A Staci Swider Lesson

I had some fun today!

This is a base painting on 12 x 12 inch cardboard that I prepared using gesso on both sides. 

Following the DVD Lesson by Staci Swider, I added blocks of color using some Liquitex Basics paint and then dripped diluted red acrylic paint on two sides. Gravity did the work for me.

Unfortunately, I got so involved in the next step, I forgot to take a photo. But, I can explain it!

 Being in a relaxed state of mind, you gaze at the surface and imagine what is hiding there. I looked for awhile and found some simple flower shapes and used an oil pastel in a teal blue color to isolate them from the busy background. I knew what I wanted to find: flowers, so I could easily see them. 

I'm sure if I wanted to find houses, or faces, or a city block, I would have seen them too. It's just

a matter of being clear in your intent.

The next step is to get some rather opaque paint on your flat brush and paint around your outlined objects. This is a whole lot of fun to do. Any color is fine, but I love the contrast you get with these primary colors against the white.

Following that, you just get a few oil pastels in coordinating colors and highlight as you wish inside and around your objects. These plants are rooted in soil and are living near a pond, so I painted those spaces in accordingly.

What fun!

Staci Swider is the artist who created this video lesson at ArtistsNetwork.tv.  I watched and have tried to play with her techniques today. The video lesson is: Acrylic Painting Studio "Natural Compositions" with Staci Swider. Go here to see more stuff that is available  https://www.artistsnetwork.tv/catalog   There are a lot of artists to learn from here. Lots of techniques to try. An excuse to try something new and rattle your brain for a few hours.
  Go to https://www.artistsnetwork.tv/catalog/ and search for Staci Swider to see her videos. You might have as much fun with her ideas as I did today. Happy St. Patrick's Day!