Pink Tulips in Acrylic - Work in Progress - See All the Steps!

Pink Tulips - 16 x 16 Acrylic on Canvas

As long as a painting remains in my custody it is never finished. This one started out as another class demo and it was painted in 4 layers - a block-in, then the basic shapes and then some details.

I plan to change the foreground as my plan was always to have this underpainting peeking through a creamy white colour. So, by the time I complete the painting it will have taken at least 5 layers of paint.

What do you think? Would you paint the foreground white? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Initial Block-In

Locating the main shapes

Adding some detail and refining the drawing

Painting almost done....just need to add white to foreground!

Painting Big and Loose!

Pink Roses - 42 x 42 inches Acrylic on Canvas

 This past spring I decided on a change of pace by teaching a class all about painting large in acrylic instead of small in oils. I strongly believe a great way to improve your work quickly is to paint every day and small pieces fit better into this paradigm. However, I also believe it is good to shake things up by doing something different and experimenting on a regular basis as well.

This is one of the paintings I started in class as a demo. I find acrylics challenging due to their propensity to create hard edges, so you really have to work fast and splashy, in an abstract fashion. I ended up doing at least 3 or 4 layers of paint on this one, having fun with various textures, using a spray bottle, bubble wrap, cardboard and a spatula, letting the paint fly and drip.

Fun to see the scale in a room!