Still Making Art

Life Gets Better as I Get Older

Category Archives: Acrylic


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New Day 21 – Playing With Paint-Pouring

I got bitten by the flow-paint bug. If you haven’t yet discovered the hundreds of videos of flow painting, don’t go looking unless you are ready for a great distraction. I can’t remember just how I came upon this craze, but one video and I was eager to try my hand at it. There is a quality about it that reminds me of blown glass.

Basically it just what it sound like – pouring paint over a canvas/board/whatever, and seeing what happens. Much of it is quite magical.

There’s an artist out there who pours on ceramic tiles, and since I happen to have two boxes of  tiles in my attic that were here when I bought the house, that’s what I decided to use. Later I moved on to preparing wood and pouring on that. Most of ones time is spent making frames, preparing wood etc. The paint pouring (which is really FUN) takes only a few minutes. But the excitement of seeing what happens is irresistible.

Here are a few results. I’m planning to sell these on ETSY as everyone who has seen them, loves them.

Sample framed tiles copy

 

IMG_8292 small           Round #2 - terrible lighting small

 

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Day 3 – Procrastination

I’ve discovered some fabulous oil painting videos on YouTube. I’ve been watching quite a few over the last months, but this is the first video that is not speeded up. The difference is ENORMOUS. I was getting the impression that painting was an exercise in precise intuitive paint throwing.  Seriously, I’ve been trying to paint by magically flicking the brush on the canvas in just the right way to make a perfect stroke – as if what I needed was to develop a better instinct and less left brain activity. But this video shows just exactly how careful one (or he anyway) must be if one is to produce a painting that is realistic. He also teaches so clearly how to get the right tone and value – it’s just awesome how clear it has become. So I recommend all of this fellow’s videos.  His YouTube ID is DrawMixPaint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sRewRXX7H6s
His website is: http://www.drawmixpaint.com/

I send him a big thank you for making this instruction free for everyone.

And oh yes – he also lists the tools he uses including the brushes. Turns out I’ve been using flat brushes when filbert might be just what I need.
 
And now for something not in oil.
 
After struggling with the little bird painting, I needed a break. So I took several weeks off and shifted to acrylics and made a tape painting – [I’m still catching up to the present day in this blog]. This is my father’s masking tape method. But I work out the design on paper first. My father does his design in his head as he goes.
 
First the whole canvas is covered with the design – in masking tape.

The design in tape is on and painting the background has begun

The design in tape is on and painting the background has begun

Then the background is painted.

What a mess! Finding the foreground tape pieces is not easy

What a mess! Finding the foreground tape pieces is not easy

After that come a long slow process of removing tape piece by  piece and painting the exposed canvas. Unlike my father, I didn’t use shading in painting the leaves and blossoms, so it looks like a flat fabric design.

Ah...here comes the color

Ah…here comes the color

Starting to look like it might be okay

Starting to look like it might be okay

 It’s not a very complex painting but I like it. And it was fun.

Plumbago - finished and ready to frame

Plumbago – 17 x 21- finished and ready to frame

It is only at the end that one knows whether one has a disaster or something pleasing.