Painting and Mixed Media Collection

My new collection of painting and mixed media art is now available at my RedBubble store and from Pictorem.

Painting and Mixed Media Collection

Yes I do paint!

I am well known for my Fine Art Photography and PhotoArt but did you know I also paint? A studio at my house is where I can be found working on painting and mixed media art. I prefer to work in acrylic paint though I also have many other media available – including a newly purchased pyrography pen!

Acrylic Pours

A few months ago I created some acrylic pour pieces.

What is an Acrylic Pour?

Individual colour acrylic paints are mixed with a pouring medium and then poured onto a canvas. Hence the name acrylic pour. The paints can be put on top of one another or individually and there are various techniques for doing so. The canvas is then tilted in various directions until it is covered. Final effects can be created by dragging items through the paint.

The piece shown above, Waves at Midnight, is an acrylic pour with black top and bottom and waves of colour, predominantly shades of blue with yellow highlights, give the impression of waves lapping across the canvas.  I dragged a large piece of plastic across the paint in two directions to get this effect.  Heat is applied to the wet paint (I use a hairdryer) to create cells within the paint as the pouring medium reacts. Once dry, I scanned the canvas and then applied a digital texture finish to create the final version.

Going With The Flow

Two other recent pieces involve acrylic pours and the addition of a digital texture. But in both cases, apart from having a clear idea in mind in relation to the colours I wanted to use, I allowed the paint to go where it wanted. Literally going with the flow.

Golden Avalanche

With the piece I have called ‘Golden Avalanche’, the only plan I had was that I wanted to use a strong golden colour and I wanted the gold to stand out. That dictated the way I poured the original paints.

Flowing Mass

With ‘Flowing Mass’ I selected purple/lilac and yellow as my two dominant colours as they go together so nicely. The addition of some bright blue and a tiny amount of orange and black completed the colour selection. This time I let the paint do all the work by tipping the canvas in various directions until the canvas was covered. It turned out well with a lovely combination of colours.

Wood Fire

My most recent work is not a pour but an acrylic painting made up of many layers. I set out to create the look of a piece of bark on a log. Studying a log made me realise that the grains in the bark run in several directions apart from the dominant vertical. I determined the colours that would create the final effect I wanted and built them up gradually.

Following an underlayer I made several passes over the canvas with liquid paint in a bottle, letting the paint dribble down the canvas. As each dried, I turned the canvas a quarter turn and applied another series of dribbles. Then I switched to a palette knife to reinforce the vertical grain. By then the surface of the canvas was quite distinctly raised in places which allowed me to let highlights peek through the surface.

Once I was satisfied with the grain effects, I proceeded to work more on the image to suggest burning as you might find on a wood fire. Hence the name!

Visit my Pictorem and RedBubble stores to see my collection of artworks, available as prints in various formats and on other home decor and gift items.

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.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!