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.