“ Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. ”

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Dutch painter

Make Your Own Canvas Panels

You can make your own canvas painting panels at a much lower cost than you can buy them pre-made. In my new video, I show you how to make (8) 16×20” and (4) 11×14” panels for a total cost of $50. All my videos are available for free viewing on my blog. Check it out and send me an email if you have any questions.  Watch the video: click

How I Created “Contemporary Landscape Series 6, No. 2″

This is my take on a popular motif that is seen in various sizes and shapes. Mine was done using Golden Fluid Acrylics and various Golden Mediums on a 24x48x1.5” Signature Canvas.

Base: Apply a coat of gesso (not too thick / use sweeping, curved strokes). Let dry. Use a palette knife to apply Q. Gold (Quinacridone Gold) mixed with Polymer Medium to the entire canvas (create texture by dragging the knife thru the almost dry medium). Let dry.
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Stage 1: Tape off a 1.5″ wide horizontal band (approx. 5.5″ from the bottom of the canvas). Use a palette knife to apply a mix of QBO (Quinacridone Burnt Orange) and FMM (Fluid Matte Medium) inside the taped-off area. Remove the tape when the paint is about 60% dry (to allow the paint under the edges of the tape to remain on the canvas, creating less of a hard line). After the paint has dried, to get rid of any remaining hard edges, use a very small brush to go over the existing edges with a very narrow bead of QBO and FMM, varying the intensity of the color and the line of the edges as you go. Let dry. Go over the entire band with a selected application of QBO + FMM to create areas of darks & lights, and to further vary the edges. Let dry. Add a band of Q. Gold + Polymer Medium above the horizon. Let dry. Add a band of Indian Yellow + Polymer Medium above this. Let dry.

Stage 1
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Stage 2: Tape off the sides (12″ from the edges). Apply Matte Gel (regular) to the bottom portions to create texture. Apply a thin glaze of SLG (Self Leveling Gel) mixed with lots of water and a little TRO (Transparent Red Oxide) to the top portions, to create a very light glaze of red. Let these dry. Apply a glaze of Burnt Umber Light + FMM to the bottom areas and another glaze of TRO + SLG and water to the top areas. Let these dry. Apply a layer of TRO + FMM over the Burnt Umber. Let dry. Add background trees to side areas using QBO + Diox. Purple + Fluid Matte Medium. Remove tape.

Stage 2
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Stage 3: Tape off the center area. Apply a thin glaze of SLG (with lots of water) and Indian Yellow to the top portion. Use a palette knife to apply TRO + FMM to the bottom portion, creating texture and light. Let these dry. Remove tape. Finish background trees using QBO + Diox. Purple + Fluid Matte Medium.

Stage 3
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Stage 4: Foreground Trees – use a sponge to apply a mixture of Matte Gel and Q. Gold to create tree shapes. Apply a layer of Matte Gel and Diox. Purple over the first layer, refining the shapes. Apply some Sap Green over this. Apply more color with oil pastels – create lighter areas on tops of trees. Add tree shadows with Diox Purple + QBO.

Stage 4 (the last tree has not been finished)
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Acrylic Revolution by Nancy Reyner

This book is a terrific compendium of techniques and information on Golden acrylic paints and mediums. The author is a part of Golden’s “practicing artist’s” program. Some of the techniques in her book are described elsewhere by other authors (e.g., using sprayed water or alcohol to create texture, mixing interference colors with black to increase the effect), but as a fan of Golden acrylics, I learned much useful information which I put to immediate use in my painting. For example, I used Reyner’s advice on mixing fluid metallic acrylics (stainless steel and micaceous iron oxide) with “modern” transparent colors (see p . 110) to solve a value and texture problem in my recent work “Tiles Series V, No. 1” I also used Reyner’s suggestion to apply several isolation coats to create depth and luster – she advises using soft gel mixed 3:2 with water (p. 105, 113). In addition to brushing this on, Reyner gives suggestions for pouring (pp. 115, 116) and spraying (p. 74) an isolation or final coat of clear medium. I used such isolation coats in the aforementioned “Tiles” work, as well as two recent landscapes (see e.g. the work on my home page). Some of my additional favorites from the book are:
• I often use tape to create edges In my “Tiles” series. Prior to reading Reyner’s book I had used matte gel medium to create a clean edge, but this doesn’t work well with applications where I am trying to achieve an overall glossy finish. Reyner suggests using GAC 500 when taping edges (p. 82).
• Reyner also suggests ways to make the surface smooth and “brushless” (p. 92) which is always an issue with isolation coats and final varnishes.
Some of the tricks I haven’t yet tried but intend to use:
• Using clear tar gel in various interesting ways (pp. 93, 111 – 112)
• Using Golden polymer medium as a resist (p. 41)
• Using crackle paste to create a “fresco” effect (p. 64)
• Using Golden light molding paste (instead of white paint) to tint colors (p. 96)
• To create an opaque look with transparent paint, first apply a tint of the color, then glaze the undiluted color over the tint (p. 98)
• Applying Absorbent Ground to a painting in progress to correct mistakes (p. 101)
• Applying gels to create textures on ink jet prints (p. 114)
• Using Interference acrylics mixed with traditional colors (there is also an article on this on the Daniel Smith website) – Reyner notes that the modern transparent pigments work best and that adding gloss gels increases the effect (p. 108).

Reyner includes several inspiring sample paintings (e.g., p. 41, 110, 120).My only criticism is that there are not enough illustrations for all the techniques she includes and the images of the sample art works are too small to see the detail. Overall, however, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in experimenting with acrylic techniques and mediums. If you use Golden products, the book is a must read. You can order the book at www.nancyreyner.com/book.htm

Kay Hurley Workshop

Kay Hurley has just announced her latest workshop, May 14-16 in New Richmond, OH (just outside Cincinnati). I love working with Kay and I highly recommend that you attend one of her workshops. Email Kay for details at hurleym@fuse.net

Artists – Archive Your Work!

[Note: this is an older post from my previous blog, dated Jan 23, 2008]

Artist Robert Genn recently stated: “If I had to do it all over again, I would have been archiving from the get-go. I’d be photographing and cataloguing from about age ten. … More recently, my archival incompetence was made painfully clear when we were working on “Love Letters to Art.” Finding reproducible copies of sold work proved difficult. So I’m hardly in the position to tell artists what to do. [But] (s)ome creative folks have an excellent sense of self-worth and truly grasp the value of storing well and keeping track. I admire this. It’s important to keep not only the chronological record of finished work, but also the reference material, notes, developmental wanderings, and eventual placement.” (emphasis added) Source: Robert Genn’s twice weekly newsletter, Tues Jan 22, 2008, available free athttp://painterskeys.com/subscribe/.
I recently came across a good source for archiving your work on ArtBiz.com where you can listen to a free teleseminar by Harriete Estel Berman, an expert on the topic and also download materials and forms from SNAG (Society of North American Goldsmiths).