An Acrylic Gouache Painting Sequence

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Goofing around in a watercolor sketchbook produced this toothy-but-friendly fish. It was done with a scarlet Colerase pencil, then outlined with a Pentel brush pen (with a permanent ink cartridge).

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Been wanting to try a reverse-color acrylic painting, and also a set of Acryla Gouache paints given to me by a friend. I painted each section with the compliment of the colors I wanted each section to end with. I used a flat brush for most of it and kept the paint-strokes rough, leaving a lot of the preliminary layers showing through. A round brush was used for the highlights on sand and the trusting worm.

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It was a fast and fun process, and I definitely want to do more experimentation. This little bagatelle is one of my pieces for Aesthetical Zoological at Valkarie Gallery this coming October!

Thanks for checking in :)

A Painting Sequence

 Silent Village (detail). Private collection.

 Continuing an exploration of greyed color in a limited range.

The old photo of Robin Hood's Bay

 Totally intrigued by the village (see post http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2013/02/english-village-smugglers-and-secret.html ), I enlarged it and found this great section of old houses.

 That led to this slightly exaggerated drawing on a board primed with cad red.

 I threw in an under-painting of grey--a bit of an experiment.

I scrubbed in very greyed-down color--thinly. I was going for a snaking back of the buildings, so I used the blues for that.  I wanted muted color and close values for a haunted sort of look. Still, there wasn't quite enough contrast.

Silent Village. Acrylic on cradled hardboard, 8" x 8", Private collection

The finished piece. No cheerfulness here I hope.

Thanks for the visit!

Different Ground, Different Result

Unexpected.

The landscape in the previous post was begun with a cadmium red ground--that is fairly comfortable for me. But I'd painted this new board black, and it required in an alternate approach, varied brushwork, and a leap of faith. 

"The artist himself is often surprised at the finished work of art. He cannot tell 'how it happened', nor could he repeat the feat at someone's bidding."

-John F. Carlson 

Carlson is right, but in my case, replace "often" with "always". All I can do is write down the sequence which follows, and I hope you find it interesting.

The little house that stimulated the idea.

 Isolated houses buried within trees provoke my need to commit them to paper or canvas. It's a deeply subconscious allure shared by many artists. There's mystery held within walls, and my response to that mystery ranges from vague fear on one end of the spectrum, through curiosity, all the way to comfort and nostalgia at the other end. 

The process:

Using a watery purplish-pink, I brushed in a loose composition, simplifying the house and dispensing with the photo. In my head, I felt that I was pursuing a path similar to the sequence that led to my painting of the previous post. Very wrong I was.

(Sorry about the color in this--it's a cell phone photo.)

My main objective was to keep the painting fresh while still being experimental--I hoped to avoid repainting, over-glazing, or fussing with it.

Keeping in mind that the process is a chase, by allowing my thoughts and brush to scramble over the black surface I discovered some peculiar and exciting methods I'd not used before. 

Of course, some of the process felt familiar, but I'd be a liar if I denied the bit of fear present. I fought the trepidation by telling myself I could always paint black over any mistakes, and start again.

 House at Dusk. Acrylic on board, 8" x 10".

The end product did please me, but the best thing? It had more to do with process than product; more to do with discovery than rote method; and had an unexpected--unpredictable--result.

If I was a different sort of artist, I'd remember all of this by repeating the process again and again (the only way I'm able to retain a sequence), and nail the method. I'm remembering the feeling though, of the unexpected, and the process is calling.

Thanks for reading--I appreciate the visit!