Loving the Golden OPEN acrylics

Painting by Vicky Christensen, Golden OPEN acrylics on 20 x 16 inch canvas

I've been wanting to paint this waterfall for a while. I finally got around to it yesterday and finished it tonight. This was inspired by a photo I took in the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden a few years ago. I painted it with pastels a couple years ago. This time I painted with Golden OPEN acrylics over an underpainting done with fluid acrylics and matte medium. I went wild with the color.

Here's the underpainting:

Hawaiian scene

Painting by Vicky Christensen, Golden OPEN acrylics on canvas 

Here's a painting of a shaded spot in the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. I used Golden OPEN paints over an underpainting of fluid acrylics and matte medium. They OPEN paints weren't dry when I took the photo and it caused some reflections, so the photo isn't the best.

I keep trying to loosen up on my landscape paintings but I ultimately end up putting in too much detail. I'll keep trying.

Vase of peonies

Painting by Vicky Christensen, Golden OPEN acrylics on canvas

I watched a video of Desmond O'Hagan on Artists Network and was inspired to paint this vase of peonies based on his reference photo. His painting was done in pastels. I decided to use Golden OPEN acrylics over an underpainting done with fluid acrylics.

Below are the initial line drawing and the underpainting.

It just wasn't working

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 14 x 18 inch canvas 

Yesterday was one of those days. I started painting with an idea in my head but things didn't go as planned.

If you can believe it, I started with the intention of painting an abstract version of a colorful village, one of those you see in a travel brochure for coastal Italy, for example. Once I got into it, it just wasn't working for me.

So I started to layer more paint and got a very colorful canvas. I started scraping and painting circles. It looked like this after a while:

I liked the colors but it still wasn't doing anything for me. Since the top layers of the paint was still wet (I was using Golden OPEN paint and medium) I started scraping away paint. It might have been a rash decision  (word of advice, don't make important decisions at 1:00 AM). But what the heck, it's only a painting.

Today I decided to follow the texture that was left on the canvas and started glazing on color. It ended up looking like one of those mosaics that people make from pieces of colored glass. I decided to use a mix of manganese blue hue and titanium white for the 'grout' highlights.

Making something old new again

Abstract painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 18 X 24 inch canvas 

This painting used to be an uninspiring seascape, one of the first acrylic paintings I painted a couple years ago. I decided to give it a new life as an abstract. I started with Inktense blocks that I used to draw some lines, first along the waves of the original painting and then added more lines and shapes. I used acrylic glazing liquid to wet the dry Inktense lines then began to randomly apply paint with a palette knife. I developed the painting further with brushed layers of color.

Color, and more color!

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

Here's another little abstract. As with the last painting, this one began with leftover paint on a canvas panel  (see my previous post). I loved the vibrant colors that were already on the canvas so I played off of them. This makes me think of molten spheres of colored glass.

Little abstracts

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

I hate to waste paint so I usually off-load paint left on my palette to some surface that can be used in another painting. Lately I've been using 9 x 12 inch canvas panels. This painting was done on a panel that had a lot of texture and several layers of leftover paint. It looks a little like fish to me, but change the orientation and it could be something completely different. 

The bottom photo is the current state of my latest 9 x 12 panel. I like the colors and some of the shapes. What will it become? Your guess is as good as mine. 

Work in progress

A place for everything, everything in its place (sort of)

I inaugurated my 'new' art room by painting a couple abstracts today. I was trying some new techniques I learned from an online course taught by Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen. In case you're interested, check out http://thelandoflostluggage.com/new-products-1/, Layer Love 2.0. The techniques rely on the longer open time of Golden OPEN acrylics, which is useful for wet into wet blending, scraping back to old layers and monoprinting.

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 12 x 16 inch canvas panel 

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 12 x 16 inch canvas panel 

Both of these paintings were done over old paintings, and a little of the old paintings is showing in each case. Extra credit if you can find the originals amongst my old blog posts.

Here's what my new art room looks like now:

OK, so I didn't put everything back in its place.

Trying something new with an old subject

Painting by Vicky Christensen, Golden OPEN Acrylics on 16 X 20 inch canvas 

 I'm still experimenting with Golden OPEN Acrylics. This time I painted Monet's lily pond in Giverney. My reference photo was one I found on the Wet Canvas website, one I have painted before with pastels.

I tried a new technique I learned from a Julie Gilbert Pollard video. I started with an underpainting using fluid acrylics, using pyrole orange for the top background, quinacridone magenta for the bottom background and dioxazine purple to sketch the subject. The orange glows through the blue tint of the sky, as does the magenta in the pond. I like the effect.

Underpainting, fluid acrylics 

Happy New Year!

Painting by Vicky Christensen, Golden OPEN acrylic on 9 x 12 inch canvas panel 

Happy New Year folks!

I wanted to end the old year by using up the paint on my palette. So here's a quick and loose impression of an apple tree.

Another Experiment with Golden OPEN Acrylics

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 16 X 12 inch canvas 

I had some paint left over from yesterday's painting so I decided to do a little more experimenting. I put my palette into my Masterson sealable palette box yesterday and today the paint was still quite workable. No wet sponge necessary.

I painted this subject once before with pastels. The reference photo is one my nephew took in Hawaii, which accounts for the black beach. I think it turned out OK for my second effort with Open acrylics. When it dries fully I might try glazing it to make it more luminous and perhaps tone down the blue of the ocean.

Update - I experimented with an orange glaze of paint and OPEN gloss medium to tone down the blue in the ocean. It didn't go on as smoothly as I would like. I probably should have waited another day. Here's what it looks like:

Update, Jan. 1, 2016

I decided to make a few changes to the waves and the reflections of the sun. I brought back some of the blue tint to the whitecaps, reinforced the glints of sunlight, and glazed the foreground black beach with ultramarine blue  (which didn't photograph well). I think the waves look too repetitive but I am happier with the colors now.

Experimenting with Golden OPEN Acrylics

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

Craftsy has a clearance on Golden OPEN Acrylics, 60% off the list price. I have been thinking about trying them, so I took the opportunity to buy several colors. They have been sitting around a few weeks, calling to me. I finally answered the call. The longer open time gives you time to blend  (and make mud if you aren't careful ;) ). It takes some time to get used to them, but I think I'm going to like them for some types of subjects. I like to glaze a lot, so we'll see if the paint dries fast enough to do layering. I probably will have to be a lot more patient  (not my strength) and will need to do more experimenting, but so far I like them.