Mixed Media Artist

Eruption Cyndi Lavin, 2017 A few months ago, I, like so many others, got bit by the liquid acrylic pour painting craze.  I watched many wonderful youtube videos and experimented several times before I got the mixture that worked for me...at least for what I wanted to accomplish.  My disclaimer...there is a product called Floetrol that some people are using in order to achieve larger and more stable cells in their pours.  I don't use it, so I end up with smaller lace-like effects, which I prefer. To each his own!  This is how I did what we're going to call the "Pour and Swipe" method. 1. Gesso a masonite board and let it dry.  You may as well do several at one time, because you're for sure going to want to do more than one pour! 2. Place a prepared board inside an aluminum pan, raised up on small cups.  Make sure the surface is completely level. 3. Mix your paints.  There are dozens of formulas out there, but this is how I did it: Small blob o

I really enjoyed reading through Cathy Nichols ' new book Storytelling Art Studio , published by North Light Books .  I love the way she has organized the book, and I also love that her artwork is very very different from mine.  That way, I'm not as likely to fall into the mistake of copying so much as just thinking about how I can use her techniques in my own work. Cathy's chapters build one upon another, but you can also skip around in order to simply try out the ideas that strike your fancy.  In order, the chapters cover creating characters, setting the scene, altering the mood, adding conflict, expanding the plot, adding a moral, storytelling with symbolism, repeating a motif, and titling your piece.  Each chapter has a step by step demo if you'd like to work through a similar piece. One of the most helpful features, I think, is the broad variety of backgrounds that Cathy teaches throughout the projects.  She shows you, through the demonstrations, how to pain

Time Passages Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Prints for sale This three paintings were all variations on a theme, as I think you can easily tell!  The backgrounds started out as gesso pulls over top of toned underpaintings.  Using the darkest one as an example, it went like this: 1. Paint concentric rings of gesso with White in the middle, gray around that, and Black around the outside. 2. Use a gray mixed gesso to pull Phthalo blue and Phthalo green down the length of the page.  Adjust the colors and allow to dry. 3. Mist lightly and drip black India ink from a pipette . 4. Add "leaves" with a large craggy brush.  I used Pyrrole orang e and Permanent violet , both plain and mixed with white gesso. 5. Splatter with a mix of Hansa yellow light and white gesso. 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 o

Scars+Stripes Cyndi Lavin, 2017 This piece evolved from an earlier version that didn't quite work out the way I wanted.  Many times that happens, that pieces don't look like what I had envisioned, but this one just plain failed!  But still, pieces were salvageable, and I was really happy with the way it eventually came together. I started with a piece of brushed steel tape on paper.  After sanding it, I added 2 thin layers of Gold iridescent acrylic paint with 30% gloss medium .  This was sealed in by a layer of pure gloss medium and left to dry.  I then mixed some glazes to shift the gold color: Permanent green light and Quinacridone crimson , both in 1:1 mixtures with glazing medium .  This is rubbed onto the gold background very thinly with a soft cloth and allowed to dry. To this background, I added black tar gel designs (a few drops of black ink added to tar gel), and when that was dry (overnight), I flooded it with a muddy mix of Gold interference , Gold

Eureka Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Prints for sale I wanted to try another brightly colored painting similar to Breaking Free from a few weeks ago.  This time, instead of the batik technique for a background, I decided to use a rubbing alcohol technique.  It only works well on water-diluted acrylics, so save your glazing medium for another time! 1. I used three layers of paint, each one splashed or flicked with alcohol while still wet: Quinacridone magenta , then Hansa yellow light , and finally a muddy mix of Quinacridone magenta , Interference gold , and Iridescent gold .  As a final touch, I spritzed the whole thing with additional Quinacridone magenta .  The entire piece was covered with a coat of gloss medium .  When it was dry, I added the paper and tape masks.  2. I used a small foam roller with Titan buff mixed with a bit of gloss medium .   3. When that layer was dry and the masks were removed, I mixed Cobalt turquoise and white gesso with a

The Rift Cyndi Lavin, 2017 I usually am a pretty happy person, content with my life and grateful for my friends, family, and what I've got.  This past half year has been difficult though, for many of us.  I don't care what side of the "aisle" you are on, I have witnessed enough division and nastiness to last me the rest of my life.  So what do I do?  I pray, I serve my community, and I make stuff.  What do you do? The background for The Rift has 3 layers: Interference blue with a dot of Ultramarine blue , plus water Interference blue with water Gloss medium Let each layer dry before adding the next.  I added a thin strip of blue painter's tape across the upper third. The next layer of paint was slightly diluted Micaceous iron oxide .  I removed the tape and quickly wiped a thick streak off with a sponge.  I added waxed paper (crinkled) to the upper third and plastic wrap to the bottom two thirds.  This was heated and then peeled off. Next I a