Painting

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Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

The thing I like most about encaustic painting is that you always have some sort of surprise. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t, sometimes you can fix it. I have discovered that casein paint works really nicely on birch panel and that they encaustic works really nice over the paint. Now the experiment is to see where the balance is between ground, underpainting and encaustic painting. I enjoy both of these mediums and I am going to keep trying to find the balance to see how they can work best together. Oh, and in the end, for some reason I decided to scratch into the wax surface,  liked the way that turned out! There is so much learning to do!

middle ground

middle ground

Here is the casein underpainting with the encaustic ground.

underpainting

underpainting

and here is just the casein underpainting

Encaustic Experiments

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Graphite, tissue, encaustic

Graphite, tissue, encaustic

I decided to try and draw on tissue and incorporate that over the stone with encaustic. I had a failure, you just can’t overwork it. But, the first one I did actually turned out the way I wanted. I was surprised that I could do the drawing on tissue without any tearing and that the graphite didn’t smear! So, I think this will work for future pieces.

oil pastel and encaustic

oil pastel and encaustic

I am liking using the encaustic and oil pastels together. The impressionistic look is nice and it keeps me working loose. I think I might need to embrace the fact that I do best working quickly….which might make the encaustic a good fit for me. If I take to long on anything it seems to just get overworked and to tied tight!

casein, colored pencil and encaustic

casein, colored pencil and encaustic

This last piece I did as a lark, casein painting with colored pencil on stone. I actually worked on this in the vertical, but I like it best in the horizontal.

Now I need to get back to my lobster claw and mussel shell casein painting on panel.

Stone

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musselonstone

Stone is the substrate winner for encaustic! It really loves the wax. I think that the over the winter drawing has really helped me loosen up. I feel so much more at ease laying in work with paint. I am going to try and stick with the shell idea for as long as I can. Now that the shed is up and running I can pick and choose what subject matter is good for encaustic when the inspiration hits me. This shell just fit right onto this stone. I would like to do some with several shells, deeper shadows and really vibrant colors. The encaustic on stone really enhances the colored pencil against the casein–I need to learn to plan for this and take advantage of it.

This is approximately 3″ x 5″, casein underpainting with colored pencil, graphite and encaustic.

Summer Encaustic

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Dandelion in the mist

Dandelion in the mist

 

Sigh. It feels so good to get back to the wax again! I took this photo last week and knew right away it was destined for encaustic. And, then I found the perfect substrate on the beach–a nice wood block. So, I let that dry out, and gave it a casein white ground, painted some white encaustic in the center before doing a nice encaustic medium ground. The photo was printed on tissue paper and cut carefully with an x-acto knife. I burnished that down onto the warm ground and added a couple of coats of encaustic medium. Final touch was just a little white encaustic around the dandelion and then fused with some extra attention in the center. I was really pleased with the substrate and the tissue paper.

On to try some stone. Doing a casein underpainting and then I will add the details with colored pencil—the plan is to do encaustic medium over the finished work to seal it up. Today is our hottest day so far, and we are all really enjoying the warmth and sunshine!

in progress

in progress

Spring Time

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sketch for painting

sketch for painting

It’s funny, I keep thinking that I will get back to my snow shadows (I have several that need to be completed!), but the spring weather is pushing me to the flowers. Especially when they are growing in my own back yard. Inspiration everywhere. I really like the sketch above, I am going to work on a water color and a casein painting for this composition. I am still finishing up the Iris painting, but almost done.

I found a little stretched canvas at the Goodwill for 99 cents, so I am experimenting with that. I am trying a casein painting of a seagull sitting on a granite wall. The layers will be really thin in order to make it work on this substrate. So far, the ground is really fun, we will see where it all ends up. So different to work on from paper.

light layers of casein on canvas

light layers of casein on canvas

Wanderings

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Study for next casein painting

Study for next casein painting

I need to get organized! I have at least 5 paintings started and not finished. I think that some are destined to always be partially done, but others deserve my attention. It is so difficult for me not to start a new piece once the vision hits. Sketching is so much fun, I love the graphite, the spontaneity and immediate gratification. Casein is a difficult medium and one that forces you to work in stages. However, I like the challenge of tackling something new and different. The color of the casein is rich, the layers offer a lot of possibility.

Below is a piece I did while traveling of an evening primrose. These were all over Frisco and Avon (outer banks of North Carolina). They indeed only bloom at early evening and through the night! If you get up really early, some are still open. They are charming.

Water soluble colored crayons and colored pencil: 4″ x 6″

eveningprimroseobx

Practice Day

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Clematis in progress

Clematis in progress

Today was truly frustrating. I felt really good about the work that I had started, but nothing is working out the way that I planned. I have decided to sketch prior to painting in order to “warm up” and make good decisions in the final piece. Today I worked on three small pieces, one of which I just threw away and the other that I will keep to learn from. The last one is in progress and I think will work out okay. Even if this last one doesn’t work out, I really like the composition and the color, so I will try it again.

sketch

sketch

I am trying to not to get too tightened up about things and that usually works, but today it has all been a struggle. What I hate about that is the time devoted! I know it has to be done, and some days will just not result in work that is successful on any level. There is always tomorrow!

Flower from Kauai

Flower from Kauai

My plan for tomorrow is to return to graphite only. I will do some sketches and then a finished piece or two…but restrict myself to just the graphite.

flower sketch

flower sketch

Small Studies

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finished

finished

These pieces are really small. Just 4″ x 4 1/4″, both are so far just casein. I started with a dark blue stock, crinkled ups tissue paper and then painted over the tissue with casein. When it was almost dry I lifted put the tissue paper. These were taken from photos, but I didn’t do an under sketch, I just boldly put down the paint! Yikes! For me, that is a little scary, but also liberating! I am thinking of keeping the daisy in all casein, the sea urchin I am going to work on top of with colored pencil and maybe graphite…or maybe just graphite!

I may force myself into working without sketching ahead by only working on the darker grounds.

unfinished

unfinished

More snow shadows

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Snow Shadows No. 3

snowshadowsno3

Watercolor and colored pencil: 5 x 4 1/2″

The snow shadows are a good series to work on because they force me to see simple shapes but offer up an opportunity to really add color from my imagination. I love this perspective…it slows me down. I am working on adding movement to the work, the watercolor is a little stiffer. The casein has a fluidity that is so different from the watercolor, and it can be worked into. I think I prefer it. The other thing that is nice about the casein is the white takes on layers of other color so well…and snow is rarely really just white.

in progress: pairs

in progress: pairs

This one is in progress…I think I will do several of this composition and try to keep improving on the work.

Snow Shadows Two

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snowshadow2final

Casein and colored pencil on dark green paper: 4 1/2″ x 3 1/2″

Here is one more with the shadows. I think that this is good practice for adding color and depth in sections that really seem like they are only one color. I made an attempt of one started on light/white paper, but it just didn’t have the depth. Working on a dark colored paper forces me to put the guide of the drawing down n white and then block in white casein. I think that this really helps me loosen up, and the colored pencil works really nice on top of the casein. I think I will try a watercolor base and casein next.