Artists? Do you ever stare at a blank canvas and think "Where do I start"? A blank canvas can be a bit intimidating and definitely will make you wonder where to start. Today, I will be giving you one of my little secrets to help combat that "blank canvas" intimidation.
A great way to get started is to find some interesting papers. Collage papers, junk mail, newspaper, magazines will all work. I, sometimes, will use the inside of junk mail envelopes as many of them have a nice pattern inside. See photo below.
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Cut out portion of the papers and using Matte Gel Medium, begin applying the papers randomly to your blank canvas.
I apply a layer of the Matte Gel Medium on top of my papers to maintain the design when painting. Now, that you have the papers on, you no longer have a blank canvas! You can begin to apply paint once the Matte Gel is dry. Pick out areas that are interesting to you and that you would like to reveal in your painting. For me, I love typography in my work, so I wanted to maintain some of it by not painting heavily on those areas.
You can even mix Glazing Medium with your acrylic paint to achieve a transparent color - especially over those areas you find interesting. At this point I began painting. I put on a layer of yellow and while still wet, I threw in some pink. While this was even wet, I added some white to highlight some of the areas. After I achieved what I thought would work, I added some black paint to add some contrast.
This is what I ended up with.
A completed painting! Notice some of the typography and images showing through. This is a great way to get started when you don't know where to start. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you! This original painting will be going up in my Etsy store soon and prints (and other items) can be found in my Society6 store. http://society6.com/NatalieBaca/Stolen-Dream_Print#1=45
A great way to get started is to find some interesting papers. Collage papers, junk mail, newspaper, magazines will all work. I, sometimes, will use the inside of junk mail envelopes as many of them have a nice pattern inside. See photo below.
.JPG)
You can even mix Glazing Medium with your acrylic paint to achieve a transparent color - especially over those areas you find interesting. At this point I began painting. I put on a layer of yellow and while still wet, I threw in some pink. While this was even wet, I added some white to highlight some of the areas. After I achieved what I thought would work, I added some black paint to add some contrast.
This is what I ended up with.
A completed painting! Notice some of the typography and images showing through. This is a great way to get started when you don't know where to start. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you! This original painting will be going up in my Etsy store soon and prints (and other items) can be found in my Society6 store. http://society6.com/NatalieBaca/Stolen-Dream_Print#1=45
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