Well, the glazing got away from me and I lost the light. Decided to use alcohol and wipe out the highlights. Bad idea. This is how you learn, the hard way! Well, the lifting was blotchy and the glazing had a seamless quality so the two didn't go together. I then decided to go more opaque and that finally killed the delicate glazed appearance that I liked in the beginning.
So now I can throw the thing away, go completely opaque or I can try and lift off much of the acrylic with alcohol. I opted for the last idea. The good news when you have ruined something is that what every you try next, it can't really harm anything. What a freeing feeling. I am intrigued with the idea that alcohol dissolves acrylic, so I wanted to see how this works. I put some alcohol in a dish and used a sponge roller to soak it up then I ran the roller over the painting a number of times. I took some paper towels and rubbed as much acrylic off as I could. This is the stage I took the first photo.
When the surface was dry, I reintroduced some charcoal. Next I brushed a coat of glazing medium over the surface, lifting the smeared charcoal in places. I worked back into the image with some additional glazing of a few colors, used a few stamps and then drew a little with a Japanese brush pen with permanent ink.
I like the final result. It is more mysterious, gritty and painterly than the first idea.
Fabulous! I think the "what have I got to loose" attitude is the best thing that can happen to many pieces.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being so honest with us.
I love the eyes. So expressive.
ReplyDeleteThis 'ruined' painting is certainly not ruined - it is wonderful, with so much depth and feeling. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThe way you deal with adversity in your work is an inspiration. I agree - the second work is even better than the first!
ReplyDeleteYou lose the transluscent quality but then you just kept on and the top one - the final? - has a very haunting quality to it. I don't think I'd do much more to it. It's a strong image.
ReplyDeleteAWESOME! Grab some Q-Tips and use those to 'draw' off the acrylic paint, too after you soak them in alcohol. I love how YUPO pushes us to explore, just as Tyvek does.
ReplyDeleteMyrna - Could you possibly spray the glazing on? I have never used acrylic glazing medium so I probably don't know what I am talking about. I loved the charcoal idea and hate to see it covered with much.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how her apparent facial expression has changed. It's subtle, but I find it stronger! Wonderful painting and interesting read!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI find that when things go completely wrong, but I stick with it and try to turn a painting into something 'new' instead of desperately trying to 'fix' it I usually come up with a much more interesting piece than I would have had, had everything gone right.
That seems to be what happened with this piece. :)
Thank you so much for sharing your experiments, open-minded attitude and adventures with us - I really enjoy your blog.
Wonderful results for an experiment. Nothing like having to pull the rabbit out of the hat, so to speak. I love the results and now you know that alcohol can lift acrylic paint to some extent.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I like them all. I wish my 'ruined paintings' turned out that well LOL! Thank you for sharing all of the steps, I am constantly inspired by your work and your techniques.
ReplyDelete...and gorgeous, too! Wow. What a save.
ReplyDeleter coleman. What kind of paper are you using and is it all acrylics? love the finished painting!
ReplyDelete