On The Bench - Finishing Touch on Gallery Wrap Canvas

As painters, we quite often look for economical and innovative ways to present our artwork so that it looks finished and polished, yet we do not incur the cost of framing. To this end, I often wait untill stretched canvases go on sale at my favorite art stores, then buy up as many as I can afford at the time, all Gallery Wrapped with at least 1 1/2 inches depth on the sides.

"Oceans", 4in x 12in x 3panels, Acrylic

Why this type of canvas? For 3 reasons: 1) there are no staples in the sides of a gallery wrapped canvas - they are on the bottom (art show submission guidelines and galleries generally will not accept artwork with side staples showing), 2) having paintable sides for your artwork increases the "real estate" available for your work, and 3) by finishing the sides of the painting, the artwork appears "finished" and can be hung on the wall straight away without having to invest in framing, but rather leaving framing options open to the purchaser of the art.

"Lonely Tree", 9in x 12 in, Encaustic Wax & India Ink

I know many artists, myself included, who actually continue the painting from the front of the gallery wrapped canvas onto the sides, which gives added interest to the work. However, often the front of the painting can be best enhanced by adding a dramatic solid dark color to the sides.

"Us", 30in x 40in, Acrylic & Encaustic Wax on Paper 

While I often see artists paint the sides of their gallery wrapped canvas with flat black paint, I prefer to use a dark dramatic COLOR instead. Most of the time I reach for Payne's Gray, which has a lovely dark blue hue. Sometimes, though, I like to match my painting colors more closely and mix the Payne's Gray in with another transparent color, such as the example below where I used mostly Alizarin Crimson with a touch of Payne's Gray to darken.

By using Payne's Gray as my darkening color instead of Black, I find the resulting colors not only have the dark drama I'm going for, but they also have a depth and interest that comes from light going through and bouncing out of the color.

I hope you will give this finishing technique a try, and let me know how you finish your paintings in the comments below.

Happy Arting!  Tristina :D

Hooked on Resin

As a follow up to an earlier post, here are a few paintings done with fabulous Pebeo acrylic iridescent Dyna and florescent paints after pouring Pebeo's thick viscosity Glazing Resin over the dried paint. I had so much fun with the first one, that I went ahead and resined 3 more! Now I'm hooked!!! There's nothing like the crystal clear glossy surface of a beautifully cured resin pour...ahhhhhh. :D

Florescent Black, 22in x 28in, 2014, acrylic paint, black sand texture gel, and resin on canvas.

Poppy, 12in x 12in x 2in, 2014, acrylic paint, sand texture gel, glass paint and resin on canvas.

Here's a close up of the sand texture gel with Vitrail glass paint deepening the color.

And a close up of the deep sides where I let the resin drip on purpose. Love those drips!

Reflections on a Knoll, 30in x 30in, 2014, acrylic paint with resin on canvas.

Here you really see the reflection of the resin surface.

And one final resined painting for FUN...

 Plus Blue, 8in x 8in, 2014, acrylic paints, white sand texture gel, glass paint and resin on canvas.

On The Bench - Playing with Pebeo Paints

Since being introduced to Pebeo Fantasy Paints and Resins by my local Utrecht Art Supply store, I have been obsessed about using them! There's something about the acrylic binder (they call Bindex) that's sensuous, like a thin and silky slick hand cream. The mica enhanced Dyna paints are radiant like no other acrylic paints I've ever used - the turquoise and green are my favorites. And, the florescents are translucent pops of color that really grab attention. 

My latest painting includes the bright and soft of the Pebeo acrylic florescent paints and the hard of their black sand medium. I wanted to give the organically shaped sand medium a sharp edge, so below I can be seen removing the painter's tape I used on the dry florescent paint to create the center rectangle.

Here's the painting after the tape is removed. The radiant colors of the florescent paints look many times magnified when you view the painting in person! 

Next step, I'm going to pour the Pebeo Glaze Resin over the colored part and see what happens! I'll let you know how the resin pour goes later...

HAPPY  ARTING!

Tristina :)