Just Dessert Chapter 3

This process took me four tries! Oh what you learn when you try something new! I had to dissolve one image OFF the skin due to lack of ink in spots. I also lost a great image due to incompatible mediums - the whole image crackled when I tried to seal it with matte medium! The results were cool but not usable for this!

NOTE TO SELF: using digital ground is NOT a basic technique!

This stage is all about composing. Only two of these elements are staying right now, the image and the quote. The rest are just possible options. My aim is to make the piece look visually yummy. This exhibition is about desserts so I want a piece that makes you feel like you do when you see a beautiful frosted cake or some other confection.

The close up shots show how beautiful the mixed gels and mediums take the acrylic colors and create a textured and varied surface.

The author of the quote was one of the very first gastronomical writers. He wrote about the aesthetics of eating food with all senses. When you read any of the contemporary books on Acrylics they often speak in terms of food. Words like luscious, viscus, stringy or creamy are often used when describing acrylic mediums. My goal on this piece is to accentuate that idea.

I really love watching some of the more creative food channel shows. I think because they are a lot like painting!

One of my favorites is "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"

What's On the Easel: Black Iris - Acrylic Painting Progress

This was my very first step towards my next painting "Black Iris"...although, my mother told me recently that this particular Iris has a really beautiful name. I plan on changing the title or adding to it.

Anyway - I see the final as being very high contrast and the flower being very dark - blue violet black, against the yellow oranges of the bali batik fabric. This drawing was done to explore the shape and not the value - will do that in other materials.

This is how I transfer an image to larger or smaller formats without a total restart. It saves time and I can adjust parts that don't work well faster.

I use this to create a series of smaller mixed media practice samples as well as create a full size, 18 x 24 paper drawing that I can transfer on to the final panel. That drawing is then cut up into graphing sections so that I can work with one section at a time. Sounds complex but it lets me create the actual image that I want.

This is the 18 x 24 inch birch panel. It's off to the races! I did not have a blog when I wrapped this panel in fabric so I do not have documentation of the process. Next time I start one of these I will document and post the process!

Time to paint!