Field of Flowers

As I mentioned in my last post, I am trying to expand my artistic horizons.  I have always wanted to learn how to paint, but being the perfectionist I am, I have a hard time just DOING something because I'm afraid it'll turn out poorly.  But I'm learning that you can't expect to be good at something without practice and to just go for it!  So, I recently finished an acrylic painting that I'd like to share.  I got the idea from a painting book called "Acrylic Revolution" by Nancy Reyner.  It is a "wet-on-wet" technique that I wanted to try.

First you start with an underpainting:

Then you add a think layer of soft gloss gel, and while it is still wet, you add the top painting:

The soft gloss gel dries clear, so while it was drying I kept checking on it... it's like a surprise because I wasn't exactly sure how the top and bottom layers of color would coincide.  This is how it turned out:

In some places the gel never dried completely clear... I'm guessing that it is because it was a little too thick.   But that is one lessoned learned for next time! =)

I'm having a lot of fun browsing different techniques in books and online; there are so many styles out there!  I have found that I'm drawn to more abstract works, especially those done with thick paint and a palette knife (a technique called Impasto).  I think that might be what I try next!