I did a rough color sketch last night to experiment with different color tints and tones. I was going for a sunset look, but I think it looks more like sushi! The second half was to be in blues, but I may switch to experimenting with green.
Tag: Plaza Artist Materials
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).
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.
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.