This painting was inspired by the beautiful vibrant red tulips that announce the arrival of Spring every year in my garden. I had also recently watched an art DVD by one of my favourite artists Soraya French called Dynamic Acrylics.
One of the techniques that she discussed in the DVD that I was interested to try was in the way she prepared her surface before painting using a variety of different mediums. The idea is to randomly spread different mediums (whatever you have on hand) here and there across the surface of your painting without thinking about placement.
In this particular painting I used 140 lb. Arches cold pressed watercolour paper with splotches of gesso, light molding paste and absorbent ground. By using different pastes to prepare the surface, a variety of “surprises” will appear as the paint is applied, making it react differently depending on the medium used underneath.
I then applied washes of acrylic inks with heavier acrylics in places over top. I adding areas of hard pastel towards the end for splashes of colour.
I really enjoyed using this technique as I love to have texture within a painting. And also, I finally found a use for all the yummy texture creating pastes that I had collected!
Beginnings – Acrylic/Mixed Media – 11″x15″
Have you used texture creating pastes in your artwork? If so, which one is your favourite?
