First Friday Bridge Press Cellars

I'll be at Bridge Press Cellars

from 6-9 pm Friday, June 1, 2018

Come on down!

Bridge Press Cellars is wine bar located at 39 W. Pacific Ave. downtown Spokane.

My traditional and textured landscapes will be on display as well as my mixed media and palette knife florals.  

Hope to see you there!

Fresh off the Easel

Getting ready for my show at Bridge Press Cellars 

39 W. Pacific Ave. Spokane, WA

First Friday reception on June, 7!

"Sherbet Dahlias"

mixed media

12 x 12

$85

"Desert Sunrise"

mixed media

8 x 8

$65

"Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment"

Acrylic

16 x 20

$195

"Spring Runoff"

Acrylic

12 x 12

$75

Hope to see you there!

Acrylic Texture Mediums

I am often asked about the acrylic mediums I use to get various textures and change the consistency of my paint. Here's a quick list.

Acrylic Mediums

  

Gesso – used to prep canvases, to correct dents and damage to a canvas, can be painted over a used canvas, wood panels, or other surfaces to create a paintable surface, can be mixed with salt or sand to build texture. Dries opaque (white) with a gritty, absorbent surface (but also comes in black and clear). In the above picture, salt was mixed with gesso to create the gritty texture in the yellow sections.

Acrylic Flow Aid (Flow Improver) - used to increase the fluidity of acrylic paints and works as a retarder (keeps paint from drying) to allow more blending time.

Matte Medium – a transparent liquid that increases fluidity, transparency, and reduces sheen of acrylic paint. Great for glazing, prepping paper or other surfaces. Can be mixed with acrylics, ink and watercolor. Can be used to lay paper and collage. In the painting above, matte medium was used to glue down the paper in the sky.

Gloss Medium & Varnish – A transparent liquid that increases fluidity, transparency, and glossiness of acrylic paint. Can also be used as a final varnish if painted over finished acrylic or mixed media artwork.

Modeling (Molding) Paste - used to create texture and attach small objects. Dries opaque with a smooth, absorbent texture. Can be mixed 50/50 with paint. In the above picture, most of the textures (some gesso and sand) were made with Modeling Paste. Even the doily was stuck down into it.

Crackle Paste - used to create texture. Dries opaque and cracks. Can be mixed 50/50 with acrylic paint. Used in the trees pictured above.

   

    Gel Medium  - used as an adhesive, to create texture, transfer images, and to change the consistency of acrylic paint. Dries clear with a plastic, non-absorbent surface. Comes in soft, heavy, self-leveling, matte, and gloss. Great for thickening paint to palette knife as in this floral.

    

    Gel medium was used to create the texture in this poppie piece as well as glue down the paper doily (behind the poppies) and the poppies themselves, which are made from painted paper towels.

 

Gold Leaf – a thin sheet of gold (or imitation gold) that is used for gilding or part of mixed media art. You can paint over it as seen in the image above. I use the Mona Lisa brand. 

   Varnish – comes in liquid and spray form, matte, gloss, and semi gloss. This is the final step of a painting. Varnish protects the paint from dirt, dust, and UV rays. Keeps paint from fading over the years, and evens out the final sheen of the artwork.

Two very similar paintings the left one in a matte varnish, the right one in a gloss.

Here is a link to my past texture posts:

Gel Medium

More Textures

Modeling Paste Wet on Wet

Have Fun!

Art for Kids: Mixed Media Watercolor Owls

Supplies: pencils, scissors, glue, black constructions paper, oil pastels, watercolor paper, watercolor paints and brushes, crayons.

Step One: I gave each student 2 pieces of watercolor paper and let them choose two of the following techniques:

1)   white oil pastel resist (white pastel with watercolor painted overtop)

2)   warm crayon resist (warm colored crayons with cool colors painted overtop or vise versa)

3)   salt sprinkled over wet watercolor

They needed to have one paper primarily warm colors and the other primarily cool. We used liquid watercolor paints.

Step Two: We set the watercolor paper aside to dry and drew a moon and branch (stars, clouds, leaves - all optional) on a large piece of black construction paper. NOTE: remind students to put the branch at the bottom of the page, not the middle!

Step Three: We cut out the body shape of the owl from one piece of watercolor paper. I had students draw on the back of the paper until they got a good shape before cutting it out (most tend to go too small).

Step Four: Have students fold the other sheet in half (colored side inward) and draw wing shapes on the back the paper. They must keep the paper folded and cut out the wings so that they end up with two matching wings – mirrored, not identical. Students can use their owl body as a guide to wing size.

Step Five: All scraps go into the “scrap pile” which students will now use to cut out eyes, feet, and a beak (Keeping to the warm on cool or cool on warm rule. Example: cool colored beak and eyes on a warm colored body). If you want to use templates for these shapes you can. I let them trace circles for the eyes.

Step Six: From black construction paper, cut out circles for the pupil part of the eye. Again, having a small circle to trace is useful.

Step Seven: Glue it all together and add any final details with pastel.

This was a cute and easy project, which took about and hour and a half total. I did it over two sessions, so that the watercolor paper would have time to fully dry. My first group was 1-3^rd graders, my second group 3-5^th.

HAVE FUN!