Using Acrylics on vacation

I purchased some nice hard board canvas books and painted while on vacation.  Our last trip I used the open acrylics for a longer drying time.

I tried a  painting using a bit of my tips from oil painting. 

This was painted with  a dark wash and then added color.

The canvas board works well since I do not need to worry about it moving and

slipping because each board is attached with glue on the boarders of the pad.

Water life painting

Trying to use acrylics and oils gives me a challenge.  I never seem to be able to create the results I want with the acrylics.  The flow of the paint and the mixing on canvas is harder for me. 

I have learned that if the painting is not to my liking it can be changed with the flick of a brush.  Just add gesso and cover the area and repaint the surface similar to how a oil paint would be scraped from the canvas.  Do Over is easy and can save paintings you would normally not finish.

This is the acrylic version and the whole picture was covered with gesso and repeated to achieve the picture I really wanted on the canvas

Night paintings

Todays Painting was a first for me - practice painting of night time with snow.  The reflection of the flash takes away some of the effect of the night sky but it is still visible.  Getting the right mix of color for the background was my challenge.  This was on a black background and was wet on wet with oil paints.  Learning to mix the white and grays was a bit of a problem but finding a picture for this painting would have decreased some of the challenge but it was interesting for my first night painting

Changing a finished painting

Sometimes painting over a  painting trying to create a better picture from something I do not like works and sometimes it does not work.  Judge for yourself and see if you like the change in this painting.  This picture  was in my previous blog.

I like the trees but some how the mix of two types of trees with different colors does not fit together in this scene

Changing the pictures I have painted

When painting a picture with oils I sometimes really dislike the colors or how a tree looks after I have painted the picture.  A doctor I worked with many years ago had a saying that the enemy of good is better.  When painting I believe that I would do much better to follow that advice. 

when painting and having problems I think I should stop and let the paint dry and add the colors I want at another time.  This Painting had problems with the trees and I might consider adding evergreens in front of the trees and doing more work with the stream.

The paints used are water soluble oils.  They clean up easy but can give me grief when layering to create the stream and the tree colors

Sometimes simplicity is the best for paintings.  Using two similar paintings and adding more to the landscape can make or break a picture.  With the two pictures below I think the simple scene with just the birds better than adding more to the scene.

Both of the paintings are acrylic paints.

Each painting was trying something different The top was painting the tree and the bottom was using the paints with mediums and making a wash to create the hills in the background

Working with acrylics to try to have an easy clean up was easy on the first attempt.  I was so happy with this landscape that I have decided to just add a few birds to the horizon to complete the picture. 

Hoping to take acrylics for vacation since oils take so long to dry.  This was easy and quick.  The clean up was about 5 minutes and the canvas was completely dry in a few minutes.  The canvas paper was in table form that can be purchased in many sizes.

Today was working with acrylics.  One more class from the collage and I will be done.  I was not very impressed with the course but I did learn a few things.  The class was not as structured as I hoped it would be but I have learned a few things about painting with acrylic mediums.  Today's project was a wash for the picture I will be painting in class.  We spent 5 weeks painting the same picture. 

Considering the amount of information on the internet the class was not what I would consider the best class but it was a class.  It has been very hard to locate any class in the area where I live and I was still glad to attend.  With practice maybe my next paintings will be with acrylics. 
Working with acrylics would be great when on vacation.  They are very portable and drying time would make them easy to use

Hello

Busy schedule keeps me uptight but painting will relax my mind.  Sadly this week has been without painting but I did have some fun time that is worth sharing.  Painting today hopefully but check out my extra work this week that has kept me from my blog and painting.

Happy Valentines Day

I spent the afternoon practicing mountain skills with my water soluble oil paints.  The mountains I have painted in the past were with more blues for the shadow.  Today I wanted to try to make the dark color of rocks not just a darker shaded snow made of light blue.  Looking at the photo of the painting I think I really should have painted a lake with a reflection to complete the picture.

                           Using a photo of a mountain as an example this was my painting today. 

trying not to be a quitter I finish all paintings I start.  This one is not one of my best due to the mix of the colors after scraping off the first layer and starting a new one before it dries.  But here it is and it is not my favorite painting.

I was trying to make a sunset picture of a mountain with outstanding colors in the sky and on the mountain.

Wow the weekend came and I wanted to spend a lot of time painting.  Ignoring some real important things that I should've done around the house I decided to paint . In my mind I had a mountain scene planned but it seemed as if everything I tried to do that day frustrated me . Nothing I did would get from my brain to the canvas with the painting I envision.
I even scraped away the mountainside and started over again but much to my frustration it still did not meet my expectations.

I think when we paint or have any hobby we need to learn when to back away if we are frustrated and stop the project.


I pulled out a new canvas and created a peaceful landscape with a pond. My frustration level decreased and I still managed to have an almost finished painting with my sanity intact. Maybe next weekend I can finish the painting.

I am happy to say I have had my first request to paint a picture  for money.  It is a beginning of recouping some of the money I have spent on my hobby for the last couple of years.  With this in mind I will share one of my more recent painting.

It is not one of my favorite pictures but it is unique with the oval shape. I used contact paper to create the oval shape and then painted over it and through the hole onto the canvas.  I can see that I need to touch up around the edges in places but the effect is nice.

 Practice makes perfect  click on each picture for a better view

I really had a tough time learning how to paint trees.  I thought you had to have every detail to have a great tree.  This was several of my practice sheets.  I still have days where I just can not seem to meet my expectations.  On the picture to the left please note one of my practice mountains and skies. 

When I started painting using a palette for the first time was a challenge for me and I never really got the paint removed from the surface of the plastic palette.  Using oils can be very messy for the inexperienced when mixing colors and mediums.  Thankfully I now have disposable pallets.  No clean up is necessary.  Disposable Pallets made my life so much easier since it was difficult enough to clean the brushes. 

As I look back to when I started to paint, I see how hard it was since I had little knowledge of brushes, canvases, and paints.  I purchased cheap items to get started.  I might add that oil paints are not cheap no matter what you get when you compare the prices to water color and acrylic paints. 

My trips to the local arts and craft stores taught me to snag a coupon from the paper and purchase the high priced items with a 50% off coupon and check for all sales related to painting.  Once at the store I saw novice and professional brushes and paints for each type of paint sold.  I started with oil paints.  With this I purchased all I could find for cleaning brushes and everything else I thought I needed to get started.  I also found my first books and Bob Ross DVD’s.  The price for everything quickly became expensive for a hobby I was not sure I would continue.

I purchased a lot of things I did not need and was constantly spending money.  It took me almost a year to decide what paints I really liked to use and to learn what I needed to use them to paint a picture.

I have since learned to shop online at art stores for items getting the best deals.  Researching online for videos that teach paintings online is easy and helps beginning painters.  I still use Bob Ross DVD’s but I purchase them in a collection, (sometimes used) for a much better price.

Welcome to my painting blog.  This is my journey painting pictures. Over the years I have taken classes for wood carving and basket weaving and became good at both. 
Learning to paint has been a whole new experience  I have been dabbling in oils and water colors for the past year and recently started a class in acrylics. 
I have found that talent is also part of becoming a good artist.
Below are a few of my first paintings from a Bob Ross dvd I tried to paint a barn

at the time I was very proud of this picture.

Overtime I have changed the type of paints, what I paint on, and learned that the old saying practice makes perfect is very true.

One of paintings from about 4 months ago

This is a modified Bob Ross painting.  I am doing things my way