Introduction

I belong to the experimental acrylics group on Yahoo. At the moment, our group leader is holding virtual classes. This blog shows the work progressing.
I bought a couple of pictures from the £ store for a £ ($2) each some months ago. It makes a really cheap canvas. This is the one I used for this painting.



The first step was to create a background. Get rid of the white - or in my case, the original picture.



The next step was to add some texture. I used a large stamp to start with but didn't like it. I used cling film (plastic wrap) to cover it up.



The next step was to add some brush work. I chose green because it is the colour opposite red (and therefore complementary) on the colour wheel.



Some spritzing was done over stencils and finally, paint was spread onto a CD case and then the CD Case was placed on the picture.




















This is a section of the final painting.

Inspiration

I saw a piece of work by somebody recently who had created a mixed media art piece with lace and I fancied having a go myself. Of course, on that particular day, I didn't have any lace. My mum visited recently and gave me a bag of lace to use, and then I had to wait a few more weeks before I had time to start. Any way, that time has come.

My first step was to paint a background.
The second step was to add some lace.
The third step was to dab some white paint onto the lace. The picture you see here is after the third step.




And this is a close up:



After it had dried, I then added some puff paint and heated it.
I then painted with a rather gorgeous metallic purple paint that I have.



And this is a close up:



I want to add some buttons and beads next. I need to wait until next weekend, got to spend some time at work first, sniff, sniff.

Stencil

I've also used the craft robo to cut a stencil. These aren't as successful as I would like, the stencil is too thick for the machine. However, it can score the stencils. I'm finishing them off by using a soldering iron on glass.

This is a background in readiness for something - not sure what something though!

African Mask - Final Result

This is the final mask - somewhat different from the original.

I had to do a lot of work preparing this one for the craft robo. I created cutting lines in paint shop pro and had I cut them all, I would have ended up with lots of separate bits to be stuck back together. I just couldn't get my head around it. So, I printed it out and then drew the cutting lines I wanted on top of the print out in red. This meant I could erase and add on the image in PSP. The white bits in the middle were not wide enough when I first cut it so I had to make them wider. I'm pleased with the final result.

African Mask

Still on the African theme. This is for the mail art that I need to send in May. I plan posting it from South Africa. The image here is the one that my mask is based on.

Zebra

I made this zebra today. I'm going to South Africa in a couple of weeks and I also participate in a mail art group. I'm concentrating on African themes in my art at the moment.

You can't tell from the scan, but the zebra has been cut around the edges. I hope the tail survives the post!

This is a detail of the Mark Rothko inspired piece. The scan has made it much more detailed than the real thing.