Thursday 21 July 2022

Wanderlust 2022 - weeks twenty-two to twenty-eight - Craft Acrylics

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Craft Acrylics.  These are found in many different brands, usually in little flip top bottles, are cheaper than artist acrylics and have names such as rose, ruby, teal.  Week 22 was not my favourite.  Paint abstract flowers from the garden or a bouquet - it seemed simple enough but I had three goes and the one above was the best.  Not my forte.
Week 23 was so much fun - we worked on a big scale (the image above is an English A2 - poster size) and I laid it on the floor in the kitchen to paint.  It was about being free, using big brushes and enjoying what we were doing.  Funnily enough, despite the disaster of the previous week, I chose flowers as my theme! However, this time they were imagined flowers.
We could cut the image up to add a section to our art journals, so I did that.  I may well try another bigger painting as I really loved creating it. 
Week 24 was about using the craft acrylic to pour onto the page and create a galaxy kind of background with magazine images added.  
Week 25 was my absolute favourite.  Bright, bold, happy and colourful. We created collage papers using lots of different types of paper including tissue paper, tracing paper, book pages and packaging paper.  I used some of my own stamps on top as well as some stencilling and adding glitter mixed with gel medium.  I then built up a frame of collage pieces around the image of the lady.  It has a definite exotic look - possibly Indian. 
I enjoyed it so much I made another version in my cardboard journal.  I really like this one too!
Week 26 was about painting whimsical faces which sort of represented us.  This page took a long time to make as I had to let the layers dry in between.  I like the end result and the busy background.
Week 27 was just fun. Lots of layers again, using watered down craft acrylic paints so that they behaved a bit like watercolours.  Adding coloured pencils and oil pastels and finishing with lots of doodling made this a really lovely page to create.  I like the contrast between the black background and the white - the same colours were used on each side but they look quite different. 
Finally, a page inspired by Andy Warhol.  The background was craft acrylics applied with a sponge and masking off areas to try to get some sharp lines.  The images are flowers and leaves out of the garden, dipped into black paint and printed onto the gel plate, then a print taken of that.  I used salvia leaves, an osteospermum flower, hardy geranium leaves and a fern frond.

A hugely enjoyable few weeks.  I have added to my stash of craft acrylics by a few bottles, but I think I will be revisiting some of these techniques.  On to Watercolours next...

10 comments:

  1. Oh what fun. Loud applause from here.
    I think I like Week 27 best - and am amazed at the difference the background makes. If asked I would have said that you used different colours on each side.

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    1. Thanks, EC. I thoroughly enjoyed using craft acrylics and these were paints I hadn't used that much up to now. I think I'll be using them more now. Week 27 was a lovely page to make and the black gesso background made the colours look so different. I like that contrast.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  2. Ellie, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this blog entry! How fun to see the products of your challenges and to read what the challenges were too. Your blog is one of the highlights of my days, for sure!! ~Andrea xoxo

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    1. Thanks, Andrea. That's really kind of you to say so - I am glad you enjoy these posts. I really enjoy watching the videos on Friday and then creating the pages on Saturday (usually).
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  3. My medium of choice is acrylic, I love the way it can be used as both watercolours and oils. Keep having fun and experimenting :)

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    1. Thanks, kjsutcliffe. I enjoyed using craft acrylics so much - possibly because they are cheaper than artist acrylics, so that takes the pressure away a little - if things go wrong, it's not such a waste.
      It was a lot of fun!
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  4. I can tell you're having lots of fun. Enjoyed seeing them all but like Elephant, was drawn to week 27. LOVE the colors and details and couldn't help but think how cool it would be to find fabric like that to make a quilt.
    Sandy's Space

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. That would make a good fabric, although it might be too busy in large pieces! Week 27 was a really enjoyable project, with lots of doodling, which was very relaxing.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  5. Such colourful, interesting and creative work. So lovely to experiment, relax and enjoy xcx

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    1. Thanks, Chrissie. I am enjoying all the different techniques and learning a lot as I go through the course.
      It certainly was a colourful few weeks!
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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