March | 2017 | marymayhewart

I have been having great fun painting these 5 x 5 inch panels in acrylic, using the excellent instruction in this book, Learn to Paint in Acrylics with 50 Small Paintings, by Mark Daniel Nelson. I found the book at a local library, but have now bought my own copy.

I started out using small squares of canvas paper, but wanted something more solid, so I bought a 2 x 4 ft sheet of hardboard and Jim cut it into 5 inch squares for me. Then I coated 8 at a time with 2 coats of white gesso. The colors are so much fun to work with. I’m experimenting with different types and brands of paint, and even trying out a few mediums.

I’ve done the first 22 small squares in the book, each of which has it’s own ‘lesson’ featured. I’m excited about the possibilities!

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I bought a lined, spiral bound journal for this year made by the same publisher as my 2016 journal. However, there was some small change to the paper making it more absorbent, and giving a more grainy finish.

I wasn’t happy with it, so I decided to make my own. I figured out how to print this grid onto watercolor paper. After a lot of fruitless effort trying to get the pages spiral bound, I took the simpler route and put them all in a 3-ring binder. It’s working really well!

The paper is Arches 90lb cold-pressed watercolor paper. It’s great for watercolor, but does not take colored pencil very well, and pen and ink is more difficult to use on it.

I even have a storage pocket in the back, where I keep the wonderful paint dots from Daniel Smith. It’s like having a complete palette on the go!