Took a break from blogging and keeping up with other artists posts - in fact most computer related activities in general. Still painting but has been good to take a break from technology. I have a couple of workshops coming up in April and have been gearing up for them. For me this means checking that our favourite dog walker is available, meals are prepared in advance and of course the all important supply list has been checked and double checked. At this point in my painting life I don't require much in the line of supplies. Have enough paint to last a lifetime and paper too! I will be doing some prepping of paint surfaces as required by the instructor. As the date gets closer I will share info about the instructor and some of their art work.
The picture I am posting today took more time than I had planned. I worked with neutrals and added colour near the end. I am doing more and more lifting of paint to expose some of the older paint layers. I enjoy taking the paint off, just as much as putting it on. Can never really be sure what will be exposed!
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'Vessels #12'
Acrylic mixed media on
Arches 140lb hot press paper |
Wherever you are - happy creating!
Welcome back, I resubscribed again as I thought I wasn't getting notified. How exciting to get ready for a workshop, an experience I have yet to try's, but will. I like this very much and it reminds me of old time everyday usable pottery. I always marvel that yiu are working on 140lb paper and get the look you do. Super work
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sticking with me Nelvia and resubscribing!! Take care and have a good weekend
DeleteLove the simplicity, the scratches. The dark is a nice surprise. Love how the texture on the vessels slightly overlaps onto the foreground/background.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting Shelia and for leaving a comment!
DeleteLong time no see, so glad to have your compelling art in my inbox today, a treasure hunt of exploration. What are the primary ways you lift/take off paint? Eager to hear about your upcoming workshop experiences—woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you Dotty! For lifting the paint - if still 'wet' will lift with paper (smooth or crinkled, paper towel - whatever is at hand!) and if dry will pour rubbing alcohol on and let sit - how long it sits depends on how many layers I want to lift. Sometimes I will repeat the rubbing alcohol several times till I get what I like. The paint will get quite tacky/sticky - that is how I judge when it is ready to be lifted. Not always 100% successful but you can always paint over, but make sure is completely dry - I let it sit for at least 30 minutes before adding more paint.
DeleteThanks, Janet. I seem to come in and out of lifting paint. Sometimes I do so often and reflexively, and then I go for long stretches where it never even occurs to me. I'm grateful for the reminder via the captivating depth and intrigue of your paintings. When using the rubbing alcohol, do you scrub away with paper towel, scratch through with tools, both, other?
DeleteThis is quite a bit longer reply than I intended Dotty - hope you make it through to the end! ... I like to burnish the paper with a baren/spoon whatever is handy. Haven't tried drawing in - I find the paper I am using for the lifting can be damp from the paint/alcohol mix and will just tear. Varying the weight you use with the barren will affect how much paint is lifted. (I will sometimes use these 'lifting' papers for collage) Some paper towels have a pattern and you can get some interesting effects (or not!) lifting wet paint. You could use the drawing in technique to great effect here - while the paint is wet - and also pressing all sorts of different things into the wet paint. I have been using an old mousepad as a base underneath the painting and the paper and then burnishing - using this I find I don't have to rub quite so hard. If you are interested in using the drawing in technique will check some workshop notes where the instructor put a thick layer of paint on deli paper, put a clean piece of good quality paper on top and then drew in - can get some lovely marks. Will double check and get back to you to make sure I have the right technique. Might take a little bit of time to find the notes but I will get back to you if you like. I would encourage you to experiment, find what works for you and maybe discover a new technique. Will be interested to hear about and see what you do. This might be quite interesting to experiment with on your 100 layers. What I am trying to achieve is exposing some of the earlier layers of paint. For me it is just as important to take paint off as to put it on. Even though I am destroying a lot of what I have done I find I can create a much better painting.
ReplyDeleteJanet, thanks for this wealth of info. I appreciate your taking the time, and I thank you for introducing me to the term/tool of baren—new to me. No need to go through workshop notes, but thank you for your kind offer. First, let's see where I get with the info you've already provided and with my experimenting. I have the underlayers set up on a new work in progress. Once I start to paint over what I've started, I'm hoping to remember my intention to lift paint : )
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