Using Liquid on the Surface

"Caroline"

Oil on Canvas, 6" sq., c. Catherine Vines

   

She's very beautiful, isn't she?

I found my red palette worked for this painting, but in the end I seemed to prefer blues for the shadows. And they worked beautifully with her hair tones.
Because this painting had sat for almost 10 days before I could return to it, I tried something I had only read about: I put a layer of Liquin over the surface and then resumed painting. It worked beautifully, though left me confused about the 'fat over lean' concept. I am so sorry I can't give credit for the idea.

I Was Disappointed...

"Three Plums"

Oil on Canvas, 8x10," c. Catherine Vines

   

... In the plum in my last posting, (See "Three Fruits.") so I decided to concentrate on just plums.

The two fruits in the front row are defined by individual strokes, without overworking. 

The rear fellow was worked to death, poor guy; but I do like that flash of red.

I'm still fighting with my backgrounds. The almost watercolor look of the rear shadow is pretty cool though.

The process seems to be pick out what doesn't work and practice, practice, practice.

I Did It!

"Three Fruits"

Oil on Canvas, 6" sq., c. Catherine Vines

   

Better, at least. 

The orange - that is an orange - is more what I'm aiming for. Loose brushwork, less "coloring in the lines."

I made a funny connection: as a child I never enjoyed coloring books, and even now, I don't enjoy filling in an object from an outline. For this one, I "splashed" color in the general areas I was going to paint, and went on to refine dimension. 

Still trying Liquin.

"Life Is Either A Daring Adventure..."

"Orange"

Oil on canvas, 6" sq., c. Catherine Vines

   

"... or nothing at all." Helen Keller  

This is my daughter's favorite quote, and I feel as if I'm on an adventure lately

Today's fruit is a reworked painting, again using Liquin. I am not happy with how fussy the brushwork looks, but this may be the result of painting over an old canvas.

In fact, there are a lot of problems here: value range, color variation, background. So why am I showing it?

There's something there.

I'll keep hunting.

More Adventures w/ Liquin

"Three Fruits"

Oil on Canvas, 6" sq., c. Catherine Vines

   

I started this painting with very loose brushwork and paint tempered with Liquin medium. I also used colors directly from the tube, something in general I try to avoid.

Gradually I added value changes while trying not to lose the brushwork.

There's a glimmer of something there I want to continue to explore!

"Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This"

"Green Onion"

Oil on Canvas, 10x8," c. Catherine Vines

   

I've dropped, spilled, and touched up this painting until I lost sight of my original concept.

In general, I paint without medium, so this was an exploration for me. I used Liquin and I absolutely loved the painting the first day.

Today, when I went back in to touch up a few things... 

Nothing to do with the medium, more about thinking in a different way. I am accustomed  to adding touches of color at the end, and they turned glaringly obviously rather than a subtle highlight, necessitating more painting. 

So much for an ala prima painting!