Paintings and Projects in Progress

Last week I shared a glimpse into my  process of creating paintings.
Today, as part of my art'n'asana series (a.k.a my daily art making and yoga-ing practice),
I thought I'd share with you my progress on the new paintings I've been working on as well as a couple of other projects that I have in the works!




This is a photo from last week's painting session.
When I paint, I use Golden fluid acrylics and LOVE them.
When I was young and in art class at school, I specifically remember hating acrylics.
I hated how they dried so fast and how they felt chalk board like under my fingernails when the dried. And I remember the smell of them.
 I didn't like the smell.
Back then, I was painting a lot at home with my dad, who worked (still does) primarily in oil paint
and I loved how you could swoosh it around and it didn't dry up and crack on you before you were finished,
and the smell of oil paints and linseed oil remind me of good times hanging out in the studio with
my dad,
 talking about painting.

It wasn't until very recently that I tried out acrylics again.
I don't remember what kind of acrylic paint we were using back in grade school,
but clearly, I had never experienced
fluid acrylics.
What I love about them is that they go on easily.
They are bright and bold.
I use them almost like they are watercolors, but prefer them because the colors feel more vibrant.

Anyways, so this splashing around with fluid acrylics is the first step in my painting process.
I like to make a whole bunch of paintings all at once to use up all the paint on my palate
and to get a lot of ideas flowing.
It frees me up from that feeling of having to come up with something miraculous and masterful.
It allows me to let that kind of thinking go,
and just play.



Once all is dry (and nowadays I appreciate the quick drying factor of acrylics!)
my pieces are ready for sharpie-ing!
I've tried other types of pens, but the good 'ole sharpie is still my favorite.
This summer, I was running into pen problems because
apparently sharpies do not like humidity
(who does really?)
and even a new pen would act like it was all out of ink.
That made the drawing process take twice as long,
but other inks (I tried India ink, Faber-castel Pitt pens and sakura pigma micron pens)
bleed when I put together the collage aspect of my paintings.
However now that Fall has arrived,
my sharpies are back to their normal selves,
working hard as ever for me in the second stage of my process:
the meditative act of drawing lines.
Once the lines are drawn on my paintings I work on the next part of the process.
 I worked on this part today,
using an Exacto knife to cut sections of the painting away.
This part of the process is the most time consuming,
but I enjoy it and can't usually stop until I've cut away everything that *needs* to be cut away.
Usually, I just have a very sure feeling of what sections *need*
 to stay or go.
 I've also discovered that this part of the process is best enjoyed in combination with an audiobook.
And only fiction will do!
(Currently, I am listening to Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende)

I will share the next steps of my painting process in my next Art'n'Asana series!

Other Projects in Progress:

Last week, I shared a sneak peak photo of a surprise project that I've been working on.

Here is another one from that project!

I'm putting together a
Art Asana 2011 Desk Calendar
that will feature 12 of my paintings from the past year!
I'm very excited about how they've turned out.
They are going to be cheery spots of color and inspiration to brighten up any day at the desk!

They are almost ready to go and I will hopefully have them up in the
Art Asana Shop
by the end of this week!
(If you would like to know exactly when they will be available, follow me on twitter or facebook for up to date information!)

and here's one last photo of another surprise project that I've got in the works:

It's another one that I can't wait to share with you!

I hope you are having a fabulous start to your week!

Paintings and Projects in Progress