to me most. I'm talking series here. I know this was the intent with this piece. The trailers are set along a drive that is terraced. The drop to the lower terrace is extremely steep so the drive out is equally steep. Along the way are all the lovely speed bumps. Try going over those while in labor. Not fun but I digress. Using acrylic paint, cut paper collage, graphite and gesso I've tried to portray the scene of the hill in early morning. I was walking a fine line between concept piece and illustration but think I may have fallen off into illustration. I'll let my visitors be the judge. Chime in if you wish.

Liquitex Flexible Modeling Paste ~ product review

I'm always on the lookout for ways to add texture to some of my paintings. Today I experimented with this product and I highly recommend it to artists that prefer to work on paper like myself. It's flexible, as the label states, so it won't crack on flexible surfaces. Up to this point I've been relying on Liquitex gesso to get a degree of texture but there's a lot of moisture in gesso and it takes a long time to dry. Also it's rather runny, causing the paper to buckle, and has to be worked and reworked with a palette knife or other tool to produce an interesting surface. However this product is thick, easy to mold and dries much faster. It's also possible to get a high degree of texture not possible with acrylic gesso. I created this sample floral to see how well the modeling paste accepted watercolor and ink. It behaved very similar to gesso. Paint was pretty easy to lift but I think the surface tended to stain a bit more. If a non porous surface was needed a coat or two of high gloss gel medium over the modeling paste would accomplish that.  

Japanese Irises~Completed

SOLD

I've been fiddlin' around with this one waaaaay too long to be objective anymore so I'm calling it done, at least for now. I've included a long shot(some tape is showing...sorry, camera distortion), a closeup and the piece framed with the mat & frame that I intend to use. I did a lot of fine tuning, both with color and cleaning up rough edges. That's another thing I like about working on gesso. I used masking fluid on the irises and I can never get a nice sharp tip or corner with that stuff. I used a very sharp exacto knife to gently scrape away the surface paint(be very, very careful if you try this) and managed to get perfect points on those little top petals.

**********

My oldest son has requested that I paint some frogs for him so that will probably be my next mission. Ribbit!

Lily-of-the-Valley on Gessoed Paper

I guess this one IS done. I just sold it!

I wanted to try gesso on watercolor paper for the simple reasons that I have more paper than mountboard, I have more options regarding size and if I happen to create a painting I'm truly satisfied with, it'll be easier to frame.

This particular painting may still be a work in progress. I haven't decided yet. However, I did discover a few things while working on gesso.

1. Artists tape coated with gesso will still release easily.

2. Masking fluid can be used on gesso.

3. Two coats of Krylon fixative will reduce the lifting problem.

This painting is done on Arches 140# HP watercolor paper coated with Liquitex gesso. I had no subject in mind when I applied the gesso and have decided I really should decide on a subject and composition beforehand.