Mixing Mediums and Trying Out a New Palette

Fall and foul weather has finally arrived in Michigan. My good mood has gone south with the geese so I've been experimenting instead of starting a new project. I haven't worked with watercolor on gesso coated paper in ages so that was on my to-do list. I did wind up adding a little acrylic but very little and then I used soft pastel to the mix with some interesting results.

This painting is pure acrylic.

I also did a quick landscape, totally from imagination using a color palette which I found online. The Fall colors are uninspiring this year so I had to pull from other sources.

January ~ mixed media & collage

I've titled this one 'January' because it was inspired by the view outside my living room window this month. Icy, drippy, chilly and truly 50 shades of grey. It's a combo of homemade and purchased decorative papers, silver leaf and acrylic on HP watercolor paper. I used a mixture of tissue paper and gesso for texture. It didn't scan well but it's impossible to get a good photo because the days are so dark and silver leaf is tricky. I've already got a start on my next collage and this one will be 'warmer'.

Park Life 2 ~ collage

Although I haven't posted lately I have been working. I took my sweet time and spent three weeks creating this fun little piece of cut paper collage, gesso, charcoal and acrylic paint on paper. It's based loosely on the actual park I live in as viewed from the lake which the park overlooks. I surprised myself that I not only was able to cut all those teeny tiny little pieces of paper without tearing my hair out or losing interest but that I enjoyed the process. I Zen-ed out! It helped that I created more comfortable seating for myself. That is SO important for any artist, to be comfortable while creating. If anyone finds themselves balking at have a good sit down at their easels ask yourselves if your chair isn't comfortable anymore. They do wear out, you know.

Note: I received a lovely email from the woman that commissioned the portrait of the cats. The birthday girl was very happy with the painting and sent a photo of it matted and framed. I'm posting that image with her permission.

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.

Trilliums Again

A portion of the transfer

Portion #2

This is the final sketch.

Storyboarding...this is a method I employ using individual drawings on tracing paper and arranging them to create a pleasing composition. It works great and I'm too cheap to buy another version of Adobe Elements.

This time I'm putting a new spin on things. This style is new to me and I'm not sure how it will turn out but why let that stop me, huh? I've put down a coat of acrylic gesso on matboard to add an element of texture, let that dry and then painted the surface with black acrylic paint. I transferred my drawing with white transfer paper and things are now ready for color. I plan to use a palette of soft greens and blues but that may change depending on how it's looking in process. Wish me luck!

Morels 2 ~ complete

And here is the finished painting all float mounted and framed and ready for a buyer. If you like what you see let me know. If not this will probably go to the gallery. In the meantime I've started work on the next work of art. This time I think I'll be painting trilliums and I've got an interesting palette chosen. Actually it's a entirely new approach, new to me that is.

Morels and Bookmarks

I've got two 11" x 14" shadow boxes that I've wanted to use for paintings so I chose to use morel mushrooms for my subject, at least in one of the boxes. I'm taking a similar approach to a painting I created back in 2011. I've coated a piece of matboard with Liquitex gesso and added bits of leaves and twigs to replicate a forest floor. I also coated some oak leaves I saved from last Fall. Oak leaves are the best leaves I've found for this application because they are sturdy and pliable, even when dried. I will attach those with gel medium. I also tried out a new medium...string gel. I used it to form the mushrooms and give them a 3D appearance. The string gel was surprisingly easy to work with and I can imagine all sorts of projects I could use it for.

I found myself with lots of scrap Yupo and I hate wasting art materials so I made about a dozen bookmarks with the bits and pieces. I think they turned out rather well!

Found a Bug in My Painting

It's always fun to apply acrylic gesso to a surface, then work it around with a palette knife or whatever is handy. After it's dry, the textures that occur as a result can be very exciting. Last night I had a swatch of paper I had coated with gesso and I began to slosh paint on it. I love to watch the paint settle into all the little nooks and crannies and lo and behold, I spotted insect wings! The more I looked, the more came into focus. A thorax, some insect-y legs...definitely a bug. I added some eyes, some antennae and voila! Try painting on gesso. The results are never the same twice and it never gets boring.