New Eyes and Clarity, Thanks China!

Sailing at Sundown, oil on canvas, 20"X20"

I recently retuned from a two week trip to China totally exhausted and sore for sitting too long in a never ending come back home. It was quite a journey for my husband, daughter and I. One that I will always be grateful for. It gave us a great appreciation for what we have. If you want to see about our trip to China, click HERE.

I did not paint during this trip, and it took me a week to recuperate from it. This said, I did not paint for 3 weeks. When I finally got to my easel, I thought I had forgotten all about painting. It scared me! Since I did not remember about my usual process, I decided to try a new approach. It was fun and I learned new techniques. See my new process below on a 20"X20" canvas.

First, I did a quick wash using Indian Yellow Acrylic paint. Then, I builded up with my darks still in Acrylics applying the paint with a 2" rubber 'colour sharper' tool. I used Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Ultramarine Blue, Mars Black, Quinacridone Violet. I sprayed water. I splashed drops of rubbing alcohol. It was fun to watch the textures appearing. I let it dried (2 min.) and applied a coat of Acrylic Gloss Medium Varnish. Another 2 minutes to dry. Underpainting done in 10 minutes and completely dry!

Then, I added the oil colors over acrylic underpainting. For the medium, I decided to mix the paint with Liquin for a high flow and for the thinker paint, I mixed some wax medium in it. For the tools, I used an extra long handle 1"brush, 1" colour sharper, and a palette knife.

I added the final touches. I was careful to not over do it and keep it simple. My oil painting was dry within 48 hours. I applied a coat of Gamvar varnish to give it an even gloss.

All that to say that it was good to step away and clear my mind of painting for 3 weeks. Why don’t you try to take a break, take a vacation and forget about painting for a while. When you come back, try different materials, new medium, new tools. Paint something crazy just for yourself. Experiment!  Who knows, you might discover something that will make your work even better.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the summer.

With love,

Monique

PS: To view more of my work, visit my website, www.moniquecarr.com