What I've Been Up To

Well, life's been interesting! School is very busy (new schedule, less plan time, extra class). Then early last week I got a new computer and have been very busy learning how to (try to) use Windows Vista. Interesting to say the least. Putting the old files I want onto the new computer is time-consuming, especially the music files. Educational, but a major time drain.

Today I finally got a chance to have a ketchup day....you know, ketchup with the laundry, ketchup with the emails, ketchup with various other tasks I've been ignoring, all the while loading up the computer and learning how to make the peripherals talk to it. Well, today's artistic objective was very simple--Do exercise 2 for the Acrylic Artists class.

I had two techniques to try. One was using cheesecloth with the acrylic paints, and the other was using string. Step one was to choose canvas boards and paint backgrounds. I decided on phthalo green/ultramarine for the cheesecloth background and micaceous iron oxide for the string background. I let them dry for awhile (while running up and down the stairs to do laundry, help with grilling, walk the dogs, rearrange CDs, change CDs on the computer, etc.). I then laid a double layer of cheesecloth diagonally across the green/blue canvas. I tried using a blunt-ended brush to pounce the copper paint onto the cheesecloth stencil-style. The brush bristles were too flexible to do a good job with that. I switched to a damp sponge and liked the results better. It was hard to get the paint even, so I didn't try to at all and went for a variegated look. Then I peeled the cheesecloth off and set it (the cheesecloth) to dry (to be cut up later and used for something else). I set the canvas aside to dry too. Time to switch to the micaceous iron oxide canvas. I had decided to use iridescent pearl and copper on that one (because I thought they would make a really nice contrast with the background). I dug out some cotton string I had saved. Well, actually it was cotton yarn, the kind that is thicker, then thinner, then thicker again. I poured a dollop of copper paint onto my impromptu palette and tried to decide how to get a nice thick coating on the string. I ended up using my fingers, which gave me the bonus of having nice coppery fingers. Then I draped the paint-y yarn on my canvas and pondered what to do next. I felt that I wanted a strong paint impression on the canvas to accentuate the contrast between the background color and the copper, so I took a piece of paper towel and patted the string down. This gave the bonus of printing little string echoes on either side of it because I did not change paper towels between pats. Cool! I did three applications with copper, then switched to new string and did three applications with the pearl. After that I set it to dry (and the strings too, to be used later for something else. I ended up looking at this canvas several times later and thinking I might add something to it, but as usual I didn't want to detract from the paint patterns. I am so happy with this one (even though it did not require any great technical skill); I just like the way it looks.

Then I went back to look at the cheesecloth canvas. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to take another two layers of cheesecloth and glue it onto the canvas on the opposite diagonal from the original one. I used gloss medium to glue it down by pouncing medium onto all the edges (I left the middle loose). The corners stuck off the canvas, which was a look I really liked. It took that a long time to dry because I used a lot of medium, probably too much really.

After some more CD/computer/laundry/dogs/daughter/grill/chocolate/Diet Dr. Pepper, I sat down to do something more. This time I sprayed the cheesecloth with a fairly heavy spritzing of water from a spray bottle (to make the paint run). Then I painted ultramarine blue and copper over it in abstract curves and dots. I let it set a bit, then sprayed it with water again to spread the paint out more. Now it is drying. I don't think I'm done with it really, but I am not sure yet what my next move is.

Battle of the Acrylic Mediums Part 1

The next three posts are an assignment for the Acrylic Artists class. Sort of. It is my take on the palette knife part of the first assignment. I mixed ten different acrylic mediums with Hansa Yellow Medium paint. The ratio was one palette knife-ful of medium to two drops of Golden Hansa Yellow Medium paint. Each combination was mixed carefully with the palette knife and spread on canvas paper in two swatches: a small thick swatch (about 1/4" or so) and a larger thin swatch.

My first pair was a head-t0-head comparison of something called High Viscosity Acrylic Blended Fibers (by Liquitex, was in clearance at Hobby Lobby) vs. G0lden Fiber Paste. The Liquitex product has a semigloss finish and when dry did not peel cleanly off the canvas paper (although it did peel off the freezer paper). It is quite smooth. The Golden Fiber Paste has more of a handmade paper texture and did peel cleanly off the paper as well as the freezer paper. I have used the Golden Fiber Paste before to make different elements for collage. I much prefer the Golden product.

Another thing I tested in this round was the Golden Crackle Paste. I've used it before and like it. The thick application cracked more and had larger cracks than the thinner application. No surprise there. It makes awesome texture and takes paint very well. It has an absorbent matte surface with a texture kind of like plaster.

Finally, I tested the Gloss Gel Medium (Liquitex). I was surprised to find that I could glop it up pretty well--not as high as the Extra Heavy Gel, but not bad at all. It's very glossy and glassy-looking. Color intensity is greater than the Fiber Paste or crackle Paste and just a bit greater than the High Viscosity Acrylic Blended Fibers by Liquitex.

Battle of the Acrylic Mediums Part 2

In this test, I compared four mediums prepared according to the formula in part 1: one palette knife full of medium to two drops of Hansa Yellow paint. The Golden Glass Gel Bead Medium (try saying that five times fast) holds a mark well. It is nice and sparkly. It warps the canvas paper a little bit, but not badly. In prior testing, I found that you can get different effects by painting over dried glass bead medium, mixing paint with medium (as in this test), or putting glass bead medium over dried paint. My favorite effect is the last one mentioned because it's so sparkly. =-)

The matte gel (Liquitex) worked well, too. It's obviously not as thick as the Extra Heavy Gels, but you can goop it on pretty good. Color quality is a bit dull as you would expect with a matte surface.

On this same pageI also tested Extra Heavy Gels (Golden) in both Matte and Gel. Matte can be used to make encaustic-type effects (I learned this in a class I took back in June--see blog from then). The gloss version is very shiny/glossy, as its name suggests. Both Extra Heavies spread on nice and thick; they hold a mark well. I must admit I like the matte better because the gloss is too glassy for my taste. I understand you can mix them for a nice satin look.

Battle of the Acrylic Mediums Part 3

Finally we come to the modeling pastes. I had played with these before so wasn't surprised by the results, but wanted to include them in my test for completeness' sake. I used the same procedure as before--one palette knife of medium to two drops of Hansa Yellow paint. This time the modeling paste did not crack when it dried, which I thought was interesting. The modeling paste is grainier than the light modeling paste and somehow has more of a "stone" look where the light modeling paste has more of a "plastic" look. Both were stiff enough to hold a good line. The light modeling paste was spread-able in a thinner layer. The light modeling paste was a brighter color with the paint added, but not by much--both were quite true to color. I can foresee using both of them to create texture in my work.

Acrylic Experiments

Here is the first of three acrylic experiments I did today for the AcrylicArtists class. I tried four different brushes: 12 round, 14 filbert (my fave), 1" wash, and wisp (size 3/4). I used them with light, medium, and heavy pressure, dots, a wavy line, (all with a normal grip) and a straight line painted while holding the end of the brush. I had not used the wisp or the 1" wash before and found them interesting to work with. As I suspected, more pressure does not equal better coverage. These were done on canvas paper with Golden Fluid Acrylics Pyrrole Red.

Acrylic Experiments

Another acrylic experiment. This was an experiment in painting over two different surfaces. It was from the AcrylicArtists homework. It is straight Ultramarine Blue and two different dilutions with water over two kinds of surfaces: dried Pyrrole Red fluid acrylic, and collaged papers adhered with gloss gel medium. I wasn't particularly surprised by the effects, but it was interesting enough.

Acrylic Experiments

Here is another acrylic experiment, my last one for the day. The directions called for us to compare fluid acrylics to tube to heavy body. I don't have heavy body, so I compared Golden Fluid to Liquitex Basics Tube. I found them surprisingly similar to use even though the tube kept its form when I squeezed it out. It spread just as easily.