Mixed Media, PanPastels and Zinnias

 There is a farmer not too far from my house growing zinnias!  You can pick your own at $4 for a dozen!  So beautiful, so I just had to pick a couple of dozen.  I brought them back to my studio to study and make drawings.

I just finished participating in PASTEL LIVE so I decided to try my hand at my pastels again.  Debora Stewart gave an interesting demo using acrylic paint, charcoal and pastels painting flowers in an abstract way.  So, with my zinnias as inspiration, I tried my hand at it.  What fun!!  Watch my progress below. 

So pretty!

   

Blind Contour drawings of the flowers.

 

Using Golden Fluid Acrylics, I created some washes on matboard.

Working from my drawings, I used charcoal and created a composition.  Then I brushed a coat of clear gesso on top of everything.  This will darken the charcoal and set the ground for the pastels.

Making drawings from the flowers

  

I thought I would try a new twist with Debora's technique.  I love gelli plate printing and using stencils as well as PanPastels.  So I thought why not combine the two.  I added a layer of thin blue PanPastel to the background around the flowers.  Then using one of Elizabeth St. Hilaire's wonderful stencils, I pounced pastel into the background before I started working the flowers.

Adding blues to the background

Pouncing the PanPastel through the stencil

Makes an interesting effect in the background.

After working the flowers. 
Now deciding if I am finished with it.

Close up.

What do you think?  Am I finished?  Did I create a new technique?

Let me know what you think via my website:

RhettsStudio.com

MY FAVORITE BIRDS SERIES

Scrub Jay  8" x 8"  acrylics

I have watched and admired birds for as long as I can remember.  When I was in high school I had to stay at home after a minor foot surgery.  We had a pair of binoculars and I noticed something out the window.  It was a scrub jay!  I was blown away by his beauty and antics.  Now that I am hearing about the loss of so many birds around the world I am so saddened.  So I decided to paint a series of paintings of my favorite birds. 

I have been exploring gelli plate printing and mono printing lately, so decided to see if I could combine my love of birds with the fun of this kind of printing.  This is an 8" x 8" cradled wood panel which I had a lot of fun pouncing acrylic paint colors with sponges, stamps and foam stamps which I made myself.  I then painted this Scrub Jay and traced around the leaves.  I then painted the negative space around the leaves with white acrylic paint. It seemed too plain so I filled in the bottom spaces with stripes and dots here and there.  I am pleased with the way it turned out.  Available on my Daily Paintworks Website  $150 + shipping & tax

California Quail    acrylics   8" x 8" cradled panel

When I was in high school, we lived in the country.  I used to watch the quail wander around our two acres.  They would chatter and scamper through the redwood trees.  There was always a male on guard bobbing his head with that black feather on top, watching for danger.  I miss seeing them.  I painted this quail on top of a stencil design sponged on the background in acrylics.  Available on my website $150 + shipping & tax

side view of the Quail painting

Come back again to see more in MY FAVORITE BIRDS SERIES or visit my website at: www.RhettsStudio.com

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Notice: Only the artist has the right to reproduce her original work.  Please do not copy without permission.  Copyright protected. 

Bunny Paintings

"What's Up Doc?"   5" x 5" acrylics

"Daisy Bunny"   5" x 5"  acrylics

I have been having a ball painting a series of small bunny paintings!  They are only 5" x 5" and I am revisiting acrylics again.  Actually, I wanted the bunny paintings for the Tracy Grand Theatre Art Gallery.  Our due date was only three days away and so I had to do them in acrylics to have them dry in time to bring to the gallery.  

They were so much fun, but a tad frustrating after years of working in oils.  The drying time of acrylics is so fast and the colors keep changing as they dry.  But it is nice to be able to varnish as I went along and also to add thin washes where I needed them. 

"Jack"    5" x 5"  acrylics

So here they are.  They are available at the gallery for $68 each through July 28th, 2018.  You can call the gallery and buy from them and they will ship directly to you.  

Tracy Grand Theatre Center for the Arts
209-831-6278

"Daisy Lunch"  5" x 5"  acrylics

"Looking for Carrots"   5" x 5"  acrylics