On The Bench - Repurpose Feels Soooo Good!

I have found a local non-profit repurposing center, Trash to Treasure, where folks can donate any manner of items which are then available to schools, art academies, other non-profit organizations and the general public for purchase and repurposing. While there recently, I picked up several used canvases with either completed or partial artworks on them for pennies! I love these because they lend HISTORY to the layers of my collage paintings. Here's what I'm working on now with 2 of the 11in x 14in canvases I rescued...

Comment below with your favorite repurposing projects. Can't wait to see! :D

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and HAPPY ARTING!   Tristina

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

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

Overcome the Fear - Rock the Underpainting

When I started out painting and art journaling, my greatest fear was addressing the dreaded "blank" page or canvas! How do I start??? Now that I've been painting for years, I've learned to be BOLD and just throw whatever color interests me at the moment down on the canvas or paper surface to give a running start to the creative process... This exercise is especially helpful when I have a few minutes to spare and want to do something creative, but don't want to get into a whole painting. It's also a great thing to do with left over paint! Here are some underpaintings in my studio right now:

The underpaintings above are oil paint on canvas (from a canvas pad), collage 

and NeoColor II water soluble oil pastel on canvas, and collage

 on acrylic wash (from left-over paint) on watercolor paper.

Since I'm an abstract painter, my underpaintings are just about getting color down, collage and mark making like the one below. Generally, I use the colors of an underpainting as a guide for the colors I paint or glaze over top, however, traditional underpaintings typically use one color; grey, sienna, red iron oxide, sepia, yellow ocher, and others.

NeoColor II water soluble oil pastel on watercolor paper. 

Salt was added while the pastel was wet to give the spotted effect.

There are some great resources available for free online about techniques for underpainting, such as this blog post from Jerry's Artarama HERE and a YouTube video from The World of Art HERE. A few of my favorite examples of underpainting in books are the write up about artist Juan de la Cruz Machicado in Painter's Wild Workshop by Lynn Leon Loscutoff and the "From Drawing to Painting" chapter of Bill Creevy's The Oil Painting Book. Don't worry that the references speak about oil painting, the same techniques can be used for acrylic painting and other mediums, too.

I encourage you to pick up a brush with left over paint or water soluble oil pastel crayons the next time you have a few minutes to spare and give underpainting a try! Use it to add layers and interest to your artwork. Please share your experiences trying this technique in the comments below.

Happy Arting!  Tristina :D

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