Graduation Cap Decorating & Don't Fight the Mom Army

Last night Daya went to a graduation cap decorating party and decided she didn't want to do what everyone else was doing, she wanted me to do it for her.

Of course I said ok, and I'm glad she knew I would totally do it.

Today I spent most of the day painting her cap.
I brought out my acrylics which I haven't used in years but times like these are why I am fully stocked in EVERYTHING.

Graduation caps are a terrible surface to paint on and I still hate acrylic paint! :)

But I did get to use interference colors and gold so that was fun.

This cap doesnt photograph well, there is a lot of gold at the bottom.

Daya will have the best cap at graduation tomorrow!

Some progress shots...

I did use the plein air painting I did of Juilliard for reference, and honestly having done that painting helped tremendously and saved a bunch of time, because I have the visual memory of it.

Her robe and scarf thing were very creased.

Me: May I pls have your robe and scarf to steam.

She: No, it's fine.

Me: It is not fine, it has creases. I have been texting other moms about this all day.

She: I'm just gonna stuff it in my backpack.

Me: Oh no you are not! You will use a garment bag.

She: Mom it's FINE!

Me: Do not fight the Mom Army.

She: Fine....

__PRESENT

14:45

There is a painter named Ryan O'Rourke who does 10 minute acrylic painting demos on youtube. And they are pretty good!  He knows his theory, he knows what he is doing, and his 10 minute paintings are pretty cool!

Doing timed paintings isn't a new concept.

A lot of people have done this as a way to practice and get the mind shifted into a different gear. Some people limit the number of brush strokes instead of time- for example, doing a painting in only 120 brush strokes.

Because I have a terrible obsession with oil paint and pastels, it stands to reason I am also fully stocked in acrylics which is good because when I need them I'm ready to go. Last night I brought out my acrylics and did a little 10 minute painting which took 14 minutes and 45 seconds.

It is such a small time investment, and truly a mental flip. While it will never replace longer studio paintings it really is fantastic artistic exercise. I guess these could also be done in pastel, and probably oil because nothing is impossible, but the acrylic drying time is a huge advantage with layering.

With this painting, I chose a color scheme ahead of time which was fun but also maybe not the best decision because I made the composition up as I went along.

It would have been better to know my composition beforehand.

This painting is not a good painting but I don't care. It was good practice and good to try something new. My coordination isn't there yet but with some practice it will be.

5x7 acrylic

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Today is the summer solstice.

I'm going this afternoon to light soome candles.

Acrylic Glazing Pitfalls

So, I learned from the Aloysious painting that if you need to glaze acrylic paint over a dark background, the thing to do is not do it.  Just don't. Ever. Mix your colors with black and paint direct, then apply straight color over that if you need to make it stand out a little more.

Not only will you accomplish the effect in a fraction of the time, (2 layers!) it will actually look the way you intended it to look.

If you really feel the need to glaze in acrylic for something other than minor touch-up, do it over a light background.

Here is Lucky, Branwen's cat who passed away in September.

I wanted to do matching Rainbow Bridge portraits for Drusilla and Branwen.

This weekend I will see Branwen and I'll give her the painting.

Lucky was much more cooperative than Aloysious...probably because he is a cat and they enjoy being admired.

5x7 acrylic on canvas panel

It's so hard to get a good photo.

Aloysius Re-Work

When Dru came to visit she brought the painting of Aloysius back so I could put him in a rainbow instead of a black hole.

I put some more color layers on. This painting is stubborn and will not photograph well.

Because acrylic dries darker and can be somewhat transparent...(actually because it has a lower pigment load than I am accustomed to with oils and pastel), I should have worked the rainbow over a grey background instead of black.  It would have worked better.

Pastels are AMAZING over a black support.  
Acrylics might be too but it takes a lot more work to get the effect.
This is how we learn.

I had to prop the painting up at an angle with bits of kneaded eraser and photograph it at an angle because Dru said to do that and she was correct.

5x7 acrylic on canvas panel

Mad: Animals

Sadly, Drusilla lost her wonderful Aloysious this past Saturday.

Since she is always doing really special portraits for everyone, and because Aloysious was such a wonderful and special rat, I wanted to give her a portrait of him.

It was a very short-notice portrait and it didn't go as fast as I thought it would.

Because of the time factor and lack of natural light to look at the finished painting in, I didn't realize until I gave it to Dru that the background needs about three more layers. You can't see the rainbow.

Because of the time I had to use acrylic and my color layers over the black are too transparent...and acrylic has an annoying tendency to darken when it dries.

so my rainbow bridge painting is a black hole instead of a rainbow.

I'll fix the painting but I left it with Dru.

She says she likes it.

Aloysious

5x7 acrylic

Mad!! Under the Sea

Once a long, long time ago there was a large salty sea. 

Over the ages, the sea dried up, leaving barrenness behind, 

and a few salty puddles.

All this land used to be under the sea, but now it's not. 

The salt and residual minerals cause a foggy iridescence.

5x7 mixed media.
oil pastel then an acrylic iridescent coat, then finished off with oil pastels. Matte and iridescent.
This is something I started earlier this year and I'm really trying to finish stuff before starting new stuff.

******
I'm really curious to see what was under Carey's sea, because the painting-start she showed me earlier ... well, I'd like to see what was under her sea.

Mad Mascot

Carey said our theme is mascot.  This is good timing because I actually have a mascot.
It is a lobster.
A plush lobster, to be exact.

It lives at work. The Lobster (I forgot his name) lived on a former co-worker's desk for years.  The co-worker left and someone else in the office adopted the Lobster as the team mascot.

I thought the lobster was not being properly cared for so I stole him.
He now lives on the window sill at my desk.
He is much happier.

Here is a painting, a NOT FINISHED painting.....sigh.... I need another evening with it.
Acrylic on illustration board 9x12
He will look cool when he is finished.

Mad: Lines

Carey asked me what our theme was and I had no clue.
So I looked around.
At the time, I was in the post office and there was a line.

"Lines!" I said.

Here is the little painting I started on Sunday...
5x7 acrylic on canvas panel...

I have no idea what it has to do with lines.
Let's make something up, right now.

BROKEN LINES!
I used broken lines to make the tree trunks.

Free is Golden

When I was in NJ with Dru and Branwen, we went to this little quaint town (Clinton) to check out the shops on Main Street. There is a tiny art supply store there, so we went.  Duh.

I was just looking, browsing and not seeing anything I don't already have or want, and a tote bag caught my eye. It was with the Golden paints. It had a hand painted color sample chart on it.

Golden makes really great acrylics.  They are my favorite acrylic brand.
And I also LOVE color charts.

So I took the bag to the counter and asked how much.  The lady said she didn't know, and she asked the man who runs the shop with her.  He said "Oh, Golden sent it.  It was free."

So the very nice lady at the teeny art supply shop gave me the tote bag for free!

Isn't it pretty? Wasn't that really nice?

Mad ACEO: Narrative

This week Carey and I did a 5 part narrative for our ACEO theme. The task was to tell a little story with no words.

Mine are all acrylic on Strathmore textured paper and black Artagain paper.
I usedsome iridescent paint which never scans or photos properly.
2.5 x 3.5"

Salsify Journey
based on a true story

Carey's mad ACEOs are here!

Mad ACEO: Mountains

Carey chose mountains as our ACEO theme this week.

Here are my mountains.
They are all 2.5 x 3.5"
acrylic black lava medium
and pastel
on colorfix primed bristol.

Inside

Actual Molehill

Snowy

Purple Mist

Spindle Mountains

Carey's mountains are here!

Golden Mountains

Here are two Golden Mountains.

1. Daya made these yesterday morning. Unsupervised*.  I was not even in the kitchen. I taught her how to made pancakes ONCE a couple of weeks ago.  She did it on her own and totally nailed it. No instant anything here, she whipped up batter and knocked out this amazing perfect fluffy stack of pancakes.

*Daya is not allowed to use the stove when I am not home, but she can use it when I am home. She has perfected scrambled eggs (she even garnishes them) and now, pancakes. It's pretty cool especially Saturday mornings when I wake up at the very last minute to get her to dance on time. I ask her if she ate breakfast.  She says 'Yes I made scrambled eggs, toast with jelly, and hot chocolate."

Fluffy perfection

2. Here is a mountain of Goldens.
Golden Opens, Golden regulars, and some mediums.

Mad Aceo: Oil Pastel

Carey and I did an oil pastel theme this week.
I used only Sennelier oil pastels, including my metallics and iridescents. As much as I tried, I just cannot properly work in oil pastel without solvent in the under-layers. Gamsol is wonderful stuff. I also used my grey color shapers, which also work well with the solvent.

Ghost Topiary
with acrylic glitter glaze
Black Artagain paper

Gold-Tipped Cactus
with acrylic mica flake medium
Sennelier oil pastel card

Moon Basin
Sennelier oil pastel card

Last Leaf
black artagain paper

Dusk Clouds
Sennelier oil pastel card

Here are Carey's oil pastel ACEOs.

Mad ACEO: Black 2

I wanted to do more ACEOs on black. I asked Carey if she wanted to join me, and she said yes.

So last night I made two more cards, both on the black Artagain paper.

Here is the first card:

Turquoise Tree
Acrylic on black Artagain paper
2.5 x 3.5

The interference effect is hard to photograph

I used the Golden CT Interference Green-Blue over the tree, which is a fantastic interference color!

Seriously fun paint

For the second card, I wanted to try the Inktense pencils again, but this time I put one coat of clear gesso over the paper to give it some tooth.  It made all the difference in the world, both wet and dry!!

Wednesday's effort had to be applied so thickly you might as well just use paint.

Yellow Moon Vat

Inktense pencils on black Artagain paper
2.5 x 3.5

Here is Carey's black ACEO.

A PEW for Dru

Dru liked the very cute little grater I showed last week, so I asked if she wanted one, since Blick was on my to-do list. She said yes.

I couldn't get her just the grater, she needed some other fun stuff to go with the grater. And that was when i saw the ACEO papers.........

So I made an ACEO card for Dru.
She likes PEW rats. (pink-eyed whites).
I like my new mica flake acrylic medium.
Win-win.

A PEW for Dru
ACEO (2.5 x 3.5")
Acrylic on paper

Mad ACEO: Birthday

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.
They are always 2.5 x 3.5 inches (6.4 x 8.9 cms).
Drusilla does a lot of them, and she does them well.
I always say to her, "I don't know how you work so small."

And THEN... I saw the pre-cut papers at Blick, in several assortments.
I had to get them.

*****
I said to Carey, "Wanna do some ACEOs and choose a theme together?"
Carey said, "Yes!"

So we did.

Our theme is Birthday, because Carey is buried in birthday mayhem. I agreed to the theme, even though I think birthdays are rather like cat puke. Well, mine is at least.

So I struggled with it, thinking of images and rejecting them, until one popped into my head and I got excited! I thought of traditional symbols, like candles, and I thought of trees and how their rings determine their age.

Also, I LOVE Acrylic for ACEOs.
Here is my offering for Birthday.

Acrylic (I got to use my gold paint!)
2.5 x 3.5"

Carey's ACEO is here.

More Flakes & Beads & Stucco etc

Acrylic texture mediums are my new obsession.
Thank goodness they are finite in number.

I see so many creative possibilities with these.  It is very exciting.  They cannot be used over oil paint of course, but there is no reason a decorative acrylic background couldn't be integrated with an oil portrait, for example.

There is a sand medium (actually plural, there are a few of them) and I don't know if I need it (them) or not, yet.

In the meantime, here are more super fun mediums.

Liquitex Black Lava
Liquitex Ceramic Stucco
Golden Glass Beads*
Golden Mica Flake (Large)
Golden Pearl Mica (small)

Added to previous test panel:
Golden Glass beads under the Liquitex Glass Beads
Golden Clear Tar Gel (mixed with cerulean blue)

* Yes I have the Liquitex Glass beads. I read that the Golden glass bead medium is far more densely loaded.  I needed to compare them. There are worse things than being ridiculous about art supplies, right??

The Glass Bead Verdict: Yes, Golden's medium is far more densely packed than Liquitex. The beads in the Liquitex medium are a bit larger.  Golden does not seem to dry clear in thicker patches; Liquitex does. The Liquitex can be applied in a few layers to get more beads on there.  I like them both.

NOTE: I also got a crackle medium, but I still need to test it.

Glass Fibers Iridescence and Flakes

I have some acrylic mediums that I have been meaning to be tested.
These acrylic mediums are cool.

Iridescent

Glass Beads

Blended Fibers

Opaque White Flakes

I have to admit I am a little bit obsessed with the Opaque White Flakes. Aren't they WONDERFUL?

The glass beads are a little hard to see but they give a very interesting texture.  They would be interesting on a light background with a wash over them.

Interference

Not only am I a color junkie, but I have no resistance for anything interference.
Especially paint.......

Here are my Golden interference colors.
(I have a few more but they are in little jars, because they do not come in the tubes for some reason. They really should.  The green-violet is fabulous.)

 They are wonderful and glowy and iridescent and I love them madly.

********
In other news, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF 4th GRADE!!!!!

One more year of Elementary School.....

It is inconceivable.

Black Swan

Jerry's came out with some new brushes earlier this year.

They are a new line called Black Swan- good for watercolor, oils, and acrylic.  I got the 15 brush set and have been using them for oils and acrylic.  They are WONDERFUL.  I love them.  I love them so much that I might switch over to them instead of the Simply Simmons brushes I have been loving for years.

Well, maybe I will stick with both.

I don't get expensive brushes because I wear them out- especially the flats and brights.  I do love a good sharp crisp bright.

Speaking of brushes..... when I went over to Da Vinci to look for the Oleogel that Lee's did not have, I got these!!

Three of those Rublevs I got for 40% off!

I love brushes.  Who would've guessed??