Color Palettes and Craft Paint

 

I'm not sure if you follow me on instagram or not (artsyorange), but lately I've been on a bit of a painting binge. I say binge because I can....not....get....ENOUGH of painting lately. If I wasn't so blooming tired Sunday I probably could have cranked out a dozen. I did however, manage to finish 4 large paintings this weekend. Woohoo!!

Anyhoo...one aspect that is motivating this urge to create is my color palette. If you've taken an in-person class from me or my e-course you know that I am not brand picky when it comes to paint. I buy based on color. I was however, a tad obsessed with the thicker the better heavy body acrylic paints for the body of my work, with the backgrounds on occasion using the sample quarts from Lowe's.

I have a little confession to make though. A few weeks back I was buying Craft Smart paint for after school. I buy this paint because it is much easier to teach little hands with than the heavy body acrylics. It's also more cost effective. I glanced over at the smaller tubes of Americana paint and found some truly yummy colors. And thought....what the heck, they are $1.29 each. If I hate painting with it this type of paint I'll just put it in the after school art stash.

Well....let's just say that I am now LOVING these paints. And here's why. It makes me put on thinner layer of paint. And then layer...and layer and LAYER. When you layer paint, the layers under it illuminate through and you get an affect that has so much more depth. And the colors are so rich and gorgeous. Much better coverage than the Craft Smart brand honestly (which since that's what I knew was kind of a snob about painting with). As a whimsical painter I am not so much concerned with making things look 3 dimensional per say. But I do love for my colors to resonate on the canvas. Let's just say these colors are singing a lovely song. The painting above is not quite finished. You can tell this by the chalk reside awaiting removal by the secret wiper tool.

As far as palette goes yesterday I picked up a few more tubes of the Americana brand in the colors above. When I got home the above magazine tear out was on my art desk. Low and behold my brain had obviously wanted this color palette because I'd bought ALL but the Oatbran! Anyhoo...I have a rather large stash of all sorts of paints now. I guess being an artist lends itself to wanting to explore mediums of all kinds. At least I find this to be true.

So tell me...what's your favorite type of paint?

A Little Painting

Today I got out the paints.  Yep.  Felt good.  Throughout all the chaos of choosing a house and now packing I've literally had to just say, "I will have time to create very soon, patience.  Patience."  This morning I woke before anyone else in the house and thought.....I think it's time.  I've got a sweet customer waiting for a custom order.  I'd already made the base with the compound and carving so all it needed was a little color.  And look who decided to keep me company during it all.

So, have you been working on anything fun lately?

Knowing Your Heart

I recently found a quote that says, "It's never to late to find out who you want to be".  Yeah, I like it too.  If you are an artist reading my blog, then you get the struggle of "finding" yourself in your art.  How do you make it yours?  How do you embrace your talents? How do you set yourself apart?  Nothing frustrates me more than being super excited about something new only to find it on the front page of etsy the next day!  Drats....back to the drawing board. 

I've not reinvented the wheel this time around with my painting subjects.  I mean, why would I?  I am a painter who uses trucks, bikes, bird, bird cages and silly flowers in my paintings.  That's who I am....and quite frankly I like my subjects.  My painting style however I believe has matured over the years.  I was not a confident painter when I started.  I am pretty sure I thought too much about what I was doing.  Now, I just paint.  In fact, I am a very fast painter.  Mostly this is because I am not going for the text book version of a bird, but rather a more Jennism styled bird. 

As in the past, I am still a lover of texture in my paintings.  But I also love lines...so this round of paintings I had an "AHA" moment of adding texture enough to write my words in, still use the black gesso, acrylics, then fill the carved lines with oil stick technique.  Yes, it was a few day process.  But I am very methodical in my processes when getting ready for a show and started 15 paintings at once.  Yes, you read this right.  Of course 1/2 of those are on their way to the Texas Round-top show with Matilda.  Yee-haw paintings!  The other 7 are making me very happy right now spread out around the art studio. 

This last one.....well I think if you really know your heart, then finding out who you want to be will come quite easy.  You just have to tell your mind what your heart is thinking is all. 

Icky Sticky Bubble Gum Camp

For several years now I've taught art camp at The Vintage-Flea. It's every Thursday from 10-2. Kids bring a sack lunch and we make art the whole time! It's super fun...for me and the campers! This week kicked off the summer series with one of my favorites themes yet, Icky Sticky Bubble Gum. This group of 16 artists were amazing to work with. I didn't have one child ever say "I can't do that"! WOW. Self portraits with giant pink bubbles were a favorite project for many. The giant bubble is a wooden doll head painted pink and glued on. Here Gracen, Abbey and Abigail show off their folksy portraits. These were created on a canvas board with acrylic paints.

What child doesn't love a bubble gum machine? Here we used large watercolor paper to create our own machines with patterned backgrounds.

This project was inspired by our story of the day, Icky Sticky Bubble Gum. The main character, a frog, gets stuck in some icky sticky bubble gum, just as these little silly frogs have. These were created using acrylics on canvas paper.

And of course we chewed bubble gum ALL DAY! We even had a bubble blowing contest. This little sweetie won by far! Next week we are "Moving Right Along" making Hot Air Balloons, Bikes, Rockets and Race Cars! Call 770-683-2825 to sign your child up today!