Saturday, January 10, 2009

moth 1 deconstructed






Because I love to see the evolution myself, here's the first Moth mini painting, each step scanned directly. The support is a cradled wood panel that I prime with a couple of coats of gesso.
  1. The first layer is an undercoat of purple acrylic paint.
  2. The next thing I do is a rough spatial division with white conte that I rub off later with water.
  3. After cutting out the moth's wings (I used magazine illustrations and wallpaper samples for this series) with an x-acto knife I adhere it to the panel with acrylic medium.
  4. I paint in the detail work first.
  5. Finally I paint in the flat areas. I finish with an isolation coat of matte acrylic gel medium and after that dries finish off with Golden polymer varnish, cut 50/50 with water. The final touch is a sawtooth hanger attached to the back.
I have now posted the set over on my Small Art page.

25 Comments:

Blogger Caroline said...

Very vibrant!

This is my favourite of your moths...

11/1/09 12:41 a.m.  
Blogger Cynthia said...

Very cool, Andrea! You're working on new imagery since the last time I visited. I like the use of collage a lot.

11/1/09 10:05 a.m.  
Blogger Peyton said...

Seriously ... those moths are the MOST BEAUTIFUL things!

11/1/09 12:31 p.m.  
Blogger dinahmow said...

You make it sound so easy...

11/1/09 1:59 p.m.  
Blogger Angela Wales Rockett said...

Beautiful painting, Andrea! It's so good to see your art here again, and I love watching it emerge.

11/1/09 2:19 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I appreciate seeing the process. It's interesting to see what people do and it helps me learn. This is very pretty. I like your moth series.

11/1/09 6:13 p.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Caroline: It's my second favourite. I think I like #4, the one that 'breaks free' best.

Cynthia: This has been at the back of my mind since summer and it took me this long to tackle it!

Peter: Thank you! I'm encouraged to try some more now -- once I have a paintbrush that actually works.

Dinah: Come on over and we'll do one together...

Angela: It feels good to be working again, too. I'm just not good at the holiday unfocused stuff.

Vickie: I'm glad I could help. I think watching how others work is important in developing one's own process. I know it has helped me.

11/1/09 6:34 p.m.  
Blogger Heather Plett said...

I'd love to take an art class with you.

11/1/09 7:19 p.m.  
Blogger Hayden said...

Very cool, thanks for another process post.

In the last couple of months I've felt a need to draw/paint or something. I haven't actually realized anything yet, but I've done bits and pieces and find myself remembering your process posts as I try to figure things out.

good stuff, gives me courage to try by eliminating some of the mystery!

I'm at a time of life where I truly believe that mastery of ANYTHING is less important than trying, and you help give me courage for that.

11/1/09 9:18 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, I love watching how that progressed.

12/1/09 2:41 a.m.  
Blogger Krimo said...

That was a very entertaining class, Andrea.
And now, I know what a sawtooth hanger is! Thank you.

12/1/09 8:51 a.m.  
Blogger Ed Maskevich said...

I always appreciate seeing the process of other artists. Thanks for sharing your process.

12/1/09 10:58 a.m.  
Blogger Sheri said...

Brilliant! Thank you for describing the process. I love these moths!

12/1/09 11:25 a.m.  
Blogger WithinWithout said...

Gorgeous, Andrea. I really do actually learn stuff here about art, in addition to the artist.

It's a lovely thing.

12/1/09 12:41 p.m.  
Blogger Tracey said...

I love the idea of using wallpaper samples! They are so well integrated with the acrylic yet they make such a statement, very cool :)

12/1/09 3:49 p.m.  
Blogger Romeo Morningwood said...

Kewl.
I lurve the BOLD colour..the process is neat because it exposes the experimental aspect...I imagine that a lot of poeple think that you get a finite image in your head that you follow to the nth degree.

You had me from the purple background.

12/1/09 8:12 p.m.  
Blogger Jana Bouc said...

Wow and wow! Thanks so much for so generously showing the process. I love the final images of the four, but seeing how you did it is so much fun too.

12/1/09 8:29 p.m.  
Blogger tlchang said...

What a fun series. I've been feeling the urge to do something series-ously for a bit too! And I finally have some down time with which to consider the possibilities. (which is proving paralyzing, since the possibilities are so endless... Can't win).

12/1/09 10:36 p.m.  
Blogger Leslie Hawes said...

The butterfly looks like it is wearing a kimono.
I love your work, and this 'process' demo is just the greatest.

13/1/09 11:13 a.m.  
Blogger Paula Manning-Lewis said...

This is so cool! I love the Moth series! Very cool!

13/1/09 5:09 p.m.  
Blogger Barbara said...

It's always interesting to view your progress - thanks for sharing.

13/1/09 6:34 p.m.  
Blogger Joanna said...

Had to follow over from caroline's blog when I saw mention of moths, this is a fabulous piece and it's really nice to see it's development in stages!

14/1/09 3:08 a.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Heather: I'd love to teach you! I know I need to get off me arse and put together a workshop outline/proposal, but that requires discipline I tend to reserve for my kids and paitning! :)

Hayden: Thanks for the great comment and you know what -- it was when I realized that trying was more important than the result that, at age 40, I quit teaching to paint!

Citizen, Krimo, Ed and Sheri: No -- thank YOU.

WW: That actually makes my day -- knowing that I can help non-artists see what's behind the mystery.

Costescu: I find I'm suddenly looking at paper scraps of all kinds in a new way!

Donn: You ol' flatterer you. I actually find myself imagining process rather than results and as a result the results are always a surprise to me. (I want to say result some more: result result result.)

Jana: I may just have to make a video now! :)

Tara: Ooo -- would love to see you, with the freedom to do so, run with something in a totally different direction. Can I do anything to get you started?

Leslie: A kimono! Perfect! :)

Paula and Barbara: Glad to be of service!

Jo: Thanks for stopping by!

14/1/09 10:53 a.m.  
Blogger Ian Lidster said...

That is so cool. I love it when you show the stages and give me ideas for techniques I can apply.

15/1/09 11:27 a.m.  
Blogger Melody said...

Andrea, I really love the collage in these pieces. Beautiful.....Thanks for taking us through the stages of creating.

15/1/09 4:39 p.m.  

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