Category acrylics

(New) Homemade Pochade Box

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Over this winter my husband built me a new and improved pochade box! We just finished it last week. It is modeled on the shoebox pochade box that I made last summer. The sides are pine, with a plywood base and lid.

IMG_0276The lid has an overhang at the back, which was a happy accident. He made the lid too large on purpose, intending to trim it to the size of the box. While we were trying to decide on a mechanism to hold the lid open at the right angle for painting, I opened it one day and found that the remaining overhang rested on the back of the box and supported it at just the right angle! Like this…IMG_0278

Inside, he put a small ledge on 3 sides, to support a palette (actually I’m resting my Masterson Sta-Wet Handy Palette on it).

The water container is a baby food jar.

Under the palette support I can fit all my supplies!

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I took it on a weekend trip last weekend. Here’s what it looks like in use:

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It rests on my lap very securely (we experimented quite a bit with the size and weight to achieve this). Here’s the first painting I did using it, of the Mississippi River from my hotel room. (I felt too self-conscious just yet to venture out to paint in a busy city, although I did take my watercolor supplies and sit out by a nearby lake and paint).

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I’m hoping for lots more outdoor adventures with the new box this summer!

Learning Acrylics

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I’m continuing to work through the 50 lessons in  Learn to Paint in Acrylics with 50 Small Paintings by Mark Daniel Nelson. I’m working on #32, and sometimes itching to branch off and do ‘my own thing’, but also wanting to complete all the exercises and learn as much as I can. I’m really enjoying the immediacy of the paint, and the way it forces me to be bold and unfussy. Each painting takes me about 30-60 minutes.

I’ve been experimenting with different brands and types of paint, but think I’d better stick to one for now and learn its characteristics, so I’m using Winsor & Newton Artist Acrylics. The consistency is between soft and heavy body, the colors are bright, and they claim that there is no color shift on drying and that they stay wet just a little longer on the canvas. I cannot see a color shift, but I’m not sure about the drying time, as I re-use my paints from a Masterson Sta-Wet palette, so they may already be slightly changed by the time I use them.

I’m also keeping up with my daily Art Journal in watercolor. Maybe that’s why my progress in the 50 acrylic paintings seems slower than I’d like.

Lessons in Acrylic

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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!

Lakeside Sunlight

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Acrylic 9 x 12

This painting was from a photo I took last summer on our camping trip. It is on the southern shore of Lake Erie in NY state. We had just arrived and were scouting the site to decide on a tent construction site and the sun was just sinking over the lake. I loved how the sun hit the edge of the tree and cast long shadows over the grass. We later ate dinner at this picnic table.

 

Baby Hands

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Acrylic, 6 x 6 inches

I recently tried these two pictures of baby hands with an orange using two different colored grounds. One was burnt sienna; the other was ultramarine blue. Can you tell which was which?

It’s not difficult to tell–the orange is more vibrant on the burnt sienna, and the rest of the painting is more exciting on the blue background. I found the flesh colors difficult to get correct. I like the top hand on the right the best, as it has the most luminosity.

I think hands are fascinating for their complexity of positions and expressions. I need more practice at painting them though!

 

 

 

 

Skydiving

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Acrylic, 9 x 12 inches

I painted this picture as a gift for my son who has just learnt to skydive this year. He’s completed 26 jumps and graduated with his first certificate. We thought it was a crazy venture at first, but since he’s described the process we’ve been very impressed with the method and responsibility of the process and we’re proud of him.

I watched his you-tube video many times, stopping it every few seconds to find a shot I liked and then I painted from the computer screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lois

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This is my second adventure in acrylics, a painting of my granddaughter, Lois. I think the acrylic quick drying property makes me work looser and ‘rougher’. There is not so much time to adjust and fiddle! I’ve added layers of course, but the smooth gradations that are easy in oil are difficult here.

I love the vibrancy of the colors.

Dancing for Joy

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Acrylic 9 x 12

I decided to try out acrylics as an oil alternative. I was given some Daniel Smith acrylics a few years ago (no longer made) and most of them are still in usable condition.

Over the summer I read Capturing Light in Acrylics by John Hammond, which I found very inspiring. I love his colors! (I found it first in a used bookstore on Portsmouth, NH asking price $30!) I ordered it on inter-library loan and enjoyed reading it.

I painted this picture with a burnt sienna wash undercoat and a burnt sienna monochrome underpainting. For a few days I could not decide how to paint the background, but after considering something much darker, settled on this green pattern of light.

The subject was my daughter, enjoying the feel of her new dress-up ballerina costume!