Author: Jess
art deco mandala 2
I really love how the colors turned out in my newest painting! The metallic silver paint creates a great contrast to the matte colors and made it feel very art deco to me.
This was actually my first time painting on canvas board in a while, as I prefer the “bounce” (is that thing?) of a wrapped canvas. I primed it with several layers of sanded gesso to give it a smoother texture.
Check out my original design: colored in red, white, and blue (I drew it around July 4th).
art deco mandala
I’m using the word mandala loosely here. This was my first experimentation with a more geometric design and metallic paints, inspired by the art deco architecture and decor around Miracle Mile, Los Angeles.
#throwback thursday: scaredy cat
I did this cute little sketch around 15 or more years ago. I’m sure I had grand plans for a series of Scaredy Cat comics, but this one’s all I did. It’s fun to look back at my old drawings and paintings! Happy #tt!
epoxied birch round
I finally had the time to mix up a batch of epoxy and conplete a few projects last night! I traded in my too powerful blowtorch for this handsome heat gun from Ace. It worked really well to remove all of the bubbles from my epoxy pour, with the added bonus of not catching chemicals (or my hair) on fire.
I also love the glossy painting after completely covering it with epoxy. I think I’ll experiment with layering the epoxy to get a bubbled look on my future birch round paintings.
birch round succulent mandala
I experimented with this little 3 inch birch round ($1.99 at Jo-Ann’s!) and with designs inspired by succulents. I miss my gorgeous succulents in Los Angeles, with their shadeof purple, blue, and green, so I worked on several designs and played with the colors.
Tomorrow I’ll update on my experimentation with covering the round in clear epoxy. Here’s my first attempt:
gesso-ing
Over the past couple weeks, I practiced gessoing canvases. I usually buy primed canvases and begin painting without additional prep. However, I want to achieve a slightly smoother surface for painting cleaner lines. I’m experimenting with the number of layers of gesso and sanding in between coats.
My first regrets were buying such a small jar of gesso and not buying a gesso brush. I started using that Bob Ross palette knife and ended up using a large filbert with smooth bristles.
And my second mistake has been over-sanding with paper that was a little too course. I settled on 400 grit paper.
My two 10 X 10 gallery wraps have 6 layers of gesso and are feeling pretty smooth and ready to go.