Experimenting with Acrylic Paint

Week 1 of The Great Art Supply Experiment is in the books. Whew!  Here’s what I made in this week’s experiment‐ the good, the bad, and the ugly.

If you’re just tuning in, you can find all the “what“s and “why“s at The Great Art Supply Experiment Introduction.  I’m trying some new things, picking up my art supplies, and having fun, learning along the way.  No rules, anything goes!

Confession: I skipped the first page of my experiment notebook. Something about that blank first page always makes me freeze up.  I also chose acrylic paint and limited myself to a set of 8 colors, just for this first week so I didn’t get overwhelmed with possibilities right out of the gate.

I started with the background in the main photo, adding layers of paint with a large flat brush, and using magic mesh for a texture resist. This is a great way to start playing, since it’s all about adding marks without shape.

I added these circle flowers and some hanging hearts the next day to experiment with different brush types.

I used the leftover paint on my palette to practice with my smaller brushes, making a variety of different flowers.  I look forward to trying something similar later when I’ve had more practice (and less coffee! Another lesson learned.).  I like some of the shapes much better than others.

Working with bigger brushes and the same color palette to make a bold, bright background.

What I learned this week:

• I do not like waiting for paint to dry. More than once I created muddy colors because of my impatience.  Score one for digital.
• There is no undo command in painting.  Ok, I knew this already, but I missed undo this week. I need a lot more practice working around things I did that I ended up not liking.
• Letting go of perfection is just as hard as I thought it would be.  It’s also important, and getting getting a tiny bit easier every time.
• I’m incredibly glad I started this experiment.  I hope you are too.

A few words on the creative process

One more thing before I sign off for this week…there will be good, bad, and ugly work in my notebooks, especially this first one. I’m not going to love, or even like, them all. But to get to the ones I love, I need to make lots and lots that I don’t.  It’s a process.  So if you’re not loving what you put on the page at first, it’s OK!

Take a minute to watch this video from Ira Glass on Creativity.  Whether you’re creating only for fun, or working toward a career, these words are inspiring!

Thanks for stopping by!  If you have done some art experimenting this week and blogged about it or posted somewhere, let me know in the comments.  I’d love to see what you made!

Until next time…

Carla