Simple Paintings 12 & 13

Tags

abstract, acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, painting, Simple Paintings

The simple paintings are getting a little more complicated and require drying time between steps. I frequently get distracted during drying time and sometimes it takes a bit to get back to them. I am also working on a bunch of different things in the meantime. Here is an abstract painting layering circles of different opacity.

Here is a more 3 dimensional painting of a ball of yarn using contour strokes.

I may have forgotten some of the finishing touches on this one. Oops! But I wanted to get my Marsh Mandala in the mail.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Marsh Mandala

Tags

100 Mandalas, acrylic paintings, collage, Horicon, Jersey Street Music Festival, Mandala, mandala collage, painting, paper collage

I just finished an 8×8 canvas board collage for the Horicon Phoenix Program fundraiser for the Jersey Street Music Festival in Horicon, WI. Mike and I greatly enjoyed the free concerts that this organization sponsored during our summers in Wisconsin. Here is the process and the product I donated, mandala 39/100.

Here is a combination of collaged papers and different paint techniques I used to cover the canvas.

I have found that I enjoy drawing mandalas on tissue paper over a basic mandala template for mandala collages. I added some paint on top and here is the finished product.

I sent it out in the mail today. If you would like to purchase this piece it will cost $50, or you can purchase a random piece for $25. The proceeds of the sale support the Jersey Street Music Festival and help a small town stay vibrant. I have to say that I love supporting the Jersey Street Festival from New Jersey. What a funny coincidence.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

 

Mount Hood Simple Painting

Tags

acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, Altered books, Cee's Photo Challenge, landscape, landscapes, Mount Hood, painted dictionary page, painting

Thanks to Cee for the photo that inspired this painting! Here are links to both of her photography sites. She has provided a lot of inspiration for my art and encouraged my photography as well. Thanks Cee!

Her photo of Mount Hood reminded me of the simple landscapes I have been painting in my Simple Paintings series. The others are all from this book.

I am so happy to be able to apply what I have learned from this book into my painting so easily!

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Simple Paintings 9 & 10

Tags

acrylic paintings, dictionary page art, painted dictionary page, paintings, shadows, Simple Paintings, trees

This lesson is called “Light, shadow, and value outdoors” and I quite enjoyed it. The road turned out to be a weird band-aid color, but I enjoyed the shadow colors and how to blend them. It was interesting to me that they were not made from adding black to the previous color (which is how I would have done it) but rather mixing a darker version of the color using black and a base color. For the road shadows the author recommends adding burnt sienna.

This exercise was about layering over and underpainting and can I say that I’m really loving working with glazes! I’m not a fan of his tree silhouettes, but I may redo this one and the previous tree using reference photos for the tree shapes.

I hope you have a beautiful day!

Circles of Compassion and Mandala 35

Tags

acrylic paintings, Albert Einstein, art journal, Art Journal Every Day, compassion, gratitude, gratitude journal, quote, Theology, Unitarian

Here is my gratitude journal entry for the recent past. It includes my new dahlia stencil and circles cut from paintings my boys did in preschool. My husband has a hard time parting with memorabilia and this is one compromise that helps. Plus I really love how the colors and textures of their uninhibited painting come together. I had attached the circles from their art before I found the quote that is written on this page.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
― Albert Einstein

I’m taking a class at my Unitarian Universalist Church called Building Your Own Theology and it is an exploration of what I believe. Part of our homework this week was to find a quote about human nature that resonated for us.This one really works for me.

I finished a new coloring page this week also. It is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Simple Paintings 8 & 9

Tags

abstract, acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, art, dictionary page, dictionary page art, painted dictionary page, Simple Paintings, trees

This painting was to work with increasingly opaque layers of paint. I struggled with it and am not thrilled with how it turned out. Maybe a mandala on top will help. In any case I will use it for mandala experimentation.

This painting uses more or less the reverse color order of my first abstract and I used modeling paste through a mandala stencil. It was a good learning experience. Again, I may use it for experimenting with layering a mandala on top.

It is seriously snowing here! I hope you have a safe and beautiful day.

Simple Paintings: 5, 6 & 7

Tags

abstract, acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, barn, painted book page, painted dictionary page, poppy, Simple Paintings

This painting was practice using tints and shades of Cadmium Red Med. I really love this color. I’m not hugely satisfied with this painting and I think I will do it again. It is finished with a glaze and that is a technique I really like.

I really love this kind of abstract painting and will definitely do some more along these lines. The lesson for this painting was textured layering. I think today I may do one using some modeling paste in a layer.

I’m so happy with how this turned out even though for years I have not liked paintings of barns. This painting started with a warm toned underpainting that is covered with cool colors. I really enjoyed some of the old and new color mixes. The trees in the background use the green made by combining Mars Black and Yellow Cadmium again. The grey of the roof is made by mixing unbleached Titanium and Mars Black – I really like both of these colors.

I’m also having fun making connections to the text on the dictionary pages. This last one is epiphany, which comes from a root word meaning to make an appearance. The flower is on the page for distress. I should have known it wouldn’t come out quite right. 😉

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Simple Paintings 3 & 4

Tags

acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, acrylic paints, mountains, Simple Paintings, tonal study, waves

Here are my paintings from yesterday and today.

This painting was practice in creating a simple gradient.

This painting is a simple tonal study. I think these paintings will make fabulous backgrounds for mandalas! I’m enjoying using acrylics in large shapes of color. That is one of the things I really wanted to work on and it is starting to have an impact on my art journal, too. Stay tuned!

I hope you have a beautiful day.