Acrylic Techniques In Mixed Media Book Review

Just finished reading "Acrylic Techniques in Mixed Media" by Roxanne Padgett today. This book is total EYE CANDY for mixed-media junkies! An exercise in EXTREME LAYERING...

I adore how Roxanne started off with a simple explanation and practice of Color Wheel Basics, which is a great primer for newbies and an excellent reminder for experienced crafters/painters as well. I help my students put these ideas into practice when teaching my "Finding Your Visual Voice" acrylic color painting workshop.

The book's colorful chapters give tons of ways to print, copy, stamp, rub, stencil, paint, collage, grid your way to covering the blank paper page or canvas fabric. My favorite techniques from what she shared are making simple collograph printing plates with manila folders and creating your own stamps from craft foam. One of my favorite tools she shared is the simple cosmetic sponge wedge; wow, what a great tool for painting on the face and in the studio!

The book's section about stenciling and printing with found objects inspired me to take out a deconstructed computer keyboard acetate sheet with brilliant circle and rectangle holes in it (that I've been hoarding for years) to my art journal and use it! Yay, love to get inspired to use stuff from my stash.

Can't wait to make the "artist" business cards Roxanne shows how to create in the Projects section of the book. A sewn painted canvas zippered bag project will be the next on my hit list to hold the business cards in. Other innovative and practical book/journal making projects follow. She also includes projects with whimsy, like her colorful "paper birds".

I highly recommend this book for beginner and accomplished artists alike. Definitely great to get the creative juices pumping. You can find additional information, reviews and buy the book with the link below.

HAPPY  ARTING!  Tristina

Frame It Up!

So happy to have received my boxes of frames from FrankenFrames.com this week! Getting prepared for the holiday season by putting a bunch of my works on paper under plexiglass. Franken has great museum quality plexi; travels way better than glass when shipping to galleries!

Art Bravo Entry Accepted!

Hello Art Loving Friends! I feel so fortunate to have one of my encaustic wax paintings accepted into the juried fine art competition artBRAVO! This exhibition is going on now at ArtServe, 1350 E Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304, through November 22. Hope you get a chance to swing by and see the fantastic art represented there. Below are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

With my painting "Grounded" in textured encaustic wax.

Here's a close up of the textured wax surface.

"Fertility Rites" by Stephanie Cunningham. 

Background is birth control package inserts! Plus eggs, mini test tubes and wax.

"Burst of Color" by Emily Grieco. 

This painting is quite large and covered in a beautiful layer of resin.

"Complexity in Motion" by Barry Rosson.

Love this acrylic on glass.

"Outside Your Window" by Liliana Rivera.

Has a beautiful subtle metallic glow and love the rust look.

"Emerald Sea" by Hilma Koelman.

Highly textured acrylic color and movement.

"Krakow, Mysterious Way" by Wendy Boucher.

This is an all paper extreme collage, gorgeous!

"Dazzling" by Emily Grieco.

Life sized painted manikin. Funky and fun.

"Helios Bowl" by Nick Starr.

The ceramic bowl looks ancient; perfect patina.

"Biblis 'In the Emerald Forest'" by Jen Toplak.

The oil painting is large and extremely fine.

"Rhubarb" by Willow.

Another extreme paper collage, this time with animals.

"On a Sunny Day" by Hilma Koelman.

I could stand in front of this painting all night...

Large acrylic with vibrant colors and texture.

"13007" by Christian Feneck.

How does he get all those perfect lines??? Brilliant!

"Curtain Call" by Susan Clifton.

The ballerina body is all collaged bits. Love the whole image effect. 

"The Sea Whisperer" by Sandra Canning.

A fine art photograph that sold during the opening

by one of my fellow Broward Art Guild members. :)

"Barrio Alto #9" by Edison Penafiel.

Wish I had a better picture of this First Place fine art photograph.

It's a cardboard replica of a dilapidated building with an actual photo of a building

 in the background. How do they do that? Thought provoking...

HAPPY  ARTING!   Tristina :D

On The Bench - Asian Inspired Art

Here's what's on my art table today. In process for an article I'm working on to submit to my favorite mixed-media magazine. What's on your art table?

Art Florida Academy Visit

Today I visited my student Sonia Hidalgo's Art Florida Academy and Romero Hidalgo Artists' Studios in the Red Road Art District in Miami. I'm very humbled that she is bringing me into her studios as a Guest Teacher for Encaustic Wax painting! We are offering a 3 hour Encaustic Wax in Layers introductory workshop Nov 22 and an all day workshop in Dec. Details coming soon...

Sonia in front of her Studios.

The classes she offers at the studios include still life study, live model and these sculptures and reliefs as inspiration subjects...oh, and that's "Walter" the skeleton on the right!

Here's one of the graffiti painted walls in the Red Road Art District.  :)

Call Sonia at 305-262-9966 if you would like to attend the Encaustic Workshops and to find out more about her classes for adults and children. Here is a link to information about her academy and studios: http://www.romerohidalgostudios.com/

Happy Arting!   Tristina 

Fun With Charcoal Drawing

Thank goodness for Holiday Weekends! I have started and stopped Dynamic Charcoal Drawing with Chris Wynter on my computer several times in days gone by. Today I went for it, got out all my charcoal drawing supplies (fat charcoal, skinny charcoal, charcoal pencils, white 'charcoal', blending stump and charcoal/pastel paper) and sat down to spend 2 hours following along with Chris on the video. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed an uninterrupted 2 hours of bliss, but stayed with it until I was done!

I enjoyed Chris's relaxed style, and he kept talking about what he was doing even when you could not see his hand on the paper. His insights were very helpful. I recognize after having watched the video that it would be even more helpful the next time I sit down to draw a charcoal still life to set up a table with real objects in front of me so I can better see the light and texture in the objects. Here's my finished drawing...

Here is the link to the preview for Chris' video by Interweave: http://youtu.be/uZled4lnSR4

And, I always have to take the investigation of my projects to the next level, so here is a link to an artist who uses charcoal, white gesso and black gesso to make her abstract paintings. Stunning, and looks like a blast to do too! Will definitely try one of these. Enjoy... http://youtu.be/b3xqQ3bZjC0

Hope you have had the opportunity this holiday weekend to create something! Happy Arting,

Tristina  :)

Getting Inspired!

Getting lots of inspiration from the current book I'm reading, "Daring Adventures in Paint" by Mati Rose McDonough. I have picked this book up and put it back down several times in the book store, and soooo glad I finally bought the book last week! Her colors and whimsical designs speak to me...

Mati Rose offers up in this book not only step by step instructions for creating artworks with beautiful, bold pictures, but she also shares her process for finding inspiration with lots of juicy pictures, narrative of her thoughts and great prompt questions that got me thinking... There is so much sage artist's wisdom in this book, that I keep having to stop myself from reading to head to Twitter and share snippets with my followers. You can read these excerpts @DietzArt; and follow her @MatiRose.

If you want to take a look inside Mati Rose's book, click HERE. To buy the book, just go to the Amazon link at the top of my blog page and click on the Amazon Bookstore. They have very helpful reader reviews there as well.

Happy Arting!  :) Tristina

Gotta Make It!

There are just some days I HAVE to make ART! I know you feel the same way too... Here's a quick, simple and FUN way to get some creative on:

Today's art journal page

Snag a mixed media journal book like the above on AquaBee heavyweight drawing paper or Strathmore Visual Journal mixed-media paper, then grab the nearest Mixed-Media or Art magazine/book and start thumbing through for inspiration. Today's journal page is a combination of images from the recent July/August Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and Pam Carriker's book, 'Art at the Speed of Life'.

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine and micron pens

Use a waterproof pen like the Sakura Micron or Pitt markers and quickly sketch some images...remember, don't THINK too much, just relax, breathe and draw what you see.

Pelikan cake watercolors.

Fill a cup with water and use a small #6 round watercolor brush to wet and pick up pigment from dry color sets like Pelikan above or Koi. Both give great color and instantly satisfying results. Slosh on the color at will, even waiting for some to dry before going back in with more color. Keep the brush filled with water and use a paper towel if needed to sop some of the water out of the brush.

When done coloring, allow your page to dry (will only take a few minutes) step back and SMILE! Then, go about your day with that need to CREATE satisfied!

Happy Arting,  Tristina :D

Mounting With UGlu Tape

One of the questions that sometimes comes up about working with encaustic wax paintings on paper is how to mat the paintings when the artwork is soaked in wax? I usually simply use white painters tape to hold the back of the wax soaked paper works when the piece extends beyond the edges of the mat opening, but what to do with a piece that is smaller than the mat opening? I have been experimenting with buying different glues to find what works best for this task and just came across double-sided acid free UGlu Tape! Here is a tutorial on how to mount your encaustic wax on paper works with UGlu Tape to fit inside a mat opening...

Supplies needed:

Encaustic Wax Monotype or Painting on Paper

1 Roll Double-Sided UGlu Tape

1 Mat Mounting Board with Precut Hole (mine is 9in x 12in with a 6in x 8in hole)

1 Sheet Watercolor Paper the size of the Mat Board (mine is 9in x 12in)

1 Alcohol Marker (I used a Utrecht marker in a color to compliment the artwork)

1 3inch Piece of  Silicon Paper (the UGlu is on silicon paper)

1 Razor

Cutting Mat or Pad of Newsprint Paper

Piece of Waxed Paper

Step 1.  Using the chisel point tip of the alcohol pen, run it at an angle along the beveled part of the mat opening. I like to also run it slightly over the edge of the bevel to get an organic looking uneven line.

Step 2.  The UGlu glue strip is attached to a piece of silicon paper. To get a piece of plain silicon paper to use for this tutorial, unroll about 3 inches of the tape and fold it forward on itself so that the glue strip portion sticks to itself. Place the tape on a pad of Newsprint paper or cutting mat and cut through the doubled over tape section, making sure to cut where there is silicon paper both on the bottom and top, with a razor blade. Pull apart the silicon paper part of the strip and attach the doubled over glue to a piece of Newsprint so that it will come off and leave you with a 3 inch strip of plain silicon paper.

NOTE: You can not cut directly through the glue side of the strip as the glue will stick to the razor and bunch up. Also, I have tried to use Freezer paper and Waxed paper as a release paper for the glue and they do not work. Only silicon paper works as a release paper for this glue.

Step 3.  Measure a 6 inch strip of UGlu glue tape. Place the plain piece of silicon paper on the glue tape at the end closest to the tape roll. Using the razor on a pad of Newsprint paper or cutting mat, cut through a portion of the tape that has silicon paper on both the top and bottom about 1/8inch from the double silicon paper end. Remove the top piece of plain silicon paper to re-use for your next cut.

NOTE: You will have a little piece of silicon paper left on the top of the glue strip nearest the tape roll when you finish cutting. Leave this there to help you pull out your next length of glue tape before making your next cut. Be sure to remove this small strip of excess silicon before using this piece of glue tape. 

Step 4.  Cut another 6 inch strip of UGlu glue tape and two (2) 4 inch strips as in step 3 above.

Step 5.  Position one of the 6 inch glue strips, glue side down, in the center of a 9 inch side of the BACK of the mat board. Do NOT remove the silicon protective strip on top! Do the same for the other 9 inch side on the BACK of the mat board.

Step 6.  Position one of the 4 inch glue strips, glue side down, in the center of a 12 inch side of the BACK of the mat board. Do NOT remove the silicon protective strip on top. Do the same for the other 12 inch side on the BACK of the mat board.

Step 7.  Remove the silicon paper from the top of one of the 9 inch side glue strips, exposing the glue. Position the 9 inch x 12 inch watercolor paper with one of the 9 inch sides over the exposed glue and lay it gently on top of the glue strip. Press on the back of the watercolor paper from the center of the glue strip out to the sides to remove any air bubbles and attach the watercolor paper to the back of the mat board along the glue strip.

Step 8.  Lift the watercolor paper off the back of the mat board and remove the silicon sheets from the other 3 glue strips. Gently lay the watercolor paper over the exposed glue strips beginning from the already attached end, lightly burnishing the back of the paper with your hand to help it adhere to the glue.

Step 9.  Flip the mat over to the front.

 Step 10.  Position your artwork over the watercolor paper in the opening to determine where to put glue strips to hold the work in place and see how many strips you will need. Cut the strips as in step 3 above approximately 1 to 1 1/2 inches shorter than the length of your artwork. Place the strips glue side down on the watercolor paper inside the mat opening.

NOTE: I cut 2 pieces of UGlu glue tape to 5 1/2 inches in this example as my art paper is 7 inches wide.

Step 11.  Remove the silicon paper to expose the UGlu glue strips, position the artwork over top of the glue as desired and gently press the paper down onto the glue strips. Cover the painting with a piece of waxed paper and gently burnish over the surface, starting in the middle and working your way out to the edges, to assure the artwork is securely attached to the background watercolor paper.

Voila! Your piece is DONE. Enjoy! :)

Remember, you can choose any color and texture of background paper other than white watercolor paper to spice up your mounted print. Just make sure the paper you choose is heavy enough (at least 100lb / 270g/m2) to handle hanging long-term without sagging. If you prefer a lighter weight paper for the background, just attach it to a piece of heavier watercolor paper with permanent spray adhesive, YES paper paste or acrylic regular gel medium matte and allow to dry before starting this project.

Happy Arting!   Tristina

Encaustic Kitchen Mixology

When I first read books about encaustic wax painting, they all mentioned that it is economical and advantageous based on your painting needs to make your own encaustic medium from beeswax and damar resin... Right! I figured I would never need to take the time to make my own medium because it would surely be readily available from my local art supply stores... Wrong! In a desperate pinch, I found myself having to work some kitchen magic to make encaustic medium for a class I was teaching. Now I no longer tremble in fear. It's really quite simple!

I grabbed the kitchen supplies from KMart - candy thermometer, 4 quart saucepan (I recommend one with side pouring lip(s)), a small metal strainer, tight woven cloth for straining (like organza) and a cookie sheet or ice tray... preferably a silicon one! I found some great silicon King Cube ice trays at Ace Hardware to help with easily popping out the cooled blocks of medium. SCORE! :)

If you haven't already, grab Linda and William Womack's book, Embracing Encaustic; they have an easy to understand recipe and great pictures to help you along with the making encaustic medium process. The formula simply uses white beeswax and damar resin (not damar varnish!). The resin looks like light colored chunks of amber and is quite hard. I found the Jacquard beeswax at Jerrys Artarama. Sometimes you can find the beeswax and resin at Pearl Paint, and Utrecht as well - look for it in the oil painting area.

Making the encaustic medium in your kitchen is so easy. I usually use 2 pounds (2 bags or 32oz) of white beeswax and 4 ounces of damar resin. I make sure to turn the stove top extractor fan on high, then throw in enough beeswax to cover the bottom of the pan to at least 1/8 of an inch, bring it to 175 degrees F / 80 degrees C on a burner and wait for it to melt - swirl the candy thermometer around in the wax and watch the temp carefully. When all the wax in the bottom of the pan is melted, I add all 4 oz of the damar resin at once and raise the temp to 220 degrees F / 105 degrees C. The resin will begin to sizzle and pop...this is ok! Swirl the resin and small amount of wax around until the resin is liquefied (this could take up to 15 min)  then pour in the rest of the 2 pounds of beeswax. Turn the temperature back down to 175F/80C, put the lid on the pot, and keep an eye on the melting, occasionally stirring with the candy thermometer.

 It can take a half an hour or more for all the wax to melt. When all in the pan is liquefied, use the candy thermometer to swirl together the ingredients. Pour the liquid medium out of the pan, through the fine cloth (like organza) and through the metal strainer into the cookie sheet or ice cube tray. Set aside to cool.

If using a cookie tray, cut the medium in squares with a knife while still warm. After the medium cools, pop out of the blocks of finished medium...if they are difficult to get out, put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, the flip the tray over and bang on the back. All will pop out easily!

Now that I have made encaustic medium several times, I wonder why I ever stressed so much about doing it. Is there something you have avoided doing along your artistic journey that you can try soon in order to overcome your fear? Thanks for sharing the activity you attempted and conquered with me and other readers in the comments below...

HAPPY ARTING!      Tristina