Between Seasons

Very strange. First of October, that Sunday we were driving back from vacation temperatures hit at least 24℃ in Germany. In fact, the whole time we were in the Italian alps it was virtually T-shirt weather! Must be all the climate change. Though worrying, it was quite pleasant to feel the prolonged summer warmth and be able to share a painting I made the second week of September just before going on vacation. I bit of floral abstract this time, reflecting the belated transition from summer to autumn!

Stencil Play

The background of purple and yellow came from the excess paint from a previous artwork, applied on an empty sketchbook page with a brayer. From there, I created a few stencil designs of leaves and flowers by gently tapping some acrylic paint with a sponge. It took me a while to figure what my next step would be, but I thought I’d keep playing around with various mark-making tools and see what happens!

Gelli Printing

Not sure if it were a good idea to start trying out my gelli printing skills here but I figured I should continue to see if I could improve the painting. A firework stencil was used this time in conjunction with the printing. As I’m more accustomed to gelli printing with stamp inks, it was a bit of a hit and miss with the white acrylic paint blended with blue acrylic ink. The color combo, though, I was pleased with which is a positive thing and kept me going. Perhaps it would be an idea to leave this painting overnight and work on it again with a fresher mind the next day!

It’s All Coming Together!

Good thing I had a sleep over it. By the next day, a few ideas came to mind. Started by stenciling in some fluorescent red flowers, and then my thoughts kept flowing: Rubber stamping, wrapping paper collages and then making the bold move by painting a bunch of long plants in the middle to balance the composition with some green. That was indeed a good move! Then final details were introduced using a white gel pen and 3D acrylic liner, the latter which helped fix the “mess” from the gelli printing. And now, I think I definitely like it!

A bit of intuitive painting here which was a lot of fun! Although it was also a hit and miss session especially with the gelli printing, it all turned out fine in the end with pleasing results. I love the bright and vivid colors which bring out lots of energy, something we will all need once the autumn season sets in. Sadly it’s definitely good-bye summer for now, but this painting does give out a warm welcome to autumn.