Passages [collage on watercolor paper, 11”x14”]

I had a bunch of extra paint on my palette after painting one day, grabbed a handy 1/4 sheet of watercolor paper, and made light colored start that formed the basis of this collage.  One of the fun collage elements in this piece are the geometric shapes you can see on this close-up.  These were fun to make…  I found the instructions on YouTube but, sorry, can’t locate the link.  Here’s a brief description of the steps:

1. on a perfectly clean piece of glass [thick retail shelving works great!] I poured, brushed and stamped acrylic paint left over from my painting sessions.  It had plenty of time to completely dry between sessions.
2. since this is done on glass, both front and back are visible.  When I like what I saw I applied 3 layers of Golden regular gel gloss medium with a brush, drying between each application. 
3. once that’s dried completely [24+ hours], it is a strong, thin film of yummy color.  I selected bit’s I liked and ran an exacto knife along the sides.  Then, using a flat razor [mine’s in a paint scraper handle], I gently pushed the flat of the blade under and along the glass to lift the piece.  Trust me, it’s easy.

The photo below shows the current state of this piece.  It feels like a story about passages…  there are multiple paths through this painting for the eye.  I think it makes for an interesting and personal view.  It might be saying something about life too… pick your path!  Enjoy!

 

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Collage start

I’ve taken one of my acrylic starts and added some collage.  This is the first edition and I’ve used a variety of techniques including wet into wet puddling, stamping, scraping, and lifting.  This is meant to be the front of a European home.  It’s not working so far but I’ve got a long way to go.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to pull it off!  

Cheers!

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Filters & Frames (acrylic on canvas board, 14x18”)

I’m liking the way the light travels through this piece now.  I’ve moved the lighter values into the bottom of the piece and glazed in several places to repeat the top left glow.  This isn’t done yet but it’s getting close enough to set up on the shelf in my studio for now.  Other than anchoring the wine bottle with a shadow (which seems obvious now) I’m happy enough to leave it and move on.  Here are the previous intervals for this piece so you can easily see how it has developed over time. 

Enjoy!

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Acrylic Still life…

February 16 I posted a photo of this and the photo I altered in PSE 8 to plan my next step.  I’ve continued on this one but, as usual, I’m not quite sure how to finish up.  Here’s how it stands right now.As I view this in the smaller format it strikes me that most of my lights are in the top half and I’ve got some challenges with the bottle shapes.  I guess I’ll start there next.  Cheers!

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City Park progress

I’m grabbing a few art minutes between bookkeeping sessions.  Boooring accounting – how did I do that for a living for 20 years? 

Anyhow, here’s where this painting landed yesterday.  I’m liking it in it’s semi-abstract state but I’ve got a bit more puttering to do.  As usual, the finishing takes lots of pondering for me. 

I’m looking forward to class tomorrow – I’m needing a critique on some of these pieces I’ve been working on!  Ciao!

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City Park coming along…

February 6 I posted 2 starts – this is one of those in it’s current state.  Next steps for this painting I’ve got more city planned for the left hand side which will break up the space more effectively. 

This one is almost unrecognizable from the start Feb 6.  Here’s how it looked then. 

And now, sadly, it’s time to get back to accounting…  that’s right folks, it’s time to pay the piper for all the neglect I’ve given the books.  Cheers!  Go Canada Go!

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Acrylic with next steps photoshopped

This morning I sat with a cup of coffee and a checklist of the elements and principles of design and did a bit of analysis of 3 paintings in progress, including this one.  I found myself attracted to the patterns suggestive of windows and saw one vase-like curve.  So, that’s the direction I decided to take this painting today.  Here’s what it looks like now…

It’s shaping up but when I looked at the photo in thumbnail format I noticed how confusing the values in the bottom middle are.  So, I loaded this photo into PSE8 and figured out what my next steps need to be.  What do you think? 

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