Another Negative Painting Exercise

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

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

Today's paintings are based on an example in Linda Kemp's "Simplifying Design and Color for Artists." The paintings ended up looking quite different from the examples in the book. I used canvas panels rather than Ampersand Claybord. When I tried to glaze with cobalt blue to mute some of the passages, as recommended in the book, the canvas texture was too apparent for my tastes. I probably will try this exercise again, but next time with a smoother surface so I can try more of the glazing techniques suggested in the book.

Tales of the Sta-Wet Palette

This is a little story about my Masterson Sta-Wet Palette. I use it when I paint with acrylics. I have the Super Pro palette, which provides a large surface for mixing paints, The palette consists of a large plastic tray that holds a re-usable acrylic film over a large sponge. The damp surface keeps the acrylic paints moist. So far I have been fairly happy with the palette, but after recent events I am here to say I love it!

The last time I painted in acrylics was the last week in February. When I finished that painting, I fully intended to do another painting a few days later so I closed up the palette and set it aside for what I expected to be a day or two. I left a large glob of titanium white plus a few other colors in the palette for the next painting. I have been in the habit of putting the palette in the refrigerator because the palette can become smelly if left at room temperature for a few days, and if left too long mold can develop. I have found that refrigeration keeps the palette from getting smelly and discourages mold.

Good thing I put it in the refrigerator. A few days later I woke up with a sore throat and runny nose -- in other words, a common cold. Which became bronchitis.Which hung around for two weeks. And then, after starting to feel good enough to go back to my usual routine I got the double whammy -- another "cold"!

I'm finally feeling good again, In the mean time I have been dreading opening up the palette to see what kind of mess was inside. I finally got up the nerve tonight. To my surprise there was no mold, no awful smells, and all the paint was still usable! I scooped the titanium white and a couple of the other untouched colors into small containers and set them aside. Then I rinsed out the palette paper and sponge. Now I'm ready to go back to work!