Creating Our Candlelight Dancing Double Dip Canvases

Barnet Boy and I had great fun recently creating our Candlelight Dancing double dip canvases. I talked in an earlier blog about creating double dip art pieces. Here is how we did it.

Creating Our Candlelight Dancing Double Dip Canvases

Barnet Boy (BB) and I have never worked on a painting together so we thought it might be fun to have a go! No music though as this was a teaching and fun session and we needed to concentrate. Didn’t stop me lighting my usual incense though.

Preparing The Canvases

Before BB joined me in the studio I prepared the two canvases we were going to use. This included putting drawing pins (thumbtacks) underneath the four corners of each canvas. That is to allow the paint to drip off the canvas without the canvas sticking to the surface beneath.

Mixing The Paint

I asked BB to select the colors he wanted to use. Some were already mixed pouring paint but the green and gold he chose needed preparing. So I taught him how to mix the paint with just the right amount of water to make it flow but not too runny. Although we were aiming for movement in the paint rather than cells, we also added a drop of silicone oil into both of them. Using silicone oil helps create cells. We didn’t add silicone to the other paints.

What Is A Double Dip Painting?

The idea was that we would each work on our own canvas but bear in mind that they were going to be ‘double dipped’ together. A double dip painting is when you put paint on two canvases separately. Then press them together so the paint mixes to creates textures and patterns. The big reveal, of course, is when you pull them apart.

We Did Our Own Thing

We agreed that we would go for a ‘yin and yang’ approach. The idea being to produce something complementary that would interact together and (hopefully) create some great color combinations. The black was allocated to me, white to BB. I did caution BB that the darker colors would dominate so he needed to be bold with his distribution of paint.

I watched what he was doing carefully and tried to complement the distribution of colors he selected. This is his first ever attempt at painting with me and in this style. He was quite timid in his use of paint as he didn’t know what to expect. My use of color distribution was bolder because I knew exactly what that could create when we did the double dip.

Creating Our Candlelight Dancing Double Dip Canvases

BB chickened out of doing the actual double dip but watched as I put the two canvases together so the paint mixed. It takes a bit of care as it is important to ensure all parts of the canvas are pressed together to ensure paint coverage. We agreed I would twist one of the canvases slightly as we wanted to get some movement in the piece.

After Pulling Apart

This is what the canvases looked like immediately after I pulled them apart. We got the movement we wanted which was great. I warned BB that the canvases would dry much darker and more cells would appear as well. I did use a kitchen blow torch to go over both canvases to remove any air bubbles.

The Final Versions

So, how did they dry? They are brilliant and we are delighted with them. Here they are. With this first one you can see that the green, yellow and purple show well and are complimented by the red and gold and black.

And here is the second canvas.

This one shows less of the green but the white has migrated across nicely. You can see the lovely distribution of colors and the movement we wanted to achieve. I think you can also get a feel for the energy and fun we had together.

Both of these pieces are now available to buy as fine art prints from my three main print stores. Go to my website for more information.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

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Thank you for reading!