Mixed Media Artist

At Cross Purposes Cyndi Lavin, 2017   1. I started this piece with a batik-style background , for which you can find a tutorial at the link.   2. After the background was completely dry and ironed (to make absolutely sure the ink wouldn't run), I flooded it with dilute washes of several acrylic paints: Hansa yellow light , Medium magenta , and Pyrrole orange . 3. I used pieces of painters tape (low tack) and card stock to form the masks.  After adhering them to the center of the piece, I used a foam roller to lightly roll white gesso around the outside, just enough to mute the colors but not enough to totally obscure them. 4. Slip out the card stock mask, but keep the painters tape.  Add more tape around the central rectangle that was previously under the card stock.  Just line up the new tape with the edges...it's easy!  Roll the center portion with Manganese blue .    5. Carefully remove all the tape.  A...

  You can get a lovely watercolor look with acrylic paints by thinning them enough.  Certain colors are problematic when you add water, because they will separate and the binder breaks down.  But to counteract this, I painted them on top of slightly moist gesso.  Here's how it worked: Prepare a selection of acrylic paints, placing a dab into small paper cups and adding water until they are extremely thin.  I used these colors: Manganese blue Permanentviolet dark Hansa yellow medium Pyrrole orange Prepare your w atercolor paper , 140 lb cold pressed, with white gesso .  I use foam brushes for this.  You might want to test your thinned paints on a scrap piece of paper with gesso before committing to the full-sized piece, to make sure you are getting the colors you want.  Thinned acrylics can be a bit deceiving! When the gessoed paper is still a bit damp, use pipettes to drip the paints lengthwise along the paper, holding it up v...

Firefly's Race Cyndi Lavin, 2017 This painting was very loosely inspired by a gorgeous copper beech tree that lives next door to me.  It is a truly glorious tree, but since it is not a native of New England, it is always about four to five weeks out of sync with all the other trees.  Just when we think we're done raking...you guessed it!  I suppose it is lucky that it is so glorious :-) For this simple painting, I started with a sheet of heavy watercolor paper and painted the background entirely with diluted Iridescent copper acrylic paint, using a foam roller .  I gave it several coats.   When it was completely dry, I tinted up some tar gel with Red oxide paint in an applicator bottle , and used that to sketch in the tree.  Accuracy was NOT an issue, just a general impression.  You need to let tar gel dry on its own...it doesn't always react well to a heat gun.  So put it aside, work on something else, and come back th...

Golden Grove Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Whether you live near forest, desert, mountains, or water, trees hold an iconic place in our imagination.   People write poems about them, which is what inspired this particular piece.  I've included the text of the poem at the bottom of this post :-) Materials + Tools Pages of text torn from various books Watercolor paper Matte medium Foam brushes Spray bottle Pipette Acrylic spray Black India ink   Acrylic paint colors: Yellow ochre Red oxide Quinacridone nickel azo gold   1. Use matte medium on a foam brush to lay down your torn text pieces on the watercolor paper.  Don't overthink it.  Leave the top unsealed as much as possible.   2. Use a foam brush or sponge to add diluted (with water) Yellow ochre over most of the surface.  Let it puddle a bit and sink in unevenly. 3. Add Red oxide next, and finish with Quinacridone gold, added with your fingers in just the spots you want....

Epiphany Cyndi Lavin, 2017 Prints for sale Think about all the different colors you could use for a mixed media painting like this, depending upon the season!  I'll share the colors I used for this one, but feel free to make substitutions that suit you. Materials + Tools Watercolor paper Black India ink Pipettes Acrylic spray Spray bottle Acrylic paint colors: Hansa yellow medium Quinacridone magenta Permanent violet dark 1. Starting with a sheet of watercolor paper, drip black India ink from a small pipette to form the "trees".  Let it dry thoroughly and give it a light spray with acrylic fixative. 2. Mix up the colors you want to use.  I place them in small cups and dilute them with quite a bit of water to get the thin consistency.  No acrylic medium this time! 3. Spritz the surface with water.  Use pipettes (one per color) to add lines of color between the "trees".  Spray more if the paint doesn't move the way you want it to....