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.

Early winter scene

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

I reworked another of my earlier experiments. I glazed over the original with Titan Buff and did a little subtractive stenciling to give it some texture. Then I painted the scene you see above.

Enjoy the season folks!

Happy holidays

Recycled painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 20 x 16 inch canvas 

I decided to recycle another painting. This one went through several iterations before it became what you see above. First I wanted to embellish an old painting by adding pastels so I gessoed it with clear gesso to give it some tooth. I painted some flowers with the pastels then tried to blend the pigments using paint and matte medium and the result was blah. I ended up covering most of it up with paint. Then I just started painting circles, doing several in one color, then the next color and so on. I decided to glaze the circles with a translucent mix of Titan Buff and glazing medium.

Then I didn't know how to finish it until I got the inspiration today to paint Poinsettias. And voila, today's painting!

Edit: here's a better photo, taken in indirect sunlight

More recycling

Recycled painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 16 X 12 inch canvas panel 

I'm in the recycling mood. This painting was a quick experiment: start with a very colorful old painting and turn it into a floral still life.

This is the old painting (imagine it rotated 180 degrees):

Original painting

I glazed a coat of Golden Titan Buff over the painting, placing a stencil in some places and wiping away some of the glaze for additional subtle texture. Then I quickly painted the outlines of the flowers, stems, leaves and vase. Then I followed up with some glazes of color to fill in the still life.

The style is pretty loose and primitive but I like the results. This was fun!

Abstract collage

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

It seems lately that no matter what I plan to paint I end up going off on a wild tangent. I started this painting with fluid acrylics that I moved around on the canvas with a deli sheet. It was getting so messy I switched to a palette knife. The next day I got distracted by the dried paint on my palette and decided to collage it to the canvas. That led to more collage with paint skins and scraps of painted deli sheets.

By this time I had a really colorful composition. I didn't want to get rid of all the rich color but I did want to rein some of it in. So I muted some of the color with a glaze of Golden Titan Buff.

Blowing Paint

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 20 x 16 inch canvas 

I pre-ordered a copy of Chris Cozen's new book Acrylic Color Explorations a while ago and was very excited to receive my copy a few days ago. If you don't know Chris Cozen, she is a mixed media artist and educator. I really love her very colorful and whimsical style. Her newest book is full of excellent information about color and includes some examples with step by step instructions. One of the examples involves blowing on puddles of high flow acrylics with a straw to get interesting blooms. I found out my lung capacity isn't what it used to be! My rendition can't compare to Chris Cozen's work but it was fun to give it a try. I will be adding straws to my painter's toolbox.