In Full Flower

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

I love Chris Cozen's art so I bought Acrylic Solutions, written by Chris and Julie Prichard. In the book both Julie and Chris document the steps for a painting. I decided to take a shot at following the steps for Chris' painting but did some things to give my own twist to it. This is the result.

Fantasy Garden

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

 I started this painting by dropping different hues of fluid acrylics on a canvas, then brushed to blend loosely. I followed up by spraying the canvas with water and adding more drops of paint, and tipped the canvas to let the colors run. Then I stenciled a few patterns. Here is the resulting underpainting:

I had no idea what this painting would become until I started picking out shapes to surround with the lighter glaze.

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).

Tangled Web

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 16 X 12 in. Blick hardboard panel

 I spent some time yesterday prepping a couple canvases and a board for some more abtract paintings.  Today's painting started with a loose mix of three primary colors plus Golden Acrylic's Titan Buff followed by stencils and stamps. Today I finished with the translucent to opaque glaze using Titan Buff tinted with phthalo blue red shade and azo yellow. Below is the underpainting, before applying the final light glazes.

Underpainting

Stencils and Texture

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

I have been watching some instructional videos by Chris Cozen, hoping to get some inspiration and learn some techniques for creating abstract art using mixed media. This is my first attempt at using some of the techniques. This one started with a failed painting that I covered first with molding paste then gesso. I didn't worry about applying the gesso smoothly because I wanted some texture. I also imprinted a stencil into the gesso in a few places to give it some additional texture. Then I painted glazed layers of transparent colors plus some stenciling. I started painting this in a portrait orientation but decided near the end that it looked better when I switched to a landscape orientation.

After a Frost

Painting by Vicky Christensen, watercolor on 9 X 12 inch 140 lb. cold press paper

I spent some time today at my mother's assisted living facility giving assistance to a small group of residents who like to paint with watercolor. The group didn't need much assistance from me, so I had some time to do a quick painting of my own. I found inspiration in a cover photo on an issue of the Northern Artist, a magazine published by the Minnesota Horticultural Society. The photo was a beautiful shot of a branch full of red berries covered in a layer of ice. I did this mostly wet into wet with spattering and a little bit of salt for texture in the background.

Using Up Leftover Paint

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

I had some paint left over from my last painting and wanted to try out some techniques I saw in a Wilson Bickford video on Artists Network. The video focused on painting reflections in water. Since he was painting with oils rather than acrylic paints, I had to make some allowances for the quick drying time of acrylics.

Fun with Glazes

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

Last night I wanted to clean up my palette so I slopped the paint left over from the Philadelphia sunrise onto a canvas panel. I took a look at the panel today and decided it was perfect for playing around with transparent paints and glazing medium. This is the result. I wish I could say that the stained glass pattern was from my fertile imagination, but I got a little nudge from a photo my brother-in-law took a while back. I used an acrylic marker to paint the lead.

This was so much fun. I might do something similar on a larger scale.

Philadelphia Sunrise, Act Two

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 14 X 11 inch Pastelbord

I decided to give the Philadelphia sunrise another shot. I wanted to try it on a smoother surface and happened to have an Ampersand Pastelbord available. This time I used a Liquitex medium magenta rather than alizorin crimson for the magenta clouds and reflections. I kept this version pretty loose.