Sunday, January 10, 2010

Ain't new for the rest of the world

My idea to paint on prints is not new, of course - I keep finding examples by others.

And I've run into some technical problems that require cash, and/or changes in the ambient conditions here in frozen Massachusetts... the key one is the support for the printed fabric.

Tried making my own... didn't work.

Tried foamcore... not to my liking.

A second issue is priming. The oil painting world's usual means, a brushed-on water-based acrylic "gesso," isn't workable for my inkjet printout, which is dye-based. The colors bloom and run in the gesso. A clear matte spray is the right thing (though perhaps not ecologically), and that will have to wait until it's warm enough outside to use it.

The support is almost certainly going to be good commercial mat or illustration board, and I'll pick up the idea again as soon as all the pieces are in place, the weather is warmer, and it's fully feasible.

Meanwhile, I still have plenty to learn about brush handling, color, and... and... almost anything you want to name. Shadows in the snow is my latest. I'm finally realizing that the oft-seen recipe to "add ultramarine blue" to shadow areas actually makes sense: it's the color of the illuminating sky. It's light that is intermixing with the dark of shadowed areas.

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