The Edge of Tomorrow

An experimental painting, with many layers of acrylic paint, ink, and gesso.

The Edge of Tomorrow
Cyndi Lavin, 2016

Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. 

"They toil not"

They Toil Not
Cyndi Lavin, 2016

I was never quite satisfied with the piece I made back in February, called Intentional (there's a tutorial at the link).  After messing around with it for awhile, I decided that I simply needed to crop it and do a bit of digital rearrangement, adding the bottom horizontal stripe up higher.  Of course, my new version only exists digitally, but I am much happier with it for some reason!

Matthew 6:28 (KJV):
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin

Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

A "honeycomb" collage piece

Just playing around with bubble wrap one day, I painted this simple piece. No, it doesn't really look like honeycomb until you crop it and use it in a piece that suggests that!  But for lack of a better name, honeycomb has stuck :-)

I morphed the colors in Photoshop and cropped it severely to use in The Pedigree of Honey, which I showed you a few weeks ago.  So maybe you'll find it useful to have a piece like this in your pile of papers, ready to use for digital or physical collage.

Acrylic paints:
Burnt sienna
Raw sienna
Red oxide
Phthalo blue
Phthalo green

1. Using a wet in wet technique, I covered the entire watercolor paper with the first three colors listed above.  Then I scrunched up waxed paper and allowed the paints to dry with it on top.

2. I mixed Phthalo blue and Phthalo green, and applied it with bubble wrap.

3. Add a raw sienna glaze, and before it's completely dry, spray with water and alcohol.

4.  When the piece is dry, go back in and sponge with red oxide and burnt sienna as desired.

This post contains affiliate links

Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Torn paper towel flowers

Nothing gets my juices flowing quite like a beautiful bouquet of flowers!  And since my garden has been overflowing, I've had lots of inspiration recently.  I don't do realism...I just can't...but I wanted something that would at least be recognizable this time!

Materials & Tools

Watercolor paper
Gesso
Matte medium
Tissue paper
Paper towels
Spray bottle with water

Acrylic paints:
Hansa yellow medium
Pyrrole orange
Quinacridone magenta
Dioxazine purple
Jenkins green
Sap green
Green gold

Pitt pen, black
Acrylic spray fixative

1. Pick a reference photo or quickly sketch a plan.  My drawing ability is non-existent, but I still do this part.

2. Prepare watercolor paper with a thin layer of gesso, a layer of dilute matte medium, and crinkled tissue paper.  Let it dry.

3. Drip dilute color on paper towels and allow to dry.

4. Add dilute sap green to the paper and use a spray bottle of water to move it around.  Top it with a layer of matte medium and allow to dry thoroughly.

5. Use water on a small brush to outline the flowers, and tear them out.

6. Arrange, adhering with a drop of medium when satisfied.

7. Iron in place.  Add small paper towel details, like the leaves.  Iron in place again and carefully cover with medium.

8. Add desired details with a pen.  spray with fixative, and add a final layer of matte medium.

This post contains affiliate links

Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

A glue reference chart

Don't leave home without it!!  Makezine reference chart