Metamorphosis

An artist friend in Iowa City recommended that I try Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic Paint.

 He is an oil painter, who has crossed over into acrylics. He likes the similarity of oils and Heavy Body. Nevertheless, having spent many years painting in watercolor, I am finding this Heavy Body consistency to be a challenge compared to the water fluidity of watercolors.

However, I am up to the challenge. As Beverly Sills once said,
“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.”

The abstract I am working on needed more unity, so I sponged on Liquitex Heavy Body Yellow Oxide, similar to yellow ochre in Liquitex Basic.

In the photo below,
this area is the upper level of the painting: dark green with yellow oxide sponge marks.

After I studied the sponge effect of the yellow oxide, I decided that it was overwhelming the composition. The yellow oxide color had taken over my painting. I made a glaze wash of Atelier Interactive Pthalo Green and covered the whole section.

I swabbed the wet wash softly with a rag, wiping the wash off only on certain areas of the dried yellow oxide. I wanted to uncover just enough to unify the painting. It is easier to remove the wash from the Heavy Body paint only, because of its thickness. Applying washes is perfect with these Atelier Interactive paints.

It is almost like magic seeing what occurs.

A closer view of the swabbed area reveals only a portion the yellow oxide is showing. The Atelier Interactive Pthalo Green wash successfully covered the other strokes of yellow oxide and created different values within this area.

Sometimes I feel the process of painting an artwork is like watching a magic show, especially when the paints and techniques all work together.

I cannot take all the credit;
like that famous quote from the artist Bob Ross,