Making Large Pieces of Art

I'm working on my largest painting yet! I have to say, this is a lot more difficult than painting on a smaller canvas or piece of wood.

To start with, I was worried about getting an even background color, because with a canvas that size (48x24) you obviously can't just use a regular paint brush. So I got a paint roller, just like the one's you use to paint your wall. I mixed the color I wanted for the background, then just rolled on the paint. This was a very fast method and it only took me a minute or two to evenly paint the whole background.

The only thing is if you want the background to be smooth, this method will not work because you end up with the tiny bumps, just like when you're painting a wall. Luckily I didn't need my background to be smooth.

I should also make note that I'm doing this painting with acrylic paint, because I need it to dry quickly. I would have loved to do it with oil, in which case I would have probably painted the background with a regular, large horsehair paintbrush, but due to the fact that I have no space to allow that to dry for a week or so, I went with acrylic.

Now I'm sketching my main subject for the painting, before I start to paint her on the canvas. Above is one of my sketches.

I plan to have this picture completed by my June 4th art show, and I will post regular updates as the picture comes along. It will be a mixed media painting, with acrylic.

"Seattle" painting

This was my largest painting yet! It's acrylic on 36x24 canvas. The awesome thing was it sold before I was even finished with it!

It's based off of an amazing photo my husband took from the ferry going across Seattle bay. Let me know what you think!

latest latest painting

This is another painting I did several years ago, probably about 2 1/2 years ago when I was first experimenting with acrylics. I was practicing what I call the "bleeding colors" method, where I bleed certain colors together with water (which obviously wouldn't work on oil paint!).

The picture was never a big hit and I never really liked it either. It was ok...just not enough color and life. It's fine if a painting is dark, but it has to have life. So I added a good deal of color to it as well as some beautiful pressed flowers, then I "bled" the painting again with red and black paint. It came out very interesting. I haven't completely decided if it's done or not, but I definitely like it a lot better than the original.

Latest painting

Oil and acrylic on canvas. This is a painting I actually did quite some time ago, probably almost 2 years ago. I have shown it at a couple art shows, but have never been satisfied with it; it always seemed kind of dull and lifeless to me. So I took it and "edited" it to my liking. I added more color and life to it, including a bit more depth and detail. I am finally satisfied with it and will now actually feel good about showing it and about selling it.

Running into trouble painting for a couple days

I've been super busy and haven't painted in a couple days. I had a very long run this morning, which I had to prep for last night and go to bed early for. Not painting bums me out!

I will definitely paint tonight. I have two oil paintings which I want to finish (I need to finish them this weekend so they're dry in time for the silent auction), and then I have two acrylics I want to finish, which I will get done over the next couple days.

Seems like I still have issues with problem #0, finding time to paint! At least I'm doing my best. I will post pics tomorrow of what I get done tonight :)

Finally getting in some time to paint!

I went this morning and got some new paints. I wanted some more acrylic paints, because I want to experiment more with them and I'm so used to just using oil paints. I was specifically looking for something to use as an adhesive on an acrylic painting, and I was hoping to get some wood panels to paint on (inspired by artist Clara Berta!).

I did buy something called Crafter's Pick, The Ultimate, which is a non-toxic, water-based glue that will adhere to metals, plastics, glass, etc. Is supposedly dries clear. I don't know if it will work or not, but I will try it out and let you know. I unfortunately didn't find my wood panels, so I'll have to order some on-line or have some made by someone (I will check some more local art stores in hopes of finding them).

So without my wood panel, I was forced to simply use a canvas for my painting tonight. Not bad but I was really excited to try using wood panels. I did and acrylic painting, staring out with the main color I wanted to use (purple). I expanded on that and used almost every single color, including purple, orange, red, yellow, blue, white and black. I painted a very colorful, relatively abstract, picture of an angel. I think it came out quite well. I love all of the various colors on it.

Tomorrow I will decide if it's complete or not and either post pictures or finish it and post pictures. I always like to give myself a day to see if I still like it :)