My Mediums...

I thought I would share all the little extra goodies that I play with, besides actual paint. These are what sometimes gives that painting a little extra 'omph'... or what makes some techniques possible.

I'll start with the watercolour mediums, since I only have three of them:

The blending medium is one that I don't use too much, it mostly extends the drying time of the watercolour, but I also find that sometimes it affects the look of it too. Masking fluid is my favourite, and hands down most used watercolour medium - it just takes the stress out of things sometimes. The iridescent medium is one that I use the most around Christmas - adding some shimmer into my watercolour Christmas cards.

Now to the Acrylic mediums, of which I have tons...but I've also been collecting them a long, long time:

These are all just spray varnishes - I don't use them as much now as I used to. The one of the far right gives a remarkable shiny surface, especially when you put on coat after coat. I think in the beginning, I went through cans of that stuff because I loved the shininess of it.

These are all the "fun" mediums. The string gel and tar gel are essentially the same thing - they react a tiny bit different, but generally the same idea. Gold mica flakes are nice little shiny gold pieces embedded in a clear substrate. The also give a nice texture. Glass beads - are just that: tiny round beads that are crystal clear - once again, amazing texture! Iridescent medium for acrylics, is the same idea as the watercolour one, but this one works with acrylics instead. And one of my favourites: crackle paste. This stuff is super light - you'll wonder at first if there's anything in it! It takes a little bit to get used to, but the results are amazing. It's not a good project for any sort of 'control freak' artist though: as you cannot control what is does or how it does it...you just got to let this medium do it's thing!

Acrylic glazing liquid is something that I used in every acrylic piece I've ever worked on - it thins the paint without going all watery.  Polymer varnish - a varnish for finished acrylic pieces, there's a whole process for using this stuff, including thinning, ect - so be sure to check up on the Golden website if you use this stuff; it is definitely not a 'use out of the bottle' product. Gesso is a staple in every studio. I have a smaller bottle of glazing fluid on the top right, but it's the same thing as the golden project. I tend to use this smaller bottle for collaging elements, as I find this solution thicker (but that might just be because it's coming up to about 3-4 years old). Soft Gel is something to add some texture to pieces, and my latest small project included using this in a stencil. 

 So there we have it! All my acrylic mediums...

And they all fit nicely into a single box for storage :D

Not Too Bad, Eh?

Dandelion Fields - PanPastel on Prepared Canvas Board, 5x7"

 Not too bad for my first 'true' pastel painting. Granted, there are lots of things that need to be worked on...for one: understanding pastels a little better. But I set out to lay down a landscape, and it looks like a landscape - task achieved! I do wish I was able to put some more contrasts into my image - it seems very flat, but that is more a task of getting comfortable with the colours and how they mix together.

Here are some detail shots so that you can see all the pastel greatness in it's glory:

I don't think I'm going to post this one for sale...it's sort of a first (not counting that ACEO I created for the sake of creating it). Being a first, I guess that means something, hehe. 

New Illustrations

I've been working on some illustrations for awhile, and here are the newest posted ones in my online shop:

"Home is Where the Cat is" - Illustration, my favourite so far

"Languages of Love" - Illustration, Dusty Blue Version

"Languages of Love" - Illustration, Lime Version

I felt that I needed both a more neutral and an 'eccentric' version of the "Languages of Love" design. Being digital illustrations, I have that freedom to play with the colours to create special versions.

You can find these prints in my online Etsy shop, Jellybeans.

My First Pastel Painting

I completed my first PanPastel painting last night - my first pastel painting, ever. It turned out pretty good, considering I've never worked with the pastel medium before. It's done on ACEO-sized watercolour paper that has been treated with a layer of Golden Pastel Ground.



I'll be sharing pictures of my pastels later this weekend, these are just pictures of this little painting that I took with my phone for easy upload.

Some New Paintings

I've recently added some new paintings to the shop. I really enjoyed creating this first one - giraffe's are just so much fun, and it's about time that I painted one.

"Head in the Trees" - Original Watercolour

I've been thinking of introducing some collaged elements into my watercolour pieces for awhile now, especially after ordering some pretty paper off Etsy from thienthanh.

"Spring Blossoms" - Original Watercolour Collage

"Yellow Finches" Original Watercolour Collage

They were a tricky to cut out at first, but I eventually made a system out of it :) Here is a close up:

All of these paintings are available in my online shop, Jellybeans.

My Creative Space

I have a painting video to share with you all this week for my creative space!

This watercolour is titled "Rain Down On Me" and it is 9x12" on watercolour paper.  It was just added into the shop, so it shouldn't be snagged up yet! Here is the completed painting:

"Rain Down On Me" - Original Watercolour

You can see more creative spaces, here.

My ACEO-X (4.0) Submission

I recently signed up for the ACEO-X (4.0) swap. I created the following ACEO with the spring theme:

I interpreted the Spring theme with this little song bird in a tree. I always find that once the birds start all coming back and singing again, that Spring is definitely on its way.

I cannot say who is receiving this ACEO...the suspense is all part of the fun! And I have no idea who is sending one to me. But here is the little package I put together for them:

What I can say: the package has gone out into the mail today, and is on its way to them!