The View Out My Window - a tutorial

The View Out My Window
Cyndi Lavin, 2017

Late last fall, I visited the Boston Museum of Science with some friends.  It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that my two favorite things were the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit (the intersection of art and science) and the large glass wall looking out over Boston Harbor.  Especially the view from the second floor.  I probably took more pictures of that view than of anything else.

This piece is pretty obviously not an exact representation of what I saw out the window, even though most of my pictures were enlarged past the point of blurriness (deliberately).  I did a black marker "sketch" of the major shapes and textures to start off with.  Then, I did some acrylic pours with Hansa yellow light, Turquoise phthalo, and Quinacridone violet.

Less than satisfied with the look of the pours, I tried making glazes of some of the colors and painting them in window pane sized blocks.  Still not thrilled, although I did like it better when I tipped it vertically.

What finally brought it together was deciding that since it was ruined anyway, why not...??  I strengthened the color blocks, and then mixed a glazing medium with white gesso and a touch of Quinacridone violet.  This mixture was applied all over the piece with a foam roller.  I spritzed it lightly with rubbing alcohol to texture it and blotted gently.  As a final touch, I added a few India ink lines, using a tiny pipette.

 

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Copyright 2017 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.