Rusty – A Quick Study Acrylic Painting

Rusty

This was a quick study of my dog Rusty using old fashioned acrylics on canvas. I worked this up just a couple of days ago. The canvas caught a bit of glare on the right side, so don't be confused by that. ;) At any rate, this was a nice satisfying break from the illustrations I have been doing of late, (and haven't shared here) so I'm considering doing more of these.

A Plein Air Painting in Acrylics

The Reason
I had some extra acrylic paint left on my palette, and I thought rather than waste it I'd spend some late afternoon time, in cloudy weather, out on the back deck painting. It was a great chance, and probably the last for the season, to capture a cooler diffused light.

How it Went
This is the first plein air painting I've done in acrylics. I didn't use the open acrylics, so drying time was something to consider. But, it was a fluke couple cool cloudy days so they didn't dry instantly. I think, for me, it is a pretty good effort painting directly in acrylics.

My Plans
I plan to keep doing these quick plein air pieces, to improve my quick direct painting skills. Next time I think I'll choose a view with a few less trees, so I can do a bit more designing. Perhaps I'll pull out my oils. :)

Chickety Chickens: Those Images

The Reason
Alrighty, this is a present painting. My Mom loves chickens, now I'm pretty sure she has never met one in person but an image of a chicken makes her feel glee. She has for ages pointed out needle points in antique shops of chickens, to exclaim at the site of a plate with a chickeny flourish on it, and appreciate any painting that involves a chicken.

For this amount of time I've tried to dissuade her of buying anything with a chicken image, for those chicken engraved items that she will like when the chicken high has worn off. (To be fair to my Mom she really does have beautiful taste and is herself an artist. ;))


The Hidden Motive
Now of course, I'm feeding her addiction and indulging my desire to paint. ;) This painting is an amalgam of a couple of photos and is still very much in progress. I sketched directly with my brush and have continued to build up the painting from there.

This is the first time I've tried "open" acrylics which have a much longer drying time. They aren't oils, but they do let you paint a bit more like oils. I'm still not totally used to this in between medium, but I'm enjoying trying it out. :) Perhaps I'll start using this new product in my main mixed media style.

I hope you enjoy the imagery!

Update: I'll be posting the final imagery soon.