And I have to admit to feeling a mite odd posting about artwork when I can't get any photos at all to load into my blogs, but there you have it. I'm posting because it's been too long since I've done any artwork at all, and I do love these little pieces.
If ever I can figure out what the problem is with getting photos to post, you'll be inundated with them!
At any rate, this new batch has mostly textured designs, meaning I'm essentially sculpting in low relief and putting the paint onto the 'picture'.
So far I've got one white on black winter-scape using acrylics over the sculpting medium on the wood, a couple of monochromes using translucents (one blue, one burnt sienna) again over the low relief sculpting, a couple using both acrylics and translucents over the sculpting, and a couple that are basically abstracts.
Sad for me that I have a heavy work schedule for the next few days. I hate when I'm just getting into a project and have to cut it short, but ... it is what it is and that's all there is to it.
Ah, the monochromes ... the translucents are antiquing the sculpting to bring it out. Layers will deepen some parts, and I can wipe off places I want highlighted.
You already know the bases I'm using: cedar roof shakes (shingles) salvaged from my old 100 year old house as I was putting on the new shingles.
You want to know what I've been using for the 'sculpting' medium? Acrylic latex caulk. Yes the kind that comes in tubes and you use a caulking gun for application. I put a bunch onto the shake and use a regular table spoon to move it around and into place. Build up some places that you want in the 'foreground', and even more if you're going to put grasses or other details in. The grasses are made by simply 'slicing' into the texturing wherever you want the blades. A person could use whatever tools they wanted to. Once I did everything 'finger-painting' except for the base coat. Finger-painted the texture on, did the base coat, then used my fingers to highlight the black base coat with gold (and possibly silver; I can't remember as it was a while ago and the painting is long sold to a great home). It's the same way I did the white on black winter-scape highlighting, and is the technique I'll use for probably a hundred more simply because it works the best, gives me the best control.
Once I'm done with this set of textured pieces I'll go to working on the flat surfaces of the cedar shakes, mostly with acrylics. One thing I love about the cedars is that they've all got weathering patterns that either suggest or outright dictate what the piece is going to become. They've also all got saw blade grooves, which can make it awkward to try to paint, say a sky, sideways to them. Even when I go 'with the grain' so to speak, the swoops of the saw blade lines show through. I don't mind it because they are after all what they are!
Yeh.
Still frustrated as all get-out that the photos won't post but ... oh well. I'll add them eventually I hope.
Another experiment I want to try is putting enough gesso onto the cedar shakes to give me a smooth surface and trying some of the Prismacolors on them. So there's that to look forward to, and that's a fact.
I once did a painting of a forest pond using the translucents, with metallic highlights. The thing about that one is that it looks different depending on what kind of light is on it. In regular room light it looks like a quiet peaceful little glade in the woods, a little on the dark side. But if you try to take a photo of it like that, and use a flash, you'll get all the metallic highlights and a completely different look.
Hmm ...
I wonder.
I betcha I've got a photo of that one somewhere in this blog. Maybe, just maybe, I can find it and do a copy and paste thing. It's worth a try, right?
Wish me luck.
HERE IT IS!
You may as well see the post :) It's not a long one, I promise! You'll see what I mean.
Seeing the photos makes me realize that they just can't capture the painting, which is an inconvenience to say the least.
Ah well.
I'll likely give it another try, and see what shows up in more of those kinds of paintings. Translucents show up differently on different types of surfaces. When I'm able to add photos (IF) you'll see what I mean about that too. The burnt sienna monochrome in particular emphasizes that. The 'base' of the piece is bare wood while the textured part of course is not; there's a big difference in how the translucent 'takes'. It soaks right into the bare wood, staining it dark, and kind of 'rides' on the smoother surface of the textured part. The 'riding' part of the equation comes into play when I'm working on canvas. It makes it easier to wipe off parts I want lighter, sort of like water colors, but takes longer to dry, giving me more time to fiddle with it.
Working the layers can be a bit challenging. You have to wait in between or you'll wipe off the under-color with the over-color ... and it's a bit like working with soft 'chalk' pastels in that you really need to begin with the lightest colors and work the darker ones over them - even when dry, it's next to impossible to lighten anything as each coat serves to deepen the colors. I suppose if I got desperate I could use acrylics over the top, but that takes away most of the challenge and compromises the depth of the painting's layers.
And that's about all I've got for tonight.
I've got a couple of pieces that are about ready for their next layer so had better get to applying them I reckon!
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