It started in the usual way - BRIGHT!
Creatively it was fine and going where I wanted, though you'll notice I turned it upside down which meant the view was looking at the Nab from the south instead of the north.
But I had applied too many glaze layers in the process and the paint built up to a point where I'd lost absorbancy and the texture of the canvas. What this means is that the way I brush on will no longer work - it won't scumble (dry brushing) outwards smoothly, and often pulls up areas of the paint underneath leaving odd patches.
I actually wanted this to do much much lighter where it appears grey and then down from there.
So usually that means that whether or not I've reached the end of the image - I've reached the end of painting.
BUT - since this canvas was a canvas write-off anyway, I thought I'd make a first try at a real use of the new Liquitex artist acrylic spray paint I'd bought. I'd played with it a little on an old piece of canvas but not used it in anything "real" yet.
Spray paint makes me feel slightly guilty, but the reason I bought it was practical. My joints are having problems now and I'm only 42! So if I'm going to paint for another 40 years or so I need to find tools to help. If I can use spray to create glazes on very large areas that will help my shoulder in the long run. For example, the white area of this canvas is approximately 28"x28" (70x70cm) - that a big space to brush hard and fast in one go, and then repeat, and repeat.
So I sprayed... It's challenging, since of course it's another technique that I'm not a master of. The soft edge is wonderful but clearly looks sprayed, so I did still scumble over it with the brush to reapply the turquoise to the edges.
So I learned two things.
One - do not shake the can while spraying! Gah! You get drops of paint that way. So there's some of those in the surface. From a perfectionist point of view they bother me but I decided that it's a human made image and it just shows the artist's (shaky) hand.
Two - you can brush the usual way with paint over the Liquitex spray acrylic layer. That's great to know for future! The spray only comes in single colours but I can still apply new glazes on top to keep working.
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| Saltwick Nab Acrylic on canvas, 100cm x 100cm by Tina Mammoser |
Pre-varnish image of the finished painting.
As a first try with a new material I'm happy, and will experiment with it some more. I'll probably still feel guilty about it until I can figure out how to make it look awesome and non-spray-painty to me. But progress must move forward!
This painting - Saltwick Nab - will be in reserve at the AmericanBrits exhibition. So if it's not on the wall ask to see it and I'll gladly bring it out to view.
See the coast paintings tina-m.com
2 comments:
Tina I also use spray can paint in conjunction with brush and collage. I also feel guilty ( or more like cheesy) but if it was air brush that would be honorable ? It's just an air brush in a can. It's a tool. It's what you do with it that matters. I think you should try an entire painting with spray. You will be amazed at what you can do with multi layers of fine mist of different colors and a piece of mat board to control edges. Fun and spontainous ( it does stink though so outside is good if there is no wind). I rigged up a cardboard and window fan "spray booth" to work in the studio and not have to wear a respirator
I don't really think it's cheating - a tool is a tool. But I'm just not adept at working it yet. I have a friend who airbrushes - Terry Watts http://www.storestreetgallery.com/artist/terry-watts-rba/ - So I know airbrush can be used skillfully to amazing artistic effects. :) (and he works in CMYK, just to make it even more impressive!)
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