Gaudi – “Studying under the Masters – Becoming an Apprentice”
- At February 08, 2014
- By misty
- In My Paintings, Uncategorized
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Week 2 of the course, “Studying under the Masters – Becoming an Apprentice” features Antonio Gaudi and was taught by artist istructor, Junelle Jacobsen. What a treat…didn’t know much about Gaudi’s work and really enjoyed getting to know this master better. I chose to focus on his famous Casa Batlló in Barcelona.
You can see a wonderful image of this building here http://apetcher.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/catalonia-barcelona-and-antoni-gaudi/
I decided to work with materials that I don’t use on a regular basis. For this piece, I used my Caran D’Ache Water soluble crayons, graphite, inktense colored pencils, Golden fluid acrylics, and beeswax as a top seal.
I used Caran D’Ache water soluble crayons and Inktense colored pencils to add the first layer of color.
During Step 3, I applied a layer of glaze made from Golden Fluid Acrylic (Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold) and water.
- Step 4 – Post Glazing Highlights
In Step 4, I had to enhance elements and add highlights which were muted during the glazing process.
I decided to try adding a top layer of melted beeswax to my piece; however, since I know that wax can really mute colors, I added another layer of color using the Caron D’Ache crayons and Golden Fluid Acrylics (Violet Oxide and Burnt Sienna).
Step 7 involved melting beeswax in a makeshift double-boiler (a glass jar placed in a saucepan with water (heated on medium high). Once the wax was melted, I poured it on the surface of my painting and brushed with a foam brush. I hit a big snag because the house was fairly cool (winter in Pennsylvania) and the wax hardened almost immediately upon hitting the canvas. I had lots of very uneven was which made portions of the painting cloudy. I wasn’t sure what to do, since this was the very first time I’d used was…but decided to put the whole piece on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper into a 300 degree oven. After a few minutes in the oven, the wax re-melted and smoothed out. I pulled it out of the over and placed on a cooling rack. Problem solved…nice smooth surface!
Below is a comparison, so you can see the “before & after” showing the difference beeswax makes. I readily admit, I had NO IDEA what I was doing with the wax…but…I love to play and experiment, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did!