Monday, September 7, 2009

An acrylic on canvas panel


"Cooking Italian"
9" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel

I've never had lessons in using acrylic, but I wanted to try painting on canvas. I see that I should have applied gesso and sanded it as you can see the canvas texture through the paint.

Inspired by a trip to the Farmer's Market in Morgan Hill and the Spina Farm Stand near my home, I set up a still life with a fresh tomato, a pepper, and olive oil from San Antonio Olive Ranch in Paso Robles, owned by a former work colleague. I wanted to try various techniques, so this is a hodgepodge of palette knife and brush work. What a tactile experience. I liked the buttery feel of the paints as I applied them. Lots to learn here, but another adventure.

11 comments:

Christiane Kingsley said...

Mary, what a nice first try at acrylics! I am often tempted to try it since I would love not to have to use glass in framing and I am hesitant to varnish my watercolors.
Will you go on and work on a second acrylic painting?I am looking forward to seeing your progress. Judging by this one, you will be an expert in no time.
Christiane

Mary Paquet said...

Christiane, thanks for the encouragement. I will try more acrylics. In fact, I am signing up for a Stephen Quiller workshop in April. He is both an watercolor and acrylic artist and one of the early adopters of acylic. Mainly I am interested in his color theories. He wrote a great book on color, but I would love to feel passably confident in acrylic, too, when I go to his class given here in San Jose by the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society.

Check out his website: http://www.quillergallery.com/

Christiane Kingsley said...

You lucky lady, attending a Stephen Quiller workshop! I have just visited his website- I fell in love with his note cards of international paintings!
Between now and April, you will have enough time to feel very confident with acrylics.

Charlene Brown said...

I love your choice of colours -- a great start on your preparation for the Quiller Workshop! I've had a look at his website as well, and think you are definitely heading in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

Mary, I like this! I think still lifes are wonderful ways to study and experiment with paint. I look forward to seeing more!

FitFoodieMegha said...

You are doing great job Mary! I like the colors!Keep going!

Water based Color Pencil: Pomegranates

Mary Paquet said...

Friends, thanks for the encouragement on the acrylics. Stephen Quiller is quite an artist, and I look forward to working with him. I've certainly enjoyed his books.

Peggy, I never thought I was a still life painter, but working in charcoal has helped me appreciate their value when honing skills. I can actually create the work from life, so I can see all the nuances of shadow and light that I can't see in photographs.

janice said...

Mary-such a fresh, colorful painting! Kudos to you for trying all of these new media and pushing yourself. I've signed up for the Quiller workshop, too, and am really looking forward to it.

Mary Paquet said...

Janice, great to hear that we will be taking a workshop together!

Nina Jørgensen said...

I like how you made the surface the objects are standing on!

Mary Paquet said...

Thanks, Nina. I was hoping to suggest a pattern in the fabric in my still life setup. I used a lovely piece that is very soft and has a monochromatic woven pattern in it.