acrylics

still trying to figure out acrylics. so far, i do not think they compare to oils and i hate how they dry soooooo quickly, but supposedly that is one of their advantages. one nice thing is that i did the following piece in about 45 minutes and was able to just throw it in the car and not worry about the seats getting paint on them.



this is detail of a model's arm, side, and leg. i liked the negative space that is created in the center. one good thing about the quick-drying of the acrylics was that i could do several glazes in a short period of time. however, a friend said that i am using the paint like water color (too thin and transparent) and that i should thicken it up. i'm going to work on that.

abstraction -- or my version of it

i have been taking an abstract painting class for the past month at the torpedo factory in old town alexandria, va. i took the course for two reasons: 1) to learn how to think more loosely and more creatively; 2) to learn more about how to work with acrylics.

it seems that as i move from realism to abstraction, i have taken a path toward surrealism. it was not intentional, but now it seems logical, as it is so hard for me to let go of realism. here are a few examples of the stuff that has resulted from my classes:

still working on this guy

a bit more color, a few more background images emerge: