This fall I have really embraced acrylic painting. While I have worked with inks before, acrylic paint is much different. I worked with oils in college and have just never felt very comfortable using acrylics. It’s interesting when you revisit a subject months or years later only to find out that your skills have changed because you’ve grown in other areas. I believe that’s what happened here. I’ve also found some great instructors online who share their talents and knowledge about working with acrylics.
I am a fast painter when working with acrylics as I paint using a “wet on wet” technique meaning I am applying wet paint on top of wet paint, allowing the layers to blend together. Acrylics dry extremely fast though so I have to be quick. I don’t use any extender or medium that prolongs the drying time as I feel that just confuses me and the canvas. I feel it’s better just to work quickly yet carefully. And on paintings that take a few hours to complete, I will occasionally spray a few drops of water onto my palette paper of paints. That helps it from drying out too much.
Currently I love painting landscapes and animals. I have always wanted to be able to capture an animal’s likeness. It’s not very easy to do and I find the biggest challenge is not putting too much of your own creative flair into the painting to the point that you don’t have that likeness anymore. It can be tempting though and it’s easy to get carried away when painting fur or feathers. You can get lost in it like a daydream. Instead I just try to stick to the reference photo while still painting in a very “painterly” style. I also love sunrises and sunsets as well as painting waves.
I have a Profile set up on Fine Art America. Here you can order prints, greeting cards, gifts, and more with my original artwork. I’m happy people can appreciate and enjoy my artwork from all over.
I’m also starting to paint pet portraits, something I have always wanted to do. Soon I hope to be accepting pet portrait commissions. You can see examples of my work here.
I look forward to seeing where this interest leads to. I have quite the decorated wall at home – it’s like my own personal gallery. It makes me happy to see my paintings hanging up. It reminds me of what’s possible when you really work toward something. It reminds me that it’s never to late to learn something new, and it allows me to enjoy beautiful scenes from the comfort of my home (which is helpful since it’s difficult to get out due to medical issues).