Still life of an abstract duck

Good morning Scrappingclearly family,

Today I would like to share with you a painting that I recently completed using the amazing Windsor and Newton and Liquitex Acrylic Paints which are stocked in store at Scrappingclearly.

Did you know that you can use acrylic paints just like watercolour paints, yes that's correct, they retain the pigment colour better than watercolours, all you have to do is use lots of water and blend the acrylic paint, as you will see in the following photos.   

I started out with an A2 size piece of mixed media paper one thing I will share with you about the paper it does pay to buy the best you can this paper is a French paper with linen in it and, oh wow, it works a treat.

 I started to sketch my duck in pencil. I always use an F lead as it is softer and leaves no damage when erased. Once I had my sketch completed I mixed my colours up and started to paint the duck in.

As you can see you won't need heaps of colour.

As I started to fill in the duck using a large watercolour brush, you can see how similar the paint looks to watercolour. 

As more detail is added

The colours of the watered down paint are brilliant as can be seen from the head details.

If using acrylics as watercolour you need to remember they don't blend with each other as readily as watercolour and they do dry more quickly. 

  

When I had my duck to the stage I thought it was complete, I then added a layer of Iridescent Bright Gold from the Liquitex range, watered down to a wash, over the body of the duck and applied a layer of glad wrap over that and allowed it to dry. What that does is leave texture lines in the paint adding depth to the image.

Just look at the sheen from the Iridescent Bright Gold paint isn't it awesome.

      

Then I just added some splatters to the page to finish it. And now it is at the framers waiting to be framed. As you can see I have used a board and masking tape to secure my image (washi tapes will work here too as they are low tack), I have also given my paper a water bath on the board prior to using, to allow it to stretch and shrink back to a flat surface which prevents the paper buckling when the paint is added. 

I hope you have all enjoyed seeing the creation of my duck painting and will now have more inspirations in using your acrylic paints in your creations, these steps can also be used on your scrapbooking layouts and art journaling.

Until next time, happy creating, Kim.