An Experiment: 1 Image / 4 Mediums

I’m crazy about playing with… working with… playing with different mediums. Sometimes this propensity worries me (ok, I'm a worrier).  I recently challenged myself to an experiment. Compare and contrast by recreating one image, four ways, using three mediums I know plus one new one.  I wondered – if I did them all quickly, back to back – would the experiment reveal one or two that could be abandoned?

I wanted the image to be simplistic/illustrative and I figured whimsy would be my saving grace.  To that end, I used a silly drawing and painted all three canvases hot pink before starting. Click on any of these to see larger images.

1. Acrylic.  Energy.  I’ve enjoyed using acrylics in the Paper Dolls series, either in the women themselves or as the background for women painted in oil.  Acrylics present my biggest challenge for loosening up.  I tend to fiddle.  I love that acrylics play so well with others and they dry deliciously fast.  But, for the sake of this experiment?  Yaaawn. 

2. Paper.  Possibly my favorite.  I think it’s the graphic qualities – the images within the image – that lure me back.  And it brings out the hunter/gatherer/collector in me, too.  That aspect is like a bonus.  It’s impossible to be tight with paper – I just have to let those details go and that feels healthy.  Focus on finding the values.

3. Oil.  A dear, old friend.  I forget how great it is that oil paint doesn’t dry fast. So lenient and forgiving. I love the smell of linseed oil and the excitement of mixing colors in oil – so different from all others.  Oil is comfort paint, like Southern cooking.

4. Fabric.  The Johnny-come-lately.  I’ve wanted to try creating an image with textiles for some time.  Truth be told, I come from a long line of quilters and I sometimes dream I have a quilt inside me.  I flirt with tutorials and articles and many small projects and even a few larger ones. But I had never tried actually sandwiching a front and a back and a piece of batting and then quilting and binding.  Yikes.  This one’s like an overgrown potholder. Truly heinous.

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I considered throwing in a watercolor at the end but I was bored with the experiment idea.  The pitfalls of artistic infidelity are not lost on me but will I throw a medium out?  Doubtful!  They are all just too much fun and one inspires the next!  What can I say?  I like what I like.  Happy creating and thanks for visiting.