Still Playing with Acrylic Gouache

I had a little bit more play around with my tubes of acrylic gouche - I ordered a few more and thought the colours of the Magenta and Rose were lovely however I did notice that the pigments were fluorescent - PR88 and fluorescent - PV19, which is a bit alarming as it means they won't be very lightfast.

Anyway, I've started a little cat ACEO just to see how acrylic gouache looks - below is a WIP -

I like the colours although when I looked at the list of pigments used in Turner Acryl Gouache there were some very strange mixes - I was trying to match them to regular acrylic colours. As Jacksons Art were having a bit of a sale on them I thought I would splash out and order an assortment of tubes - I avoided the fluorescent ones. I also ordered a few bottles of AV (Vallejo) acrylic gouache to try out - again a few of the colors mixes are a bit strange but most of the pigments and colours seem to be more regular. I haven't tried the AV yet but will post something when I do.



Turner Acryl Gouache

A little while ago I bought a sample box of Turner Acryl Gouache from Jackson's Art Supplies - only £2 for six 11ml tubes (see link below for the range of colours and sets)



I had a little play with the colours when they first arrived -

and I've been playing around with them again this evening - I quite like them so I might invest in a few more colours. They dry matt and waterproof and give quite a nice effect.





Getting back into painting, orange cat

Following on from making a start I finally got around to doing some actual painting. Started with the sheet I had coloured with turquoise acrylic and decided on a cat. I mostly used System 3 original on gessoed watercolour paper.

Wasn't sure where I was going with it but I'm quite happy with the result, I've made a start so hopefully I can keep going.

Getting back into the swing....

Haven't blogged for a while so I must get back into the swing of things. Got some great DVDs in the post - took advantage of a half price offer - now I just need the time to watch them.

Covered some paper in gesso and coloured acrylic washes so now I'm just waiting for the inspiration.

Found a cat painting that I almost started so I think I may have a go at finishing it.

And with the Queen's Jubilee last weekend Sarah and me decided to play with two mini canvases and collage them a bit. Sarah's is the 'Keep Calm' canvas - mine is the other but it's not quite finished yet....

The Colour Junkie at Zazzle.co.uk

I've opened up a Zazzle store and posted my first item for sale - a postcard of Felix. It's only a small start but I suppose I have to take little steps.

My Zazzle store.

Fun With Faux Encaustics - Jodi Ohl

I don't get enough time to paint and it frustrates me, so I decided to try a little on-line class. It had to be reasonably priced, I had to be able to stop and start when needed and the techniques had to be something that I hoped I'd be able to use in many of my own paintings.

I decided to go for Jodi Ohl's class 'Fun with Faux Encaustics' - it uses acrylics and mixed media and Jodi had a special offer of a $10 discount.

I've signed up and have most of my materials though I'm still waiting for a few items in the post - I'm about ready to start.

There are written instructions with lots of colour pictures, on-line videos and you can email in questions. The visuals are very important to me as I take in the information better if there are colour pictures (OK, I'm a little kid at heart).

My four canvases arrived today - 8" x 8" - and I've applied some gesso - I don't have anywhere special to do this so it had to be on the dinning table. After leaving them to dry Carmen (one of my cats) jumped on the table and left paw prints in the gesso - never mind, they'll just add texture.

I'll add posts as I progress - unless the cats decide otherwise!

Painted Cat Ornaments Continued...

Not quite sure where I'm going with these recycled cat ornaments - or should I call them upcycled. Haven't had much chance to work on them but I'll see how they go - I may totally repaint them if I'm not happy!

Sarah's Fimo Jewellery

Sarah had her first go at making Fimo jewellery today - I think they came out really well. She made the beads and pendants from scratch and assembled it all herself.

eBay for my art - rainbow-cat

I've been on eBay for many years buying and selling but I've decided to set up a separate account for my art. I've placed my Vampire Cat ACEO on a new account under the name of rainbow-cat.

My first Etsy listing!

My first Listing on Etsy

I've made my first Etsy listing - a vampire cat ACEO using Inktense pencils - link is above.

I may also post a picture on Redbubble as it might make a cute card.

Redbubble

Trying redbubble for the first time - have added some photographs which will be available as cards and possibly prints - this is new to me so I hope I'm doing it right!

Cat Photo

Haven't had much time to finish any of my art projects so here's a cat photo instead - Jasper in the snow!

Inktense Kitty

30 second Inktense kitty!

Derwent Inktense Pencils

I've had a tin of 24 Inktense pencils for a while and recently bought some additional ones on eBay so I now have all 72 colours! (71 colours plus an outliner pencil) They're quite interesting to use as they're watercolour pencils that are quite vibrant when you run a damp paintbrush over your paper but then dry to give a waterproof finish.

I decided to do a rough colour chart to see what they look like dry and wet just so I can get a better idea of which colours to use.

Derwent Pencils

Painted cat ornaments (recycled)

I've got a little bit further with my experiment - gave them a couple of coats of acrylic paint (process magenta and deep violet) but then decided the colours were a little dark so I've given them another coat of the same colours lightened with titanium white. Once this has dried properly I'll get on with decorating them.

Still taking to time to play with my new camera when I get the chance. It was raining early this morning but had stopped by the time I got outside. Took a few shots, raindrops on the Acer, cropped a photo to give an abstract light effect, a burst of raindrops on a little flower.

This is a little experiment – I’ve decided to recycle two cat ornaments that I’ve had for quite a few years. I got them at a car boot sale because they were bright and quirky but I never really liked the colours or their faces. They’re made of some sort of lightweight wood type material, I forgot to take a ‘before’ picture but I’m sure you’ll get the idea.

I painted a quick layer of acrylic gesso over them then smoothed Golden light molding paste over their faces and over the chest of the larger cat (he was wearing a tie and I didn’t like it!). When this is dry I’ll apply another layer of gesso before I start any painting.

Laurel Burch 31st December 1945 - 13 September 2007

Laurel Burch was a self taught painter who filled her world with fabulously colourful paintings and designs - wildlife, flowers, people - they all became part of a delicious rainbow. Starting with very little and with a rare bone disease she made jewellery and painted.

I first became aware of her many years ago when I spotted her cat designs - they caught my eye - here was a woman painting with all the colours I loved and not afraid to use them - it was as if she had glimpsed my daydreams and translated them with paint.

She sadly died three years ago today but her legacy lives on - I only have to look at her paintings to be transported to a magical world.

Laurel Burch

Daler Rowney have relaunched their System 3 range of acrylics and had a competition on their website. Paint a picture in acrylic using only yellow and blue - I emailed them to check that you could use white to mix. I painted 'The Golden Boy' - he looks a bit orange but it's actually Cad Yellow Deep. He's an amalgamation of a few of my cats.

Another new blog

I know I already have other blogs but I decided to start this one hopefully to focus more on my art and my obsession with colour. I wasn't sure about the title with its 'drug' connotations but I couldn't think of any better way to describe it.

So what will you find on here? Hopefully my paintings and photographs, some favourite artists, any juicy colours I come across...............