Last day of Art Mondays

Today was the last day of Monday afternoon art for the semester.

My friend Kate Jackson has been teaching and coaching us all semester. Today was the last session.

Recently she has been experimenting with brilliantly colored alcohol based paints on non absorbent papers like dupo. The results have been pretty startling. Many of the works of art look like painting done on stain glass. Its a little hard to control but some level may be obtained with wax and other blocks. Wax always leaves a trace so it have to be correct the first time.

I have been working in a different media. I made a small print from one of my Glacier Bay National Park photos. I switched it over in photoshop to bas relief. The result was an emphasis on texture rather than color. There was certainly an abundance of texture in the print. I took this texture an started to paint the texture into a watercolor canvas. I used some acrylic marble texturing material for some of the relief. I still wanted the painting to look and react like a watercolor so its a combination of the two. Most of the painting was executed with two new colors for Chaap Joes. This company is putting out a nice mix of already mixed colors that produce a mood or a concept. The two colors I used in this painting are called coastal fog and coastal fog blue. The canvas allows for some very nice lifting. It has a tendency to muddy up when the watercolor meets the texture of the marble and the leftover graphite of the pencil. I think that I will be much more careful with the pencil the next time I use in on the canvas.

Today I was working on adding some more mountains with hanging glaciers on them and getting a reflection on the water of the surrounding mountains and the glacier that spills down to the tidewater basin. I used crumpled up plastic wrap to give me a non continuous look in the mountains. The mountains were the source of the glaciers as they headed down toward the sea.

When I brought it home Sue said that it was looking better each time I worked on it. That is good sign because I have a tendency to overwork the painting. I feel that it is very close to being done.

I ordered up and received by delivery three more very large watercolor canvases. It will be fun to think about what will go on them!

Here is to you and your future canvases what every they may be!

: ) Pat