Can you stand one more?

One of the things Jean told us to do in our techniques class is to try to visualize a picture in the backgrounds we are painting. Kind of like finding faces in the clouds I imagine, which I've never been very good at by the way.

Anyway, I stared at the purple canvas for a while and I began to see (really!) a bird emerging from a starry sky. So I painted one in. I got a little carried away with the pearl white I'm afraid, and once again I had a horrible time trying to photograph the gleam-y surface. ("Gleam-y"... is that a word? LOL)


On my monitor, this photo skews a little yellow - the whites are much brighter in real life - but otherwise it's a pretty good representation. I think this canvas is my new favorite.

I need to go shopping for some more of these little canvases!

Another little canvas

These little 4"x4" square canvases are so much fun - imagine creating an entire painting on a surface the size of the palm of your hand. This latest one was an experiment with several new techniques on a subject I love - nautilus shells. Their geometric perfection fascinates me!

I first drew in the lines of the shell and it's chambers, then drew over them again with a clear dimensional glue. I painted the image, then shaded it with micaceous iron oxid (that is some cool stuff!) and them added the iridescence using a large flaky opal glitter. For a pleasant change, I got exactly the effect I was after - now that's a great feeling.

When everything was dry, I applied some heat activated foil in a copper color to the raised outline. I managed to burn my fingers in the process, but it was fun anyway. That stuff could prove addictive. Oh dear...


I wish now that I had used copper rather than gold inside the chamber sections, but I have some more of these little canvases to play with. I think I just might make a series of them in different colors.