Some confusion

I realized tonight that I accidentally put up some posts that didn't belong here. I have another, 100% private blog, that I'm writing more as a diary, mostly just about feelings, my mom, life, etc. Obviously, I've taken them down & posted them on the correct blog. Sorry for any confusion.

New Technique

before

after

One of the techniques taught in Acrylic Revolution (which I can't recommend enough for those that enjoy working with acrylics) is creating multi-layered effects. You cover an entire painting with soft gel (gloss), then paint on top of it. It's supposed to give the piece a 3-D look (my words, not the authors). I used an old painting to test this on and it was a LOT of fun & very relaxing.
I don't care for how the entire area (that I put treatment on) is glossy. I've bought some more soft gel, but this time I purchased matte, not glossy. I must say however, I do intend on trying the glossy again on a painting I'll do with flowers, that should be pretty; photographing it, on the other hand, won't be so fun. (p.s. Sorry about the glare. I tried to get rid of it, I really did) And granted, this piece could look really nice if I had put the soft gel on all the water area. That's the good thing about experimenting on a painting that would've otherwise would have been trashed.
One problem I'm foreseeing is that while you're painting on the gel, you can't see the background. So if you want to add flowers to an area that has leaves, you won't know exactly where the leaves are. I suppose you could do small sections at a time.

Everything but yellow

A new technique I learned, it's just called "plastic wrap" though. hahaha It really is in a book I got that has a lot of interesting techniques. The book is Acrylic Revolution by Nancy Reyner; it's the most common sense art book I've bought to date. Anyways, the blue/green colors in the background are from my 1st attempt at another of her techniques "alcohol dissolve" which didn't work for me, I think the paint dried too quickly & it still has to be wet. (even though I did the alcohol dissolve part right after I painted it) One thing I've learned, if you do something & it doesn't work, don't throw it away, use it for another project... which is exactly what I did with this!
This particular project just focuses on the pink part on top. You paint the background & let it dry. Then, you mix Acrylic glazing liquid with acrylic paint. Use either a 4:1 ratio, or something like that; lesser the ratio, stronger the paint that comes thru. The one I tried to use (just by eye, no measuring) was 4:1. So once you mix the paint & glaze, you apply it to the background. Immediately tear off a big piece of plastic wrap & crinkle it up, then unwrap it & apply it to paint & press down. Let it sit for awhile, I think I let this sit for 45 mins or so, don't let it dry all the way. Then you simply remove it & you're done! It's fun, easy & it looks pretty cool.
I'm going to apply another technique I'm trying on top of this & we'll see... maybe that'll be my project for next week!  :)

Acrylic paper mache tile - Focus 52

 

This is a 6 1/2 X 5 1/2 paper mache tile that I made from acrylic paints piece I created a few weeks back. I have yet to add the varnish as I've learned it causes photographs to be too glossy. This is for sale on my Etsy site for $14.50 (plus shipping).
Materials used:
painting: acrylic paint, newsprint
paper mache tile: newspaper, hot water, glue
mod podge was used to adhere painting to tile

My Barking Pig - Focus52

I did have an art project made for this week, but Jim wasn't able to put the brackets in it, so it remains undone. Being that it's Sunday evening (Monday morning, really) and I was without anything, I had to innovate & do something I've extremely uncomfortable doing ~ take a picture for the sake of taking a pigture! There are few things that can get me out of my own skin when I'm feeling uncomfortable and they are things I love so dearly that the love overcomes the sense of vulnerability I feel.

One of those sources is my pig, Trixi. Trixi is the namesake of my blog, The Barking Pig, because when she runs, she really does bark! Anyways, here she is doing what she does best - sleep. Like me, she's a power-sleeper. She sleeps in our bedroom since we moved from out 650 sq. ft. condo to our 2050 sq. ft. house. We thought she'd sleep in the living room like she used to, she didn't like that idea & as you can imagine, she can be rather pig-headed when she wants to be.

She sleeps with 3 blankets and 3 pillows. I wanted to get as close as I could & still show the blanket because the blanket has GREEN in it, so it fits in with this week's theme for Focus52. Can you see the hair on her nose? Are you able to see how crooked her teeth are? If she were a human, she'd cost a fortune in orthodontist bills! She's actually growing her 3rd set of bottom teeth. Why? I have no idea, I just hope they're straighter. I'm surprised she didn't wake up while I was snapping pigtures, she just laid there like a good sport.

The theme for our Focus52 group this week was "green", so here is my piggy under her plaid green blanket, undoubtedly dreaming of some sort of food. And "green" also fits because I'm so green at taking photos. Can't lose when I take a pigture of my barking pig though.