Experimenting with different media

Painting by Vicky Christensen, mixed media on 16 X 12 inch hardboard panel 

I bought some Golden acrylic grounds for pastels a couple weeks ago and decided to experiment. I did a Google search for inspiration and found Amy Shawley's blog. I love her art! Amongst her many blog posts I found one in which she used acrylic grounds for pastels as both a drawing surface and to take advantage of its absorbency. With that as an inspiration I applied a layer of the grounds to an old painting, let it dry, then started to experiment. The grounds are translucent so the original painting served as a base for subsequent layers.

I experimented with wetting the surface then adding drops of high flow acrylics. After letting it dry I used some Cretacolor Aquamonolith watercolor pencils to draw on the surface. I wanted to experiment with applying a pastel fixative  (in this case SpectraFix) to see if I could seal the watercolor before coating with another layer of acrylic medium. I had mixed success. As expected, the fixative caused a shift in pigment intensity. After letting the fixative dry I painted over the watercolors with glazing medium with mixed results. The watercolor pigments were stable in some spots but smeared in one area. Note to self, more coats of fixative, more drying time.

I wanted to tone down the color in some areas so I followed up with a glaze of Titan Buff. This was my first time using Golden glazing medium and I was really impressed with how smooth my glazes went on in comparison to a competitor's product. To be fair, the texture of the pastel ground may have played a part.

Amy Shawley also uses the Golden pastel grounds as an acrylic skin. After you let the skin dry you can draw and paint on the surface and use the finished skin as a collage element. Check her blog!

Below zero bouquet

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

 We're going through a cold spell here in Minnesota. Here's a bouquet to bring back a little bit of summer. This one had a prior life as an abstract mixed media collage  (see below).

Original painting 

Update: after I posted to the blog last night I decided to put a top coat on the painting. I poured some 'faux encaustic' on it and started to brush. Unfortunately I noticed a little too late that my Posca pen lines were being dissolved by the medium (a combination of matte medium and self leveling clear gel). It was a total mess! I ultimately used a lot of wet paper towels to remove the medium. Unfortunately it also removed a lot of the Posca pen ink. I was really disheartened and almost gave up. I collected myself and redid the Posca. I let it dry overnight then very carefully applied a layer of acrylic gloss medium to seal the painting. Note to self: be careful when putting an isolation coat on a painting that makes use of Posca pens!

Painting before I messed it up with faux encaustic layer 

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