This is a new work, and a bit different for me, at least in some ways. This piece is 4 x 9 inches, a size I've never worked on before. The base is frozen pizza cardboard (FPC), nothing new there. I've been using circles in my art for some time now, because I really love them. But recently I've been inspired to play around with using squares and rectangles, with caulk applied with a small palette knife. It was harder to make them that way than I expected, because it was the first time I tried it. Hopefully, if I try it again I'll get better with some practice.
On this piece, I sanded the image side of the FPC and then covered it with white gesso. Then glued down the netted fabric, then painted over it with Liquitex Majenta acrylic paint. After that dried, I rubbed Liquitex Cadmium Yellow over it with my finger. This is a color combination I love and have used at times. Although the magenta looks more like a burgundy to me, and not true magenta at all. I love burgundy and yellow used together.
After that, I applied white acrylic caulk with a small palette knife. I thought that part would be easy, but I was wrong. It was rather difficult and required a lot of patience. Once the caulk dried, I painted it with different shades of orange, then rubbed contrasting colors over the squares and rectangles with my finger to highlight the texture.
I liked it at that point, but felt it needed more and wasn't finished. So I picked up the stems off my driveway and glued those down, then rubbed brown shoe polish over them. And then pulled out my stash of skeleton leaves and found just the right size for this piece. I didn't initially intend for this to end up being a nature piece, and yet it sort of is -- at least partially. My squares and rectangles are far from perfect....but that's okay. I kind of like them that way.
If I do this again, I think I might try adding the paint directly into the caulk and mixing it in before applying it to the piece. Just a thought anyway. Or perhaps diluting the caulk a bit and see what happens with that. Or maybe applying the caulk with a paintbrush instead of a palette knife.
So anyway, that's what I did on this piece. I kind of like this size and format, at least for the linear effect. It's nice to play around with new ideas. Where they might lead....I have no idea!!!
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