Saturday, April 19, 2008

The art of distraction






Today in between bouts of marking exams, I
decided to make a little drawing I did a couple of years ago into a painting.

The drawing was done in indelible ink on plain bond paper. I cut it out
at the time, and could never bring myself
to throw it away. My portrait paintings are
usually more in-depth, but for something lighter
I started painting little canvasses of my china.



I love antique china, and over the years my
friends and family have given me beautiful
pieces. The little coffee pot the painting
depicts is part of a set my friend Jennifer
gave me. Today I followed these steps to
get it on canvas.








1. I coated a canvas I'd painted a while ago
in turquoise, with a thick layer of acrylic gloss gel medium.
2. I stuck the little drawing on the canvas.
3. After the gel medium was almost dry
I painted the image with acrylic paint
and roughly gilded the gold parts with
24 karat gold leaf.

4. I waited for the gloss gel medium to dry more
before refining the gold leaf, scraping off the extra
with an exacto knife.

Tomorrow I'll touch up the painting, adding colour
and shadow where needed, and perhaps more real
gold. Then I'll add at least one more coat of gloss gel
medium and I'll let you see the final product in a
couple of days. My china paintings poke fun at
my addiction. I used to be a bit more insane about
my china, but we have more than we can ever use,
and I have to admit I may be obsessive about it.

Now back to marking.

Have a glossy evening.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"You are my soul and my....inspiration"...your Righteous Sister
What a lovely painting! I'm loving your blog!
Hey Barbara, I just got a DVD from Burridge in the mail on Friday. Gorgeous colour....I'm so glad you told me about him.

Judi said...

Hi Barb
I'm really enjoying reading your blog. Your writing is inspiring and your paintings are wonderful. I love the tea pot picture technique. Its a great effect! I wish I knew how to paint too.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Flora,

Thanks for the sweet thoughts. I
would love to get Burridge DVD.
Must do that in the coming
weeks. The heat is back. Magnolias
are out. The whole world had gone
lush.

Barbara Muir said...

Thanks Judi,

I'm glad you like the blog.
You can always start painting.
You are so artistic, it's
just a different mode of
expression.

Go for it.

Barbara

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!