Thursday, June 13, 2013

Summer of Color 1: Summery Postcard in Citron Green and Turquoise

 
This summer, I'm playing along with Kristin's Summer of Color Challenge. Each week, for six weeks, a color combination is chosen by a poll of the participants and then people create artwork, in whatever format they choose, based around those colors.  I decided that I wanted to work with acrylic paint since it has been soooo long since I've played with them. I considered creating six canvases, as I have at least that many sitting in my stash but decided they would bee too difficult to store. Then I decided to work on pieces of plaster wrap because I knew I had a large 16x16 piece that I could cut into six 8x5 pieces. But, try as I might, I could not find that piece of plaster wrap. It's big; it's hard for it to hide. I looked in all the places I remember seeing it or storing it.  But, no luck; no plaster wrap. Sigh. I guess it's a sign of how much stuff I have that something that big can remain hidden. As I was cleaning and searching, I did find a package of watercolor paper postcards that I decided would be just fine for the project.  And, in the end, I'm glad I went in this direction because I found that my painting skills are really rusty. It would have been very frustrating to work on a bigger canvas. Also, plaster really changes colors, and it was hard enough to get the right colors on the watercolor paper.  For my postcards, I decided to try to focus on abstract painting, color and texture. In the end, I decided I would also find a summery quote to use on each one.  I think this will lead to a nice, coherent collection by the end of the challenge. 
The colors for Week 1 were citron green and turquoise. I looked through my Golden acrylic paints and decided to go primarily with manganese blue hue and green gold. I eventually supplemented with some other blues and greens, as well as metallic gold. I started with a rough coat of gesso on the card and then added a layer of blue in washes and glazes. Next, I used a stencil and other texture tools to add more gesso and some soft modeling paste. I painted those areas with layers of green paint. I went back in with a bit more turquoise to unify everything a bit; wrote in my quote; and then hit the high points in the texture and a bit of the background with metallic gold as my final top layer. I'm really glad I'm participating in this challenge because I don't want to lose my acrylic painting skills, and I definitely felt rusty. I think this will also push me to make some acrylic canvases this summer, as well as do some plaster wrap work (once I find the damn thing!). 
Thanks for the challenge Kristin!  Thanks also to the folks at Paint Party Friday, where I'm posting this, for the reminder to pick up your brushes and paint - they're the main reason I did any painting at all this last year. 
The quote reads "Don't grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach."

34 comments:

Amy said...

I think this is one of my favourites ever Rinda - it's the almost geometric shape of the sun that really appeals to me ... and the quote of course!

scrappyjacky said...

I love the way it looks like the sun over the sea as well....I think I'm going to really enjoy these challenges.

helena said...

feels so summery - I love the texture and touches of gold

Netty said...

great texture and design. Happy SOC, Annette x

Unknown said...

I looks lovely, really summery

Sharon Fritchman said...

WOW! I love this work of art! You used the colors and textures beautifully here!!!!!

Carolyn Dube said...

I love your texture with those colors- so vibrant so inviting! Happy PPF!

Mary C. Nasser said...

Beautiful textures and colors, Rinda.
Lovely summer painting!
♥♥♥
Happy PPF!!
Mary
Mixed-Media Map Art

Shahrul Niza said...

I LOVE your textured sunshine here :). What a lovely summery scene. Do hope you'll find the plaster thing :).

Fiona@staring at the sea said...

I don't have much to say about this except...wow! If that's what you can produce with rusty painting skills, I can't wait to see what you can do when you've 'oiled' them up a bit!
I meant to say the other day, thanks for linking to the summer of Colour challenge. Me and my girl will be joining in at the weekend and it also led me to the Index Card A Day challenge, which is great fun.

Faye said...

Beautiful combination of colors! Very summery.

Ivy said...

Oh I love the color and texture of this piece! HPPF!

Marji said...

Love your SoC colors! Looks like you have some really nice texture on this one. Beautiful

Linda Kunsman said...

your textured painting is beautiful -it sings of summer!! Love the quote too. Great SOC project and happy PPF!

Anonymous said...

Love this color combination and your sunny texture just shines. Happy PPF. xox

Karen said...

It's the perfect quote for a summery canvas!

Linda said...

I love this too! The colours and the texture are just gorgeous:)

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

Wonderful card! Love the texture of it!

BJ said...

Goegeous the colours are so vivid yet melt together. BJ

alexa said...

I really enjoyed reading about your thinking and process to your painting too - and such glorious depth ... I am off to have a look at your link too.

GlorV1 said...

Great card Rinda. Nice job.

Tracey FK said...

This is lovely... I have been using some acrylics as well and felt so rusty it freaked me out a bit... this doesn't look like you were rusty at all!!!!!

Tracy said...

Love this! Great textures and patterns evocative of the sun in a summer sky.

Beverly said...

Love the color and texture! How do you have time to create this week?! I shall never lose my love of the beach ;)

Natasha said...

This is fabulous. Love the colours and texture. A stunning piece, and no evidence of rustiness!!

Miriam said...

This is fabulous Rinda.

aimee said...

It's beautiful -- these colors immediately make me think of the beach too!

ForgedinPaper said...

These colours are fab I love them. Thanks for the walkthrough as well. I love reading how people achieve their results.

Annie Claxton said...

ABsolutely gorgeous and really interesting to read about how you made it - and I can totally relate to your frustration at not being able to find something which you KNOW is somehwere in your workroom! :o)

Kristin said...

Thank you! Your postcard is just gorgeous, your colors are poppy and bright and I love how you added texture with the paste. And the quote is one to remember, I love it! Thank you so much for joining in, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest, xoxo

Terri Corona said...

I really love the wonderful texture, and the way the colors combine. Great idea to use summery quotes too!

Missus Wookie said...

The texture and colours are lovely but my favourite is the structure of the sun - so nicely geometrical. I like the quote too and shall use it to my 'oh I'm not sure I want to go to the beach this year' family!

Anonymous said...

It looks so summery. It makes me think of the sun over the blues of the Caribbean Sea.

Shilpa Nagaonkar said...

this is beautiful post I've visited today!
nagaonkarshilpa.blogspot.in