WELL PLAYED

Graphite and fluid acrylics on Yupo with added texture from stamping gesso first.  Lots of fun!

I’ll be teaching this process in March, 2021.  See side bar for more info.

BARCELONA PIGEONS

A statue of a Spanish dignitary seems very attentive to these two Catalonian pigeons.  This is a TAPE BATIK done on YUPO with Fluid Acrylics.  I had to paint it because it made me laugh when I saw them having their discussion with the robed figure in Barcelona.  This was one of the demos from our YUPO workshop a couple of weeks ago here in my studio, and lots of adjustments were made once the tape was removed.

"A Little Birdie Told Me"  Fluid Acrylics and Watercolor on YUPO  12 x 18"

YUPO and French Cooking!

This array of cooking utensils is put to hard work when we are at our workshop in France.  Next year we will be there in October,  painting in the studio as well as on site, but always coming back to LVC for delicious meals.  It is the best!!!
"COOK'S QUARTERS" Fluid Acrylics and watercolor on YUPO 26x40"
 

YUPO ADJUSTMENTS ARE EASY!

Finished, again.....  Changes on Yupo are so easy to make, once you figure how what changes to make to improve the painting.  

Using the Valueviewer Ap, I snapped pictures of the painting before and after, then switched each photo to a Notan, showing the dark and light value patterns in the pictures.   The pattern which dark and light shapes make in a painting is the first thing we notice from a distance.   If it is a good pattern with good shapes, we will want to see it closer.


"St. Emilion" Fluid Acrylics and Watercolor on YUPO 26x34"

Finished Pattern

Step 1

Good patterns have interlocking and overlapping shapes which are irregular, unpredictable, and move somewhat diagonally through the picture.  Notice how more predictable and regular the pattern is in Step 1, the black and white taken from last week's post.  The Finished Pattern of the finished painting has more irregularity to hold the viewer's interest longer. 

Same picture, different placement of darks and lights.
How many times have we loved a painting because of the colors?  The textures? The subject matter?   But without a really good pattern of lights and darks, a painting will soon become less exciting no matter how great the subject, colors, or textures.

YUPO WORKSHOP IN FRANCE

Our workshop is beginning to fill up for next year's French workshop.  The processes shown here will be shared during our eleven days at Le Vieux Couvent.  We'll be exploring YUPO in many unique ways.

This is from one of the villages in the beautiful Dordogne region, so picturesque and paintable! 



'St. Emilion'  Watercolor and Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 26 x 34"

WORKSHOP WASH

 

Painted on Yupo with fluid acrylics, this painting shows wash day in Le Vieux Couvent in France.  Lisa, Leslie, and Paula headed back to the studio to paint as soon as the laundry was hung to dry. 

Next September we will be painting on Yupo, also known as Lana Vanguard in Europe, for the eleven days we are in Frayssinet.  Sooo many possibilites and creative adventures abound when we paint on Yupo!  For more workshop info, please contact Sandy.

"WASH DAY"  Fluid Acrylics on Yupo 19 x 19"

YUPO in FRANCE

 

"CREATIVITY IMMERSION" Fluid Acrylics and transparent Watercolor on YUPO 26 x20"

Last month, our YUPO workshop in Frayssinet, France was an experience of a lifetime.  And I'll be going back in Septemebr of 2013 to teach another workshop there. 

Words cannot describe!  The location, so French country; the studio, excellent; the accomodations, superb in a finely refurbished ancient convent; and the food!  Unsurpassed!!!  Each and every meal was delectable, presented so beautifully and so delicious!   French gardens, a pool for an afternoon dip, a lilypad pond to enjoy while reading a book or sketching, flowers, a courtyard for our lunches and late afternoon apertifs'.  Life was so good.  Can't wait to return.  Each of us felt like we had been totally immersed into ten glorious days of creativity.

Email me at sandymaudlin@gmail.com to find out more about the workshop experience for next year. 

FINALE!

These fireworks are finished!  Yeah!  The Grand Finale is always full of ooh and ahhs, and the show we saw that evening was awesome.  This is watercolor on YUPO with Fluid Acrylics.  Lots of fun, yet challenging to do. 



"Grand Finale!" Fluid Acrylics and Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 20 x 26" COLLECTED

Off to the studio to pack for the France workshop.. lots of treats in store for everyone there next week. 

COLLECTIONS EXPLORED

For our workshop at Kanuga last week, in North Carolina, we were to bring something we collected or at least pictures of what we collected.  It's GIRAFFES, of course, for me.  Our assignment the first day was to use something from our collection and meld it into a painting to include something from nature from Bruce's unique collection - of bones and shells of animals. 

Below is my result.  A turtle shell, with beautiful markings on it, combined with my marble giraffe from Italy, with no spots on her and a broken leg (later super glued back together.)

We let our imaginations take over as we developed our pictures.  This is YUPO collaged onto YUPO, with fluid acrylics, watercolor, and watercolor pencil.  FUN!  My Tape Batik process was also used for layering the first four washes.  The Independent Layering Process helped add to the finished effects.

"SO ALIKE; SO DIFFERENT"  Fluid Acrylics, Watercolor, Alcohol, Watercolor Pencils on YUPO 14x20"

NATURE TO ABSTRACT - the Beginning

Getting to take a workshop instead of give one is like receiving a gift.  Last week was a glorious week spent in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina at the Kanuga Watermedia Workshop.  Bruce Bobick was my instructor for the first four days, and his class had a huge impact on my art and my life. 

This is my painting for the second assignment we were given.  Each day we received at least one new challenge to provoke our thinking and our approach to creating meaningful art.

More to come soon.  

"GOLDIE"  Fluid Acrylics on YUPO  12 x 20" COLLECTED

YUPO WORKSHOP RESULTS

Last month nine artists explored new ways to handle paint on YUPO.  We painted for three days, and after watching my demos, each artist jumped right in, creating unique, beautiful works of art.  Below you'll see the results.  It was so exciting to watch as everyone explored what they could create on this wonderful, slippery surface.

Some pieces would still be worked on after the workshop, too.  I think you will enjoy the diversity and talent of this show of their awesome work.........

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Diane Kiemeyer

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Carol Schmidt

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Karen Goldstein

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Bonnie Rupe

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Suzanne Giltner

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Kathy Wirth

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Kathy Sarlo

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Lorri Davis

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Mike Impink

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Carol Schmidt

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Mike Impink

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Lorri Davis

The workshoppers in action

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Kathy Sarlo

Fluid acrylic and watercolor on YUPO by Mike Impink

Fluid acrylic on YUPO by Mike Impink

YUPO WORKSHOP

This weekend will be full of creativity during our YUPO workshop here at my studio.  Artists who have struggled to paint on this slick surface will find success as they enjoy a colorful adventure.



"Donkey Man 2012"

Watercolor and Transparent Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 20 x 26" COLLECTED

This first painting is a new edition of 'Donkey Man," a subject I've always been fascinated with and have attempted several times.  Two other paintings of Donkey Man are below this recent one, both done many years ago.  The first two here are on YUPO and the last one is a batik on rice paper. 

There are good things about all three paintings, I suppose, but I prefer the most recent one because there is a bit more mystery, better temperature dominance, and a surer stroke with the brush. 

Donkeyman 2002 Watercolor on Yupo 25 x 13"
COLLECTED

YUPO, also called 'Lana/Vanguard' in Europe, is an amazing surface to paint on.  It's much like a gessoed canvas, just slicker.  The textures and colors are absolutely fabulous on this non absorbent surface but handling the paint takes some expertise and a bit of instruction. 

We'll be exploring a new technique that we've decided to call 'Independent Layering' in the workshop, which was used to create the most recent Donkeyman.  It will be a good weekend! 

DONKEYMAN BATIK - Watercolor and
 Fluid Acrylics on Kinwashi Rice Paper -
COLLECTED







GRATE DAY!

Yesterday was the Watercolor Society of Indiana's annual juried show opening.  (Click on my painting at the WSI website to see it enlarged.)  The show will hang in the Indianapolis Museum of Art until early December, and my 'Amazing Grates' received the second place award!  YES!!!  Jerry Smith received First Place for a stunningly beautiful rural scene done in acrylics, also. 

Gerald Brommer was the judge and stated that he judges work on four criteria --- technique, drawing ability, visual design, and the spirit or content of the work.  Although I knew that he dislikes YUPO, I submitted my Grates on YUPO anyway.  

Here's what he said about my painting - "The surface of this painting is wonderful.  Gorgeous stuff happens in the painting.  It is well designed, and the design works beautifully.  The surface is to die for.  The composition fits together so well that one could possibly get 16 little paintings from this big one." 

The painting is 40x26", and it was amusing to watch as one guy tried to 'find' all 16 paintings in the piece.  It's been said that a good painting should be able to be divided into four good smaller paintings, so a big smile landed on my face when I heard what Brommer said.  I consider him to be one of the best workshop instructors ever, besides being such a wise judge:-)  He's a very affirming, positive person.

All the grates and sewer lids in the painting are from Indianapolis.  It was a grate 'happy dance' day!

"AMAZING GRATES" Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 40x26" COLLECTED

TREASURES

Discovering unexpected treasures is one of life's best joys.  This evening view of a courtyard is part of the former home of two people whom I treasure very much.  When it was started, my plans were to give it to them as a 'thank you' for a wonderful visit there. 

After applying several layers of paint interspersed with layers of masking tape, I began peeling off the tape layers to reveal the painting under it.  Treasures again!  The surprises of color and texture were astounding, and I got the feeling that parting with this painting might be more difficult than I ever imagined.  Yet, this would make the perfect 'thank you' gift for treasured friends! 

The second photo shows details near the door and the tape removal in progress. When all the tape was removed, the painting was corrected and tweaked with the fluid acrylics. On the YUPO surface, bits of the paint accidentally lift off when the tape is pulled up, creating new possibilities for more texture.

This weekend's workshop here at my studio was the unveiling of this finished painting.  She loved it!  (And the workshop went very well, too.)  I'm waiting to hear how her husband likes the painting.  Since it was his childhood home, I am pretty sure he'll love it, too.

Next month, this unique 'tape batik' process will be a big part of the weekend workshop here at my studio - see the sidebar for more info.  After three days of my demos and instruction and lots of work and painting on your part, you will have created your own, original 'tape batik' watercolor from your reference materials --- or, like this painting, your own 'tape batik' fluid acrylic watercolor on YUPO.

'Tape Batik' is the name I've given to my technique, but no hot wax is involved at all.  After initially figuring out how to do this process in the early 90's, I've been honing it ever since.  Being able to finally create the 'batik look' on YUPO added to the possibilities my technique. 

If you're near Dallas, Texas, you can sign up now for the five day workshop there in late October/early November, featuring my instructions for Tape Batik, too.  (See side bar for Artists' Showplace.)  There are several other of my 'Tape Batik' workshops lined up for 2012, also, in various locations in the U.S. and abroad.  Hope you can join us at one of these workshops.  Happy painting.

TREASURES  Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 26x20" Collected

BATIK WITH FLUID ACRYLICS

Once again I've removed a painting from its frame and changed things.  The three photos here show the original painting at the bottom, the painting as it was when framed in the middle, and the top painting, which is now completed and reframed. 

Notice the changes to the window and the posts beyond the door in the top painting.  The window sill was adjusted to create more interest and variety there.  The stone work was also quieted down by simplifying some areas as well as by bringing back whites to the brick work.  All of this has helped create more movement in the completed painting.  A cool wash on the bricks helped settle down those aggressive warm bricks, allowing more emphasis to be on the man. 

The bottom painting had way too many bricks with no place for your eye to rest.  The foreground was too light, also. 

The Tape Batik process is one that I developed and love to share at my workshops.  I really like the finished painting now and think it was well worth it to adjust it.  Hope you like it, too.

YUPO AND FLUID ACRYLICS

These pigeons were stunningly beautiful on this ancient fence just outside Notre Dame in Paris.  The bright blue sky that Sunday made their feathers appear even bluer than they were.  Their attitudes were fun to capture, too. 

This photo of the painting was taken through the non glare plexi, so the colors are a bit off and the values not quite as dark as the painting in some areas.   


"SITTING ON THE FENCE" Transparent Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 40 x 26"

MIDDLETOWN ART CENTER

Soon after we first moved here 16 years ago (today!) the Middletown Fine Arts Center hung a solo show of my work. Their gallery is beautifully done, excellent lighting, lots of gracious space to show off art. Later, they sponsored yet another solo show for me, then another featuring works by people in one of the classes I taught.

The Middletown Fine Arts Center showcases nearly a dozen shows a year, and I've been blessed to not only teach a workshop there, but also win several prizes, including Best of Show, at some of their events. They hold workshops, classes and other art related opportunities throughout the year. It's a wonderfully nurturing place for artists of all ages. Next month, they are having their annual fund raiser.

This year will be different. Rather asking the people to donate a framed painting, they have asked us to paint an egg... a LARGE egg made of a special plaster/gesso mixture. After visiting a cave in the Dordogne Valley of France which had Cro Magnun's paintings on the cave walls, I was inspired to use that concept for the egg. 'Birthplace of art' - - - 'eggs are about birth ' - - - that was my thinking.

Hoping to capture the exquisite lines of the one bison that really impressed me in the cave, I began creating textures, first with more gesso and modeling paste, then with Fluid Acrylics. That bison on the cave wall was incredibly fabulous. Painted over 11,000 years ago, it had exquisite lines and shapes. No amateur painted it, but an early Michelangelo. It took my breath away because of its fluidity and sureness. My egg for Middletown didn't quite capture the mastery on the bison in that cave. Here's what I came up with -Eggtravantgantly Ancient! Fluid Acrylics on Gesso, Modeling Paste, and Plaster Surface, Sealed with Varnish. 6 x 10" Egg Donated To Be COLLECTED

NEPHEWS

In a couple of days I will hand deliver this painting to his mother when we meet in Paris. I can't wait.

By using Nick Simmons' 'throw it on the wall' fluid acrylic technique, the background was nearly completed before I ever started the portrait. The actual portrait has been painted with transparent watercolor over the fluid acrylic drips.

Peter is such a free spirit, and my husband says that this really captures him. It's good to finally paint again and get one that makes me really smile.

Now I'm off to pack....... Au revoir!

SAME SUBJECT

The barn posted below was created using a flat, 1" brush from Daniel Smith Art Company in Seattle. It's from their platinum series and is around $15, my favorite brush ever. However, when my hope is to paint in a loosey-juicy fashion, the way this same barn was done in the previous post (see below,) I use a good squirrel mop brush. The Daniel Smith flat brush gives me plenty of control with watercolor, rather than the looser look. This brush has a razor edge so very tiny spaces can be painted as easily as a 1" swatch area can.

Another difference in the paintings is the kind of paint that was used, with this one being done with Golden and Da Vinci fluid acrylics, with one, or at the most, two, glazes or washes. An old bristle fan brush was used for the grasses and a credit card employed to indent the still damp, painted paper for the tree branches.

Miskit was applied to cover the snowy roofs, the tops of the silos and fence posts before beginning. The paper was misted overall, then diluted colors were allowed to flow as I tipped parts of the paper at a slant for the sky. The trees were tapped in while the paper was still damp to create a soft look, with the tips of the pines being put in later when the paper was dry.

Once the sky area was dry, the whole paper was misted again. Since the sky area was painted with fluid acrylics, rewetting that previous wash didn't disturb it a bit. The snow bank was blushed on to the top of the hill and allowed to move on its own while the paper was held at a slant. (I never ever tape down my paper so that it can be manipulated at whatever angles I want when it's wet.)

The details of the barn area and fence posts were added, again with fluid acrylics. The paint seems to dry just a breath darker than it looks when it's wet, quite the opposite of watercolor, which dries considerably lighter when used in washes this wet. I'd like to try this once again using a squirrel brush in the fluid acrylics in a loosey-juicy style, but first I'll have to buy a cheaper squirrel brush than the ones that I save just for watercolor. The painting actually has much more color in the barn than it looks here. It kind of glows IRL.

"EARLY EVENING" Fluid Acrylics on 140#CP Arches 14 x 11"

AND YET AGAIN

This weekend I simply had to take this painting out of its frame and make some subtle but important changes. The top photo shows the changes.

Changes --- #1 Got rid of that mustard color on it and glazed it with some pale indigo -#2 Eliminated the '+' sign in the small grate on top of it - #3 Integrated the other gold small grate into the grates under it. It was the only full circle, and the edges of it had to be broken. It really helped to clean up that big white grate. #4 Softened the strong, thin, white diagonal at the top right of the painting and lifted some whites out of the fancy grate near it. #5 Added an illusion that the white paint stripe coming from the top left of the painting continued through to the orange grate centered at the bottom of the painting.

That mustardy color on that big grate really seemed to weight down the rest of the painting, but it took me a while to see that that was an issue. Originally, the fancy grate was to have been the focal point, but as I painted, it became evident that the big white grate would be the boss. The white 'T' shape next to the fancy grate became overly important until that mustard color on the big grate was eliminated.

So now it really is FINISHED! (Started over a year ago in my head, then composed in February, painted in most of March, and finished, the first time, in June.) I like that the wording on the grates - about Indianapolis sewer and utility companies - is not noticeable unless you're up close.

The painting's traveling to Indianapolis in a week or so where it will be hung. It will be very hard to part with it, but I will have visiting rights. Right now it's my favorite painting ever. Though it seemed really big when I started it, it only appears medium sized to me now. I must put in an order for a big roll of YUPO to paint on..... wider than 40" for sure.

"AMAZING GRATES" Fluid Acrylics on Heavy Weight YUPO 40 x 26" COLLECTED