Crackle paste experiment - butterfly garden

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 12 x 9 inch canvas panel 

I've been dying to try Golden crackle paste but I wanted to experiment first. I had a canvas panel that I had been covering with paint left over from previous paintings and thought it would be a good substrate to experiment on since it was small (9 x 12) and rigid.

I covered the panel with the paste and let it dry for a few days. I applied the paste a little thinner than recommended (I have read that you should use at least 1/16 inch, and some people recommend at least 1/8 inch). The thicker the application, the bigger the cracks.

After letting it dry and waiting for the cracks to develop I moistened the surface with water, then applied fluid acrylics and allowed the paint to spread over the absorbent surface. I used the paint like a stain, wiping some of it off with a paper towel. As I was playing with the paint I sprayed it to rewet it and that led to some interesting effects.

Crackle paste is pretty fragile so when the paint was dry I covered the surface with a couple layers of matte medium. Tonight I finally got around to finishing the painting by painting the coneflower and butterfly.

Next time I use crackle paste it probably will be on a cradled wood panel primed with black gesso.


PS, the inspiration for the coneflower and butterfly was a photo taken by Lynne P. Alexander Hollingsworth.