Dried Pours

Here are the finished dirty pours.  I had hoped these would dry without crazing, but that is not the case.  The two that crazed were the two I had poured over a already painted on canvas.  I don’t know if that would make any difference or not, but the other two did not craze and they were on brand new canvases.  They were also later pours from the same paint, which might mean they had less silicone in them then the first ones.  I also didn’t use the white paint in the non-crazed ones.

Anyway, here are the dried works of freakin’ art.  I think these things are so cool!

Castle Up!

Today’s daily art begins with this castle.  I have had it for a couple years, but never took the time to paint it.  I wasn’t sure what type of castle I wanted to make.  Now I’m thinking about turning this into Hogwarts. This is the base of the stone of the castle.  There is much more to do, but this is as far as I got today.

Edited to add this picture:  I had planned to glue on aged “stone” where needed, but it looked to bulky and I just went with painting it instead.

The second project for today involves my very favorite of all things:  free stuff.

I was given a huge stack of used manila folders.  These are perfect for tags.  From one folder I get 3- 4 x 8″ tags and 8- 2 1/2 by 3 1/2″ ATC’s (artist trading cards).  The reason I divided the folder in this way was to get the curved area on each half to be the top part of the tag.  I’m sure there is a more economical way to divide the folders without as much waste.  A lot depends on the size tags you want and whether you want to cut the tops yourself.  The scraps will be used for other things, so there really is very little I am tossing out.

 

I am aware the cost for manila tags is inexpensive, but why spend the money on something when you don’t have to.  If I only cut half the folders I have, I’ll have tags to last me a life time.  Not to mention ATC’s, which I have started to really enjoy playing with.

DIY Modeling Paste and Clive5Art

I just realized where the elephant came from originally.  I was searching for my recipe for DIY modeling paste and found Clive’s recipe-which is the one I used, for the most part.

Here is the recipe I use for modeling paste, based on Clive’s recipe for his:

1/2- 3/4 cup calcium carbonate

gesso

PVA glue

talcum powder

Begin by putting the dry ingredients in your container first.  I start with 1/2 cup of calcium carbonate, add 2 Tablespoons of PVA glue and stir really well.  Get the lumps out of this mixture.  When lump free, add 1/4 cup of gesso.  Stir.

And stir.

If thickening is needed, I added talcum powder to the mix for that purpose because I like the smell.  My tummy is very sensitive to smells and powder doesn’t bother me.  You can thicken your mixture by adding more calcium carbonate rather than adding the talcum powder.

You want the modeling paste to be the consistency of thick frosting.  You want stiff peaks to form when you pull out the stir stick.  If your mixture gets to thick add a touch of distilled water to thin it a bit.

The picture Clive was using in his video is of an elephant.  I used a reference photo from paint my photo to work on the elephant today, not realizing where the original idea came from.  I really enjoy Clive.  Please check out his channel.

My modeling paste is labeled 12/23/15.  It is still perfectly good.  I’ve kept it in a tightly sealed recycled glass jar.

Effalant

My dear daughter Paige called elephants effalants when she was an itty-bitty.

I enjoyed him.  I’ve not finished the background yet, but here is today’s daily arting effort.  I know there is a lot more that I’ve done today, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what it that is.  It just feels like I’ve been busy all day and haven’t accomplished much of anything.

The good news is we have our water back.  There are some things that we just take for granted in this modern world, and running water is one of those.  My dad remembers hauling water in from the hand pump in the barn for baths on Saturday night, and he’s 74.  Think of the tremendous advancements in technology that have happened in the last 100 years.  Our great-grandparents wouldn’t recognize the place.

Blick Haul!

Blick orders arrive so quickly, it just amazes me.  The three larger canvases did not come with this shipment, so I will expect them next week sometime.  Here is what I bought:

Three 18 x 24″ gallery-wrap canvases.  Three tubes of Liquitex paint:  Alizarin Crimson Hue, Cad Red Light and Transparent Mixing White.  Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Gloss).  Yupo paper.  Blick threw in a sample pack of Utrecht Artists’ Oil Colors: Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre, Cad Red Light Pure, and Titanium White.

While I appreciate the gift, I don’t paint with oils and cannot imagine I ever will.  I detest the length of time it takes for them to dry, I hate the way it feels like I’m painting with mayonnaise and I don’t like to use solvents.  I would really have appreciated the same sample pack in acrylics or watercolors because I have been wondering about the Utrecht brand of paints and am considering trying some.  (I have a gallon of Utrecht gloss gel medium and I love it.)

Not a huge haul, but I like to show you the stuff I buy.  Since I try to be as frugal as possible, you will always hear about the best deals on supplies from me.  I cannot afford to spend money recklessly or on things that don’t pull their weight.

Using Unused Art Supply Challenge

Today has been a tremendously productive day.  I poured 5 paintings from one set of mixed paints, and I re-did this elephant picture which has been bugging me.

I rarely use modeling paste, but I wanted to have some texture on this elephant.  I absolutely hated the way it turned out.  So late last night I re-did the DIY modeling paste and this morning I put the under-painting on him.  I like him better already.

After he’s finished I plan to break out some of my lesser used water-soluble media for some art journaling fun.

More Fun with Dirty Pours

Here are a couple observations:

You need running water for this art experience.  I don’t currently have running water (our pump went out on our well and will be fixed tomorrow) and it is a huge mess.  If you are going to try this make sure you have enough plastic laid down to catch your drips and cover your work area.

I did not add silicone to the white paint.  I just added it on top of the other colors, without mixing it in, and poured the paint onto the canvas board or into the pour cup.  I was able to pour several times with the paint I mixed up for the first pour and never once mixed them.

The problem, as I see it, with this method is the dry time.  You need a dedicated place for your work to dry.  It may take several days to dry completely.  There is also the risk of dust or something getting into your wet painting while it’s drying.  You may want to leave the painting in a cardboard box and close the top to prevent that.

If you don’t like making a mess, you won’t enjoy this technique.

I found sticking with warm colors together and cool colors together helped prevent mud.  On the larger canvas board the white helped keep the colors from muddying.

Reuse any canvas or canvas board you’ve already painted on but don’t care for.  Perfect for this technique.

My Art Supply Fast is Over

I just placed an order from Dick Blick.  Nothing particularly exciting.  In fact, nothing exciting at all.  Canvases, a couple tubes of paint, paper, and a mixing medium.

These are the things I absolutely need, which is more important than using this gift card on things I might want but don’t necessarily need.  Sure, it would have been fun to spend the gift card on those things I dream about.  But reality bites sometimes, and right now I can only spend money (or a gift card) on things I absolutely need.  There is no money for the fun stuff, just the bare necessities.

It’s so easy for artists to become art material hoarders.  We love the stuff and want to try it all.  I get that.  But do we actually use everything we have?  I know I have several things I couldn’t wait to get my hands on but now that I have them I don’t use them for fear of using them up…How ridiculous is that?  They were expensive and now that I have them they are to precious to use.

Enough of that nonsense.  I am making things today with supplies I have been hoarding.  Stay tuned for the results…

Last Night

our pump broke on our well.  We have no water.

This is a perfect opportunity to think seriously about living in a desert.  Since we’re considering moving across the country to Arizona, this gives me a chance to ponder just how difficult it might be to live in an area without an abundance of water.

We are very spoiled with our water.  We have a tremendous well with outstanding water.  I think we pump 67 gallons per minute.  In fact, we have two wells.  Our furnace/air conditioning is a heat pump.  This is one of the most ecologically friendly furnace options available.  Here’s how it works:

You suck the water from the ground, it circulates through the heat pump removing the heat from the water for warmth and the cold from the water for cooling.  This gives you one system for both heat and air conditioning.  This is all that happens to the water.  Once the heat or cold is taken from the water, the water-completely unchanged-gets shot back down another well.  This puts the water back into the earth where it is used again.

This is an efficient way to heat and cool your home.  The system is ingenious and works great.  You only need one set of ducts running though the house, and that set works for both heat and air.  With a simple flip of the switch, it changes from furnace to air conditioning.  No fuss, no muss.

If you are concerned about how what you do impacts the earth, here is a wonderful option for being earth-friendly in a major way.  Living green is easy with a heat pump.

Dirty Pour

My first dirty pour.  Here’s how I did it.

Supplies Needed:

Canvas-I put push pins in the corners on the underside of the stretched canvas so the canvas will stay off the drip pan.

Fluid acrylics.  These could be craft paints, fluid acrylics, house paint, or you can liquefy your thicker paints with distilled water.

Floetrol.  This was my pouring medium.

Liquid silicone.

Hand held torch.

Small cups to hold individual paint colors and a larger cup to hold all the colors.

Drip pan.

Craft sticks for stirring.

I used fluid acrylics and Floetrol, equal parts of both, mixed very well.  This is the same for each color.  I mixed the white directly into the pour cup and did not add silicone drops to the white.  Since the white was the heaviest of the paints I poured, I put that one on the bottom of the cup.  I poured half paint and half Floetrol into each small cup, mixing thoroughly.

On top of the small cups of individual, well mixed color,  I dripped two or three drops of liquid silicone.  I did not stir after I added the silicone, but if you do you will get smaller cells and more of them.

I poured the colors into the pour cup in an order I thought would prevent “mud” much as possible.  After I poured all the colors into the pour cup, I placed the canvas on top of the cup.   I held the cup securely and flipped the canvas over, setting it on the drip tray.  Once it was secure, I lifted the pour cup straight up.  The flow of paint over the canvas was pretty cool.  I tilted the canvas slightly to move the paint over the entire surface.  I scooped paint from the drip tray and touched the spots on the sides of the canvas which didn’t get covered by the paint.

Using the torch, I carefully went over the surface to remove bubbles that rose to the top and to create some more cells.  Since this is my first pour, I was unsure how close to get with the flame.  I am fairly certain I was to far away.

We shall see how the thing dries overnight.  I am noticing the paint is being sucked into the canvas along the wrapped edges and at the corners.