{new paint playtime!}

"dream" banner

I just realized I never posted this picture of the finished banner!

This was a ton of fun to make, and a departure from my normal supplies and methods. While it is still certainly "me," I can really see how I'm shifting and absorbing everything I've learned in the scrapbooking world and applying it to my art.

I totally want to make another one of these, now, just in time for summer! I'll have class details for this one soon.

claudine hellmuth studio paints

I found these lovely paints at the shop, and was able to borrow them to experiment and report back my findings. I've been tasked with creating the cover for a Maya Road banner album, but, as always when approaching a new material, had to test them out in the journal, first. That's what it's there for, right?

painting in the journal

I found they spread....differently over my gessoed pages. Not quite as liquid as my fluid acrylics, but not as buttery as my heavy-body acrylics. After playing for a bit, I found they actually give me the soft, dreamy look I enjoy, but this took a bit of time to get the right mix of water and paint.

new paint in-progress

The yellow is a great, muted color, but isn't thick enough to hold its own over darker colors. The traditional tan is a wonderful color, though, and I may have to go buy a jar for myself because I loved using it all over the place.

Because I didn't see a red, I kinda had to fight the urge to pull out my own paints. Which I lost, since the page on the left has a bit in the corner. The colors I did get to play with are amazing, and I'd like to do a little mixing once I find a palette knife around here.

paint play spread

Layering with these is great, too!

I've been having a bunch of fun with doodles, too -- as you can see on this finished page, I'm working on making pretty flowers all over the place. Or mandalas. Or different kinds of plants. I love that there's savanna and prairie around here; taking a walk through any of the forest preserves this time of year can be a great trip for discovering tall grasses and tiny flowers.

searching for serenity

When I was in middle school, we used to collect them and press them in our hand-made journals. I still have mine, preserved there under clear shelf-liners, the color faded over the last, God, ten plus years?

Maybe all the rides through farm land have gotten to my head.

Tomorrow is the live vlog at 4pm central! I think one of these days, I'm going to host it in the morning for those in different time-zones. But tomorrow, I'm going to be out all morning, and may be running in just as it starts, again! Any topic ideas?