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Showing posts from November, 2017

Keep Your Feet - a mixed media painting tutorial

Keep Your Feet Cyndi Lavin, 2017 This is the third piece in my small series on trees with personalities.  For this one, I once more used the techniques outlined in the piece Longing , so I'll let you check that out if you need the steps, and I'll just give you a list of the acrylic colors used here.  This one was inspired by a well-known quote from JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." I think my tree is ready for that adventure! Sky: Phthalo blue , Medium magenta , Hansa yellow opaque , White gesso , and glazing medium Road: Yellow ochre , Raw sienna , Red oxide , White gesso, and glazing medium Hills: Jenkins green , Sap green , White gesso, and glazing medium Tree: waterproof black India ink Flowers: Naphthol red light This post contains affiliate links Copyright

Call a Dance - a mixed media painting tutorial

Call a Dance Cyndi Lavin, 2017 I got a lot of enjoyment out of painting Longing a few weeks ago, so I decided to do a small series featuring trees with personalities.  My second one was inspired by the W.B.Yeats poem The Cat and the Moon: "When two close kindred meet, What better than call a dance?" The technique used is basically the same as for the painting Longing with only a small color variation.  I used Phthalo blue and Dioxazine purple for the sky rather than Phthalo blue and Phthalo green. This post contains affiliate links Copyright 2017 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Moon Dust - a mixed media painting tutorial

Moon Dust Cyndi Lavin, 2017 I wanted a somber feel, but rich colors, so a ended up doing an underpainting to help guide my choices.  The paints I used were acrylics ...you are welcome to change up the colors to suit yourself!    1. Lightly spray a piece of heavy watercolor paper with water, and use a large brush to lay in waterproof black India ink .  Keep it darkest around the edges, and leave a spot with no ink at all.  Blend the ink to get a nice gradient.  Allow to dry completely.      2. Use a mix of black gesso and white gesso to make a light gray.  Use a foam brush with the gray mix to pull full strength heavy bodied Phthalo blue and Dioxazine purple down the length of the paper. Spray lightly with water if needed.  Adjust the colors.  While the piece is still damp, use a pipette to drip diluted black ink from the top.  Allow to dry.   3. Drip full-strength India ink from the top.  Use the pipette to draw in some branches.  Take a scruffy,

Longing - a mixed media painting tutorial

Longing Cyndi Lavin, 2017  I decided to see if I could interject some more personality into my ink trees.  That involved controlling the ink more than when I was just letting it drip from the top. But I still used a pipette to draw them in!  The background is acrylic paint . 1. Use a large brush to wet your watercolor paper .  Working from the top, layer in Phthalo blue , Phthalo green mixed with glaze , and white gesso with the large brush.  Clean the brush, and from the bottom, layer in Jenkins green , Sap green mixed with glaze , and white gesso .  Blend and let it dry. 2. Using a pipette , add swirls in the sky with waterproof white ink .   3. Use another pipette to draw in the trees with waterproof black ink .  Add some "flowers" with Hansa yellow light .   4. Use Naphthol red light to add a few spots in the sky, flowing from tree to tree. 5. Use white gesso to make a few of the ink swirls cross in front of the tree.  This helps