Experimenting with grisaille and glazes

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

I wanted to experiment more with the grisaille technique. I created a grisaille underpainting with black pastel, glazing liquid and titanium white paint (see below). After it was dry I 'colorized' it with glazes of transparent paints and glazing liquid.

Grisaille underpainting 

Dreaming of spring

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 14 x 18 inch canvas 

This painting started with drips of diluted fluid acrylics on a canvas prepped with clear gesso. I dropped the paint after brushing water on the canvas and let the color flow. After letting it dry overnight I drew the flowers and branches with a black pastel pencil, then started to paint and glaze. I used some micaceous iron oxide paint to darken the periphery.

Fruit plate

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 14 x 18 inch canvas 

I finished the still life. Here is what the pastel/glazing fluid underpainting looked like before I started glazing on the color:

Underpainting, black pastel, acrylic glazing medium, titanium white acrylic

My optometrist says I have cataracts  (not too advanced yet, very common at my age). She says when I reach the stage where I have them removed, colors will suddenly look much brighter. I'm wondering what this painting will look like then. I can't imagine it being more colorful!

Starting a still life

Work in progress

I bought some fake fruit at Michaels last week with the intention of painting some still lifes. I decided to borrow from the techniques of my last couple paintings and start with a black pastel sketch on a canvas prepped with clear gesso, followed by some glazing fluid to morph the line drawing into a grisaille underpainting. Right now my fruit platter is floating in space. I haven't decided what will be in the background. Stay tuned for further developments.

Another bouquet

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

Here's another bouquet for my online friends. This one started with high flow acrylics on a canvas prepped with Golden acrylic grounds for pastels. It's fun to wet the canvas, drip the paint and watch it spread. Once again I used a black pastel to sketch the bouquet followed by glazing medium to fix the pastel lines. I painted the flowers with fluid acrylics, toned down the background with a Titan Buff glaze and added some dry brushed highlights.

Floral arrangement

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

I decided to do a quick experiment tonight. My idea was to do a quick black pastel line drawing, then paint over the lines with glazing medium to fix the pastels and proceed from there. I prepped the canvas with Liquitex clear gesso first to give the canvas more tooth.

Here are photos of the painting in progress -

Pastel sketch

Glaze over sketch 

Add fluid acrylics for background color 

Paint flowers

Titan Buff glaze

Charlotte in the window

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

I finished Charlotte's portrait. I just need to give it a day or two before I give it a clear acrylic isolation coat.

To summarize the process, this painting started with random splashes of color on a canvas prepped with Golden acrylic grounds for pastels. In parallel I drew Charlotte on a skin of acrylic grounds for pastels using Cretacolor Aquamonolith watercolor pencils. Since the acrylic grounds are translucent, I was able to place the skin over a photo of Charlotte and trace to get a more accurate drawing.

 I glazed the canvas with Golden Titan Buff then added gauzy fabric for the curtains.

Before gluing Charlotte to the canvas I used molding paste to create the surface where she would lie (impressed with a paper towel to give it texture). I also painted her silhouette in Titan Buff. Since the acrylic grounds are translucent I needed an opaque background for the collage element.

After gluing Charlotte to the canvas with gloss gel, I embellished her and the background with more paint and glazes.

Finished abstract

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

This painting started from some deli sheets that I had painted with leftover paint. Today I used a painting knife to add more color splashes, some stencils and some glazes. Here is the final result.

Work in progress, day 2

Mixed media on acrylic grounds for pastels 

I did a little more work on Charlotte's portrait. Tonight I drew Charlotte on the acrylic skin with Cretacolor Aquamonolith watercolor pencils. I alternated between drawing with pencils then brushing on acrylic glazing liquid. The acrlic ground for pastels has enough tooth that I was able to layer more pencil strokes after each layer of glaze. The glaze liquifies the watercolor pencils and acts as a fixative. I may follow up with some acrylic highlights and shadows, but so far I am pleased with the results.

Below is the canvas after I glazed it to mute the colors then used matte gel to add some gauzy fabric  to simulate sheer curtains. After it dries it will need more glazes before I add Charlotte to the scene. I'm going for the impression of a window overlooking a flower garden.

Work in progress 

Starting new paintings

I went shopping today, took advantage of a couple coupons and bought some canvases. I've been away from the paints for a while and decided I needed to get my creative juices flowing again. So tonight I started a couple new paintings while I'm watching the Super Bowl.

My sister and niece want paintings of Charlotte, my sister's doggie companion. For the first painting my plan is to paint her on an acrylic skin then collage it on a mixed media background, a technique I saw in Amy Shawley's blog. Below is a photo of the first layer of the background. It's pretty colorful now but the plan is to tone it down with future layers. This layer was done by dropping Golden high flow acrylics on a canvas prepped with Golden acrylic grounds for pastels.

I decided to use up some deli sheets I had painted with leftover paint as the first layer of the next painting. I have no idea where this one is going, but I like the colors.

Here's another canvas waiting for me. I prepped this with diluted orange and magenta fluid acrylics before I left for vacation. The plan is to paint a landscape, probably a waterfall, when the spirit moves me. I used a similar underpainting in my last painting and liked the result, so why not do it again.

My Louisiana Vacation

Pencil drawing by Vicky Christensen -- Charlotte!

I just spent 10 glorious days in Louisiana (and Texas). I visited by lovely sister in Clinton Louisiana and my sister's lovely oldest daughter in nearby St. Francisville Louisiana. My sister and I wrapped up the trip by spending two days in Dallas to visit her lovely youngest daughter. (Hint, they are all quite lovely.) While in Louisiana, my sister and I spent a day in New Orleans, stopping at the Whitney Plantation along the way.

I couldn't go without a little drawing and painting. Above is a pencil drawing I did of the lovely Charlotte (AKA Charlotta, AKA Lottie). Lottie is my sister's sweet little dog, a Poodle/Jack Russell Terrier mix. Actually Lottie is my niece's dog but she has taken up residence with my sister, and is my sister's loyal companion. If I could have any dog in the world, it would by Lottie. Now that I am back home, I miss my sister, but sorry Gayla, I think I miss Lottie just as much. I dropped some crumbs on the floor this morning and I expected Lottie to lick them up for me. No such luck.

Gayla and I also did a little painting with Gayla's grandson Luke. Luke was fascinated when I showed him how to splatter paint, and how paints react to salt and alcohol.

Here are a few more highlights from my trip:

I got to Clinton in time for a tornado warning. We sat in the most sheltered area of the house eating ice cream, just in case. Thankfully it missed my sister's neighborhood.

My sister!

Lottie on her favorite perch, the back of the sofa.

 We went to a small-town Mardi Gras parade in Clinton:

My sister with her grandson Luke at the parade

My niece Megan and her son Luke watching the parade

Some scenes from our stop at the Whitney Plantation. The Whitney Plantation is the only plantation tour whose major focus is on the slaves of the plantation and the deplorable history of the global and US slave trade. It's a very sobering tour, a story that must be told and re-told, and a story that other Louisiana plantation tours usually gloss over or ignore totally. The Whitney is in the act of culling through records and identifying persons who were enslaved on the plantation. A number of monuments on the grounds memorialize them.

One of the monuments that includes the names of slaves who were born on the plantation.

Our tour guide Cheryl. She was excellent.

A monument to the long boats that took slaves ashore from the slave ships

A slave cabin; not original to the Whitney, move here from another plantation

A slave jail; not original to the plantation

From the Whitney we drove to New Orleans. We walked around, took a streetcar ride and had some food. I had my favorite fried shrimp po' boy.

My sister on a Canal Street corner

We stopped for beignets and coffee

Paintings in the window of the Caliche and Pao Gallery caught my eye.