Spring flowers

To be in tone with the season, and because I did not play with paint in a while, I decided to make myself a paper garden. I used acrylic paint, acrylic ink, collage and watercolors and varied the way I applied them on the mat board.

For the first one, I used alcohol drops to create round shapes for the flowers: 

Here, I gessoed over the first attempt and applied fluid acrylics, some collage on the vase and white ink splatters.

For the third one, I used acrylic ink and a straw to mix the colors and create interesting areas for the leaves and flowers.

 Here I used watercolor washes. The colors appear a bit washed out in the scanned version. I applied workable fixative after the watercolor dried to be able to add more color on top without the watercolor lifting. The board was primed with soft gel. I might darken the colors on this one a bit. Oh, I also used salt and that lightened the colors a lot.

Spring garden

Acrylic on Aquarius II paper

Another painting on synthetic paper using the same approach - spilling paint, going on a scavenger hunt for shapes, followed by what seemed to be hundreds layers of glazes.

Abstract landscape

Acrylic on Aquarius II paper 

I wanted to try this synthetic paper. It is very light and it folds nicely, but I had some difficulty applying the pigment. I expected the drying time to be much longer because it is synthetic paper, but the paint disappeared" almost immediately. On the positive side, this paper takes a lot of beating. In the end it did curve though and I did not stretch it back. This is why the image is a bit off at the bottom. I have another big sheet that I might use for watercolor sketching...

Abstract on Strathmore Aquarius II paper. It is at the top of my to-do list after I move.

The exhibition that was

I exhibited three mixed media panels at the annual Artist's Circle of the West Island exhibition. The event ended last Saturday. In defense of my lack of posting, I can say that I am super busy with two yoga teacher training courses and other non-artistic endeavors.

Where does time fly ... and working large

Well ... I don't know where time went. Not that I sat idle. Busy with yoga training and workshops with Jane.
But still...

I started working on some of the studies left over from Vermont. Here is the first one:
Before:

 After:

I've been "published"...

... on Jane Davie's blog. In this post, the forth sample from the top is mine (the exaggerated vertical orientation). Very proud!

Abstract flowers

This is the second incarnation of a panel I already posted. I was not too happy with the result, so I decided to add some collage. The shapes come from one of the junk mail books. I copied them on artist tissue paper and glued them over the existing shapes.

Two hearts...

I have not decided in which direction to display the painting. I was looking at the overall shape, but a friend of mine said she saw two hearts...so maybe I will leave it this way. Acrylic, tree bark embedded with molding paste.

In the fog...

I decided it was about time to finish the classes I signed up for in the Land of lost luggage. 

Wood panel, acrylic, 12 x 12.

Leaves and pods

Abstract leaves and pods on 10x10 wood panel from Layer Love v2. 

Ghost town

Another painting - this one was more trouble. I managed to make mud in the first round and it took a while to get rid of that. Now I know what colors to use for glazes! This is how it started:

 The bottom is muddied up and all I could see were skulls...I had to do something! This is phase two:

 And finally:

It reminds me about the villages on the Amalfi coast in Italy...

Acquatic landscape

This is another painting I finished in the Land of the lost luggage. It started like this:

 and it became this:

 

 

I am pleased with the results, I think it is a step in the right direction.

Lonesome

Photo inspired abstract painting from the Land of the lost luggage classes. It started like this:

This is a picture in the lava fields near Flagstaff, Arizona. The picture morphed first into this:

and finally into this:

I think I am starting to get a hang of this, but a lot more work is needed. I am very far from the 10 000 hours of practice that makes perfect ...

Blue shapes

This one went through so many incarnations that I lost count...

Abstract with flower

I used to think that painting abstracts is a walk in the park. After all, they are just circles and squares, right? Of course, I was wrong. I am spending an insane a mount of time painting these abstracts for the classes I am taking with Julie and Chris, but I am pleased with the results and I am having fun. That's what counts, right?

Gradient

I went AWOL lately because I am taking three classes with Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen over at the Land of Lost Luggage, a sketching class with Alisa Burke and a fiction writing class. So far, I am enjoying the process but it takes a while to finish a piece. That's ok because the paintings will be better.

Here are two of them. The exercise was to create a gradient of color using glazes.

Doodles

This exercise started with a blind contour doodle. I made six copies and I turned each one of the copies into something else (exercise from Aimone's book as well).

This is what I got:

While I was looking at these pages through the camera lens, I realized that they are not finished. Here they are,with few more touches.

Circus City

These exercises are from Steven Aimone's book - working with flux. In other words, intuitive work. Adding shapes, lines, obstructing and revealing with paint, charcoal, markers. Enjoyable exercise - I am pleased with the results, especially the bottom one.

Face painting

December being a slower month at work, I decided to take another portrait paintinc class. This time from Jane DesRosier. I like her paintings, they remind me of Tonitza's girls portraits. So, I watched  the videos - that was easy. Then, I painted ... about seven faces I believe. One uglier that the other! Scary ugly. I had a hard time with the blue-green underpainting too. I could not figure out the winnning combination yet. In the end, I managed to salvage three faces.

 This one had a green underpainting.

Attempt a 3/4 portrait - with less than stellar results...

Conclusion: more work needed!