Grounded

No, I didn't stay out all night and now I can't leave the house for a week.

(Actually, that sounds quite appealing right about now...)

We're talking painting grounds, that particular surface or substrate that we choose to use for our art.  This past Saturday I attended a "Gritty Grounds" workshop at Positive Strokes, our neighborhood art school and gallery.  The class was led by Sandi Bacon, the local rep for Golden Paints, and was an overview of some of the products that can be used to create textured grounds for all media.  Basically, it was a perfect excuse to have fun and splash some paint around on a cold winter day.

Did I bring my camera to the workshop?  Of course.  Did I bother to take any pictures during the paint splashing frenzy?  Of course not.  Next time, I promise.

Here are some of the results of the experiments:

This was my favorite.  A thin layer of Light Molding Paste was applied to watercolor paper, then fluid acrylic color was washed over the paste.  Once the paste was dry, the experiments began.  On the left, more paste was applied through a stencil.  In the middle, shapes were carved into the paste.  And on the right, another thin layer of paste was applied which lightly veiled the original wash.  Then more color was washed over the whole piece.  Lots of wonderful texture and color variation!

In this example, fluid acrylics were washed and applied opaquely over Coarse Molding Paste.

And here, paint was washed over paper coated with Iridescent Gold and some Glass Bead Gel.

This time, paint was washed over Absorbent Ground for Pastels (I think, can't quite remember all the grounds.  Must learn to write these things down....).  After a little washing and scratching, a layer of Glass Bead Gel was applied over the left side.

Here's a close-up, angled shot of the Glass Bead Gel.

There were a few other fun paint-flinging experiments done, but they were slightly wet, and managed to adhere themselves together by the time I got home.  All in all, a fun and informative workshop.  Now I feel the need to don my Mad Scientist gear, and go apply some of this newfound creativity to some unsuspecting subject.

Oh, and speaking of workshops, I am positively lightheaded with anticipation to be traveling to Hilton Head Island to attend a Karin Jurick workshop in November.  I promise I will take pictures at that one!