Experimenting with Acrylics

For years I worked mostly in art journals, using more portable tools, like water color and gouache, pencil, and pen. This past winter I stumbled across Connie Hozvicka's Total Alignment videos and her Paint Fearless approach to painting and decided to give it a shot. I've tended to be constrained by the media and small format I use and I wondered what it would be like to use more forgiving acrylics and a larger format. 

The painting above was my very first attempt, using 2 pieces of bristol board taped together. After that one, i went on to this:

And this

And then this:

What emerged was a style that was probably more "cartoony" than what I would have liked, but I definitely have found that I like working bigger than a book. 

I also like the "do-overs" you get with acrylics that you just can't get with water color or gouache. If I create something I'm not happy with, I just cover it over with paint and look for something else in it. 

What I've also found with a painting is that I'm more likely to let it breathe. In my journals, I tend to work start to finish on one image. I might go back later to add a few finishing touches, but once I start something in my journal, I stick with it until I finish. 

With paintings, on the other hand, I will let them hang for days, sometimes weeks, waiting for them to reveal their mysteries to me. Sometimes they don't and I have to gesso over and start again. But frequently, if I give them enough time, what they are meant to be begins to emerge. A different way of working for me. . .