New Work: Green, Green Grass

Green, Green Grass
18" x 18" acrylic on canvas

I was on my walk the other day when a set of colors kind of popped into my head. I could see the greens and the blue violets together on a canvas somehow and knew that I wanted to paint those colors for my next piece. It was funny but I also saw the shapes as "angular" somehow and knew that I wouldn't be painting them on a regular grid. (For me, a grid is a bunch of squares with 90 degree angles set up in an orderly fashion.) There wouldn't be any 90 degree angles if I could help it. I had done some sketching earlier and had taken a few of my regular grid designs and had sort of "distorted" the squares and rectangles into other shapes while still being mindful of proportion and repetition and line direction. I like that some of the lines meet, that some have implied meeting, and some of those implied meetings are slightly off. I feel like all of the little shapes are pushing and pulling on  the canvas against each other. 

Getting the crisp lines ended up being quite easy if not a little nerve wracking at first. I had read some time ago about using an acrylic medium to "seal" the edge of the tape to the surface of the canvas. By laying down the medium first and allowing it to dry, a barrier is created between the edge of the tape and the canvas and in theory, paint shouldn't "bleed" underneath that seal. The method works very well, say about 95% or better, so long as you are patient and let both the medium and the paint dry. The medium doesn't take long to dry but the paint is another matter. Acrylic is dry to the touch quite quickly but even though it feels dry, it is still "curing." Allowing about an hour for the acrylic to set up seems pretty reliable. Once the time is up you pull off the tape carefully and slowly. I pulled in both directions, towards the new paint and away from the new paint. I didn't quite detect a difference in results though I read that the tape should be pulled towards the newly painted color.

It's a lot of technical stuff and boring if you aren't in to acrylics but honestly, the solutions that I employed have made a world of difference to me. I actually really like the orderly nature of taping and sealing, having to wait, painting and having to wait some more. The whole process slows you down, which is good, but also forces you to really know your medium well. Knowing how acrylics work, what their properties are, and all of the different variables is really helpful.

Alright, enough of that! I have another design in mind and have my canvas prepped. No colors have solidified in my mind just yet but I will be working on that shortly. Hope everyone is having a good week so far. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Libby