Can my piece be saved?
Gloria Heim
(sky) was originally done with pastel. Didn't like it, pastel was
scrubbed off. Now I have these beautiful ducks (took me for*ever*) on a
background that looks like crap.
Is there anything I can try? Incidentally, this is truly a mixed-media
piece, the foreground and marsh was done in acrylic washes. The entire
piece is done on illustration board.
Should I chuck it? Someone said cut out the ducks and use them in
another way. I seriously spent about 20 hours on each duck!!
Thanks!
Gloria
emat...@tomatoweb.com
Never chuck a duck. One thing you can think about is this. Get some rubber
cement and a rubber cement pick-up (an eraser looking affair)-- cement a
piece of vellum (tracing paper) on the ducks, and carfully cut around the
outlines of the ducks with a very sharp exacto knife. Now they're masked,
and you can repaint the background without fear of ruining the ducks. After
you have the background how you like it, gently peel the tracing paper off,
and use the rubber cement pick-up to get the traces of rubber cement left on
the ducks. Ater that, you might want to work on the hard edges of the ducks
so they don't look like paste-ons.
Erik Mattila
>
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
Larry Seiler
> piece, the foreground and marsh was done in acrylic washes. The entire
> piece is done on illustration board.
Eric's suggestion of masking is good...however, there is another way, and
that is spraying the image with a good acrylic varnish. If it is a thin
board, you can seal the back with varnish as well....or adhere it to a
board panel with acrylic medium....(laying stuff on top to weigh it down
until it dries) to keep the illustration board from warping.
The varnished front will resist washes naturally....but, I found by
experimentation that you can take acrylic matte medium and brush it over
the varnish where you want (not the ducks) which creates a surface then
able to receive paint- washes or thick.
The great thing I discovered was....if you don't like what you've
done....you can literally take a rag and water.....and rub what you've
painted off...because of the varnish layer beneath the matte medium. That
means you can experiment or take risks and then change your mind.
When you decide you like what you've done....you can seal that work with
more varnish...thereafter no rubbing will remove anything. The key though
is make sure you apply a couple coats of varnish to area you might want to
rub pigment off later.
The advantage is....if you get a little wash of color on your ducks....you
can rub with water and a rag the pigment off your ducks!
I also found that since gesso is acrylic based, you can go over a stubborn
area with gesso.....such as the sky....and redo your area.
I have learned these things Gloria...because I spent 20 years of my life in
wildlife art competition....winning a number of biggies. My work has
sometimes between 200-300 hours of time in them.
For the past 2-3 years I've been reinventing myself and enjoying painting
plein airs outdoors. If you have some specific questions, get in a rut or
whatever, drop me a private post.
Check out my online site with nearly 40 images of wildlife art, nature
images, sporting portraits, stamp designs.....etc;
> Should I chuck it? Someone said cut out the ducks and use them in
> another way. I seriously spent about 20 hours on each duck!!
never chuck a work.....use it to learn some more. You never fail until you
stop trying!
I've also learned that when you work with acrylics....a piece is never done
until its done...and that allows for much evolution of the work....a
declaration of war upon it if need be, until it submits and becomes yours!
No such thing as a failure then....only that which amounts to surrender on
the part of the artist!
peace.....
Larry Seiler
my art web site at- http://cwinc.net/larryseiler
"Art attacks can skill!"
Gloria Heim
will try it!
A question for you though, Larry. As a wildlife artist you know the
importance of accuracy. I get a little bogged down in color, sometimes
applying somethin opaque mistakenly. Is there anyway to *remove* some
of an opaque color after it has dried, so that it's not so dark??
And I certainly will keep your note and address and probably give you a
holler in the future!
BTW, I've visited your site dozens of time for reference (learning)!
Gloria
Larry Seiler
> importance of accuracy.
yup.....part biologist, botanist.....AND artist.
> I get a little bogged down in color, sometimes
> applying somethin opaque mistakenly. Is there anyway to *remove* some
> of an opaque color after it has dried, so that it's not so dark??
Hhhmmm...if it does not have a layer of something like a varnish, I have a
hard time imagining taking it off. Acrylic, like any medium, needs a tooth
or surface to sink its roots into. The varnish method which I explained
for the purposes of free experimentation, creates an inpenetrable surface
density so that pigment/roots do not go beyond it. As a result some elbow
grease can rub it off. Spraying with varnish after again, is necessary to
seal that layer of paint, and protect it from coming off.
However....I suspect that your opaque layer is going to have to be
reworked, because it has been absorbed in lower levels.
That sounds like the pits, I know...but in time, you just see it as part of
the process.
A painting is really a declaration of war. Sometimes the canvas,
board..and pigments seem to be winning. It is a war of endurance however,
and if you are determined and stubborn....you'll outlast others that throw
in the towel.
think of the painting as something conceived with a life of its own, with
you the artist having no moral right to terminate it. Don't let your
impatience win over.
I say that....because an acrylic can be painted over and over in successive
layers until you are satisfied. Its not done until its done.
> And I certainly will keep your note and address and probably give you a
> holler in the future!
feel free.....
wish I could give you something more encouraging as goes this opaque layer.
take care...
Larry
Larry Seiler
my art web site at- http://cwinc.net/larryseiler
"It is our fate and our misfortune that we live in history. An artist who
doesn't know history paints like a cow, because cows have no memory." -
Aleksandr Melamid