SECRET PAINTING REVEALED

This is the commissioned portrait I completed for a Christmas present. Now that Christmas is over, I can share it with you. This was my second try. The first wasn't a very good likeness. I painted on a half sheet of Tyvek. It makes a very nice size for a portrait. I used two reds, one yellow and two blues. By putting the photo through photoshop elements posterize I was able to create a much more interesting tie and shirt pattern which I painted loosely and had a more traditional handling of the face. It turned out to be a good likeness. I did darken the center line of the mouth after I took this photo and forgot to reshoot the painting. Overall, a satisfactory out come for all.

Today is the beginning of Aaron Brothers 2 for 1 canvas sale. I love the Gallery Wrapped canvas so I rushed over and stocked up for the year. I normally work on paper but I like to put the collage paper on canvas and paint with acrylics on top. I decided to see what would happen with absorbant ground applied to one of the canvases and then painted with watercolor. This is a way to increase the appeal of watercolor as many people don't like the idea of glass or plexi reflections on a framed watercolor. The canvases are quite a bit more expensive than a piece of watercolor paper but if you don't have to mat and frame them, they become a real bargain...especially at half price! I will post the results when I have finished the painting.

SUNFLOWER PAINTING READY FOR APPROVAL

Here is the finished painting 12 x 24 on a narrow gallery canvas. I thought it might be nice to see the collaged canvas and then the finished piece next to each other. I threw in a detail photograph, as well.

I drew the image on the canvas with red acrylic ink and a bamboo pen after the collage material had dried. I then started painting with fluid acrylics. I wasn't too worried about making a mistake with the ink because I knew I could paint over any lines or shapes I didn't like. In the past, I have drawn the image on with vine charcoal. I could erase it with a soft cloth and redraw as much as I needed to until I was satisfied. Then I would spray it with Acrylic varnish to set it. After that I just paint on top of the charcoal image. With flowers, I didn't think it was so important to have that kind of accuracy and I wanted part of the ink line to show in the final painting. I use acrylic tube white because I wanted more opacity. I needed to make some changes in parts I had already painted but I didn't want to cover up more of the collage so I decided to collage some pieces on top of the painting. I had not thought to do this before but I really liked the effect. I can work back and forth and have a nice mixture of texture and painted image. The painting is a bit darker overall than I originally designed but I like how it turned out.

Now I am waiting for the person who commissioned this painting to approve the final outcome. I will then put one or two coats of clear acrylic over it as a protection. I love that acrylic dries quickly. I usually mix gloss and matt together. I used a matt varnish on two huge paintings I had done for my son and parts turned milky white. I was horrified and panicky that I had ruined it. I called a Golden rep in the area where my son lives ( I was varnishing it there) and she helped told me what to do to get it off. Fortunately, everything turned out well. I swore I would never "varnish" anything again. Anyway, she said what makes matt acrylic dull is that they add WHITE! Aha! That was what was looking milky. Now I don't do anything pure matt because of that incident.

I have this orange "Citri-solv" concentrated cleaner. It will clean brushes that still have some acrylic dried in the bristles. I needed to remove a dried drip of acrylic paint on my painting, so I put some of the Citri-solv on a tissue and rubbed and the acrylic dissolved! What are the possibilities here? Looks like some experimenting is called for. Can't wait to see what I can do with this idea.

Tomorrow is the slide show so be sure and send me what you have done this week so I can include it. Lots of interesting color combinations to share with everybody.

BEGINNING COMMISSION PAINTING

The double sunflower was selected from the sketches, so I have started on the final painting. First I covered the canvas with a beautiful yellow. Toning the canvas gives a mother color to the painting, creating color harmony. I then used my sketch to glue down collage papers in the approximate place and color as my sketch. I covered the edge of the canvas with a green collage paper to create a visual frame and let the whole thing dry.

The first stage was done yesterday. Today I started adding acrylic color and form to the painting. It will be finished tomorrow. I will photograph it and then post.

I have been receiving more submissions for the December painting challenge. Hilda has even painted one on the foam sheet that electronics come wrapped in! I guess I have inspired some of you to really experiment! You never know what is going to be the next big breakthrough.

One thing I failed to post on my 5 things people don't know about me is that I invented a process of dying silk in the microwave oven. I also set a microwave oven on fire trying to dry wet dyed embroidery floss. Lucky for me it wasn't my microwave!

While checking out some of the blogs that have been "tagged" I came across something called "Elf Yourself". www.elfyourself.com is the website. I created elves with my face, my two sisters faces and my brother. The resulting little show had me in tears I was laughing so hard. I sent it to lots of family members and to myself so I could save it. Now, when I need cheering up, I have the perfect remedy.