Number Four

The 4th painting I created during Joannies stay, using Atelier acrylic interactives. I've photographed it best I can but am not used my Sons' editing programme on his laptop...It's close enough though! I primed the canvas with a mid pink tone and worked the painting with a large flat brush.

My spa break was wonderful and I am back feeling relaxed and looking very brown from my spray tan.

I have decided to call my Iris painting 'April Showers', Thanks for all your suggestions and compliments.

Papoose

'Papoose' - Atelier Acrylic Interactives

This is the third painting I made during Joannies stay. After playing with the new paints I was dying to try them on a portrait and had this reference printed out from years ago.
I spent and 1 and 30 minutes pushing the paints around freely on the surface with a 1" flat brush and enjoyed every second.
My aims were to use the reference rather than copy it, work with form and tone and keep things loose and painterly.
I am pleased with the result.

I am off to a residential spa for the weekend. I have prepared a new Derwent pink floral sketchbook with decorative papers to take with me. Sadly my pc is still sick and I'm using my Son's laptop, so scanning sketchbook pages is difficult at the moment but I am still sketching and I will update you all just as soon as my pc has been fixed.

Have a good weekend!

The Wash

'The Wash' - Acrylic Ink and Atelier Acrylic Interactives on canvas

The second painting I made during Joannies stay using the interactive paints, making something of another prepped canvas in the studio and discovering how the media handled.
Again, this was painted in very little time with a one inch, flat brush...This time from imagination/memory.

Fun!

New Toy

Painted from sketchbook reference
Acrylic ink and Atelier Interactives on canvas board

Joannie arrived last Thursday to stay with me for a few days. She brought along the order of Atelier interactice acrylics I had purchased from the SAA , complete with free spray bottle and instructional DVD by Mitch Waite...Our new toys for some studio fun during her stay!

After watching a couple of the half hour sessions on the DVD, Joan and I could wait no longer and dashed into the studio to open our new paints.

I started by pouring some acrylic inks onto a canvas board that's been hanging around the studio acting as a sampler for my students, it had various textures and pint blobs all over it as a result so the inks just brightened it up a little. I then worked very quickly with a one inch brush, blocking in my composition boldly using shape rather than a drawn sketch.

I really enjoy this way of applying paint.

The interactives were wonderful to work with, livening up with a little water spritz allowed me to work the whole canvas at once without the risk of areas drying out. They allow a much more unified result with a lot less work and paint.

The resulting painting took very little time, approx 30 mins...loose and spontaneous...Just what I had been after, I decided immediately that I liked these paints very much. I could have spent more time but I reached a stage here where the result excited me so much that I didn't want to lose it. I haven't painted much in the last two and a half years, what I have painted has been mostly commissioned, but I have dreamed of painting...thought of painting...painted in my mind...painted in my sleep... My sketchbooks have achieved a new confidence in my art and a longing for atmosphere and expression. They have also given me a new insight into landscapes, a subject that had never interested me in painting before.

My new paints unlocked me and in the three days Joan and I painted I created no less than 5 pieces of work, getting familiar with the medium and working boldly, with passion...enjoying every single moment.

This journey is going to be so much fun!

Joannie in my studio - Jan 2010

Iris

Anita Davies 2010

This canvas has been sitting around the studio for a couple of years now, with a prepped background using gesso to texture and acrylic ink to tone, it sat idle waiting for me to be inspired enough to take it further.
A few days ago I decided on iris for a subject and set about it with gesso again, mapping out with a brush, the forms I wanted to re-paint to give a fresh base for the new ink applications to shine on.

This is the result.

Any ideas on a title for the piece?

1 Hour Session

A quick 8x10" painting, created on canvas. using an ink sketch from my mixed views sketchbook as a reference while cooking dinner.

The original plein air sketch can be seen top right, created using Noodlers red/black ink.

Find the original post here

Blue Clematis

Breaking Free - Acrylic ink on watercolour paper


This is another of the pieces I painted at Joannie's during one of our play sessions, this time we had a subject in mind when we started throwing ink around.

It defines the limitations we put on ourselves, through the barriers we build, the start of new beginnings and the enlightenment they can bring.

The Fens

I painted this at Joannie's on yupo using acrylic, painting from memory. It's a mixture of scenes from my Drove in the Fens, all rolled into one.
I used a knife, the end of a paintbrush and my fingers to paint with, aswell as various lids to produce the circular shapes, cutting back into the paint to reveal the yupo surface again.

It was great fun.

Lushae

Last week I was contacted by a friendly woman called Sarah at Lushae asking me if I would like to select a free item from her web store in exchange for some feedback online on my blog. I agreed and Sarah sent me a link that produced a free gift card on entering the shop, allowing me to make my choice from any of the items in her store.

It took quite a while to make a decision from all the beautiful items on display but I finally decided on the Ribbon Ring and placed my order on the 18th. My own computer has been out of action since before Christmas and I'm using my Sons laptop so I couldn't print out the handy ring size chart supplied on the site and had to guess, so I hope I got it right.

I had an email on the 21st to confirm that my gift had been dispatched and I'm rather excited at the prospect of wearing it very soon.

I'll keep you informed.

Playing With Yupo and Ink

These are the two pieces I created while 'playing' at Joannies last week, a warm up exercise before moving onto more developed pieces enabling the child within to escape and keep things loose.

The top piece was created by sloshing inks onto yupo before applying another sheet of yupo over the top and pressing down to produce a print. The suction between the two sheets left very detailed patterns as I peeled the top sheet back, I then went in with more ink once dry to develop some of the shapes.



The poor girl with the deformed bottom in the second piece was created in the same way but with more development in the later stage.

I found this process very freeing, it was fun developing something from a few shapes with no plan of the final outcome.