Sunday, March 1, 2009

Yuck

I don't think I like fluid acrylics.

Or maybe I'm just too set in my ways with watercolour.

Whichever, I've messed this one up. But while listening to a video on pouring this morning, I heard the instructor say it doesn't matter if we like it or not in the beginning, it's what we do with it. So, okay. Instead of just ripping this off the board and tossing it out, I'll just keep going with it. Maybe by the end, I"ll learn to like these fluid acrylics a little bit more than I do at this moment.

I think I used too much paint. I wanted the water dark with tones of green and black in there. It's dark alright! Then, after realizing this was not really what I wanted, I tried spraying it. That was good because it showed me exactly what Nicholas Simmons was teaching in his dvd, which I enjoyed. It gave a different look but I figured what the heck - I've ruined it now, I might as well make this a learning experience.

I like the look of the sprayed / lifted paint in the lower left. But right above, I waited too long to spray it. Something else I don't like is how the lilypads now look like they've had a bluish pour on them. Ah well. Another learning experience. Keep it really wet if your spraying - that way, the paint will just run off.















In the following shot, I kind of liked the look of the colours and then a few drops of water added. That's when I sprayed the other section (shown above). Big mistake. And they say that watercolours are unforgiving???














But, as the book Art & Fear says, it's just a piece of paper. I'll finish using this one as a learning tool, then draw out another and start over. Maybe I'll do the next one in watercolour though.

6 comments:

RH Carpenter said...

Deb, this looks good to me - to get that batiked look you have to wait for the paint to dry a bit and then really give it the spray gun, streaming the undried paint off. You've got good texture here and I like that the pads are tinted in placed - that will incorporate them more into the painting. Don't give up on this!!

Sandy Maudlin said...

Deb, Do not despair. That paint that escaped and splayed across the lily pads will help add unity to the painting later, probably being only slightly visible. The water looks deep and mysterious on my monitor.

Keep going and be kind to yourself. It's a new medium to learn, and since yo're treating it like w/c, it'll take a bit to get used to how it behaves.

Whenever I spray off damp paint, I spray the surrounding area 1st to allow any paint that runs off to not stick there. It'll ALWAYS stick if it lands on dry paper, but won't stick on wet paper unless it's allowed to dry there. Did that make any sense at all?

And enjoy the process. It's so so worth learning.

Deb Léger said...

Hi Rhonda, I did wait for it to dry and it worked in the lower section, but in the top section, I waited too long. Or rather, when I decided to spray, it was too late. lol. Thanks for the comments and support.

Deb Léger said...

Hi Sandy,

Thanks for the moral support and help. You're right - it's new and I need to keep at it to get used to it's ways. I'm going to do some more work now on it and will post it again.

Yes, it makes sense about spraying first! I'll do that.

Actually, I hadn't intended to do it Nick's way. I was just trying to salvage something I didn't like. But I like the textured look now. (In some parts.)

I'll go work on it now. Thanks Sandy and Rhonda!

Teresa Palomar Lois said...

you're frustrated because it's just the first time you use them Deb, but take another look at it, the textures and colors are good, maybe not what you were looking for but hey, think of it as the begining, it'll work, you'll make it work!

Deb Léger said...

Hi Teresa,

I guess that's the biggest problem - it came out totally different from what I was expecting. I guess I need to learn to not have expectations when trying something new, eh? lol. Thanks!