On The Bench - Textured Panels

I am a TEXTURE girl! There, I've said it... Artwork that has nooks and crannies turns me on. No surprise, then, that I LOVE Bill Creevy's paintings. There is an airiness and mood about them that is fatally attractive...

The great news is, Bill has 2 books full of his artwork and techniques for getting that yummy texture in his The Pastel Book and The Oil Painting Book, both published in the 1990's and still readily available.

The trick he shares in The Pastel Book about how he creates his layered and textured panels for painting with pastels and oils is invaluable if you want to create similar airy artwork.

Here's a picture of my first crack at creating panels for my own paintings...

I have found that besides the type of acrylic modeling paste Bill recommends in his book, I have had success with Golden's Coarse Molding Paste and Pebeo's High Density Modeling Paste as well. If you love textured surfaces and artwork like I do, give Bill Creevy's panel making trick a try!

Happy Arting!  :D  Tristina

On The Bench - Oil Vignettes

Thought I'd give you a peek at some of the latest small oil paintings on my home studio work table.

When I have left over pieces of beautiful thick paper, I use painter's tape to mosaic them onto a portable drawing table background. These first get covered with a layer of clear or white gesso or acrylic paint, then I glue down map pieces with matte gel medium.

When the glue is dry, I draw over the surface with Caran d'Ache NeoColor II water soluble oil pastel crayons and use water to spread the color around to create an oil-friendly underpainting. After that dries, I paint on the surface with oil paints using several different shaped palette knives, keeping the paint strokes expressive and using the palette knife tip to scrape shapes into the painted surface. I make sure bits of the maps show through the background to add mystery to the finished paintings.

I'm in love with my collection of used domestic and international postage stamps; I select one, coat the back with Dorland's Cold Wax Medium and stick it to the oil-painted surface, pressing down with a palette knife. Finally, I use a small brush to add my signature to the paintings. (Note that sometimes it is best to let the paintings dry for a day or two before adding the signature.) The paintings get left to dry for 1-3 weeks, then the painter's tape is gently removed at an angle to the paper edge for an exciting reveal!

Saintly, 8in x 10in

Coronation, 9.5in x 11in

Passage, 5.5in x 7.5in

Peace Rising, 5.5in x 7.5in

Fierce, 5in x 9.5in

A great solvent-free way to clean the palette knives and small signature brush is to put a dab of linseed oil on a Viva paper towel or cotton cloth and simply wipe them off. (I learned this tip in Vicky Perry's Abstract Painting book) I hope you'll try this quick, fun way to create expressive mini works of art. Please share your results in the comments.

Happy Arting!  Tristina  :D

Slipped and Fell In Love with Oil

I HATE TO WAIT FOR PAINT TO DRY! In the past, I always shied away from painting with oils in lieu of faster drying water based mediums like acrylic paints and all the fabulous water soluble products on the market today like Gelato's (from craft stores) and InkTense blocks or NeoColor II wax crayons (from art supply stores). Since I like to heavily layer my work, to me painting with oil was excruciating as I set my work aside for sometimes weeks before the paintings were dry enough to work over.

Well! In come Gamblin Paint Co's FastMatte fast drying oil paints...

My Gamblin FastMatte Oil Paints stash!

These beautifully pigmented oil paints contain just enough alkyd resin to dry for the most part overnight, or when I use them more thickly, then in 2-3 days. I always like to attack my canvas or wood boards with color by making an underpainting (giving me a running start to my artworks) and the FastMatte paints do the trick to move me forward with my paintings lickety split.

Some of my FastMatte oil underpaintings on canvas pads.

Plus, the FastMatte paint is tacky enough when freshly applied to the work surface to take one of my favorite mixed media items, transfer foil! Been luvin' on the Pebeo Mirror Foil lately. Here is one of my recent paintings, "Mangoes", made with all Gamblin FastMatte paints and mirror foil. The background was already dry when I painted the mangoes and leaves on a Monday...and submitted the dry painting to a show that same week Saturday!

'Mangoes', Oil Paint on Wood Panel, 12in x 12in, 2014

Gamblin also has deliciously smooth oil painting mediums which help to speed drying time that I have been experimenting with this year. Because I'm a "texture" girl, my favorites are Galkyd Gel (they like to call it G-Gel) and Cold Wax Medium. The G-Gel gives a smooth, somewhat shiny, textured surface finish and the Cold Wax Medium gives a stiffer matte finish, both of which cause the oil paints to dry faster than oil paint alone and still maintain a robust final paint film. 

Now I feel EMPOWERED to PAINT IN OIL and use the luscious tube oil paints and R&F Oil Pigment Sticks that have been hanging 'round my studio calling out my name!

Check out your local art supply store or online for Gamblin FastMatte oil paints and oil mediums. And, leave a message below if you would like a private or group lesson in Fast Painting with Oils!

HAPPY  ARTING!  Tristina :D