Orbs and ovals

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 24 x 18 inch canvas 

This painting started with some painted deli wrap that I collaged onto the canvas. I followed up with a layer of light molding paste for texture, let it dry, then followed with drips, drops, sprays of water, glazes and so on. I couldn't resist lightly sponging a tint of my favorite Golden color, manganese blue hue, to finish off the painting.

Wrapping up one painting, working on another

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic paint and mediums on 18 X 14 inch canvas 

I'm declaring this painting finished! I added some glazed shadows then painted over a lot of the texture with Liquitex iridescent medium. So along with the glass bead gel it has some cool light reflecting qualities.

In the mean time I have been working on another small canvas. Below is a peek at the skin that will be used on that painting. I'm waiting for the medium to dry before putting everything together and keeping my fingers crossed that the painting will come together without mishaps.

Acrylic skin for work in progress 

Basking in the sun

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 16 X 20 inch canvas 

This painting started out without a plan other than to experiment with texture. I used a painting knife to apply Golden light molding paste to the canvas then pressed various objects into it to give it some texture. Some objects worked better than others. I ended up with a circle in the upper right, so I decided to put a sun there. The rest of the painting evolved (or should I say revolved) around the sun. The painting initially had a rainbow of colors moving out from the sun, but I didn't like the intensity. The surface was too textured to use glazes to tone it down so I finally settled on the dabs of broken color to portray the sun's rays. I decided to add some flowers to the butterflies I had originally stamped into the molding paste, and decided to use Golden fiber paste for the flowers. It was fun painting the flowers since fiber paste is so absorbent. All in all, this was a fun painting.

Change of Season

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 16 X 20 inch canvas 

Since the leaves are starting to change colors here in Minnesota, I thought that was a good excuse to paint colored leaves. This painting was done with a little molding paste, lots of stencils, and finished with translucent and transparent glazes. Can you tell I like lots of color?

Fireworks

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

 This painting is the result of many layers of texture, stencils and acrylic paints and mediums. I started by applying molding paste through a stencil, followed by drips and runs of Golden high flow acrylics. In later layers I wanted to see what would happen if I mixed acrylic paint loosely with matte medium and applied it with a palette knife to partially obscure the layers beneath.

The photos below show the painting in earlier stages.

Blue Cocktail

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

This is the second of three canvases I prepared a few days ago. This time I wanted to experiment with Golden light molding paste to see how the texture influenced the painting. After applying the molding paste I imprinted some areas with dots using a silicone hot pad (the kind you put under a hot pan to protect your kitchen counter). I also scratched some lines in the texture and used those to guide the painting. This is also the first time I have used fluid acrylics in addition to the heavy body paints. I am calling it "Blue Cocktail" because I can see the shape of a glass (purely accidental).