Sky Mother

8×8” Acrylic with acrylic markers on canvas panel

This was an acrylic underpainting with acrylic markers over it, something I’ve been enjoying very much lately. It’s a great way to be able to make marks much more spontaneously than with a brush. The marker lines express a real energy and movement, and they’re done fast, pretty much as it looks like they would be.

The smaller size of these works really well with the markers, about 8×8” to 8×10”. I’m not sure how to ramp this up to larger works, but as always, I love to experiment and learn. I might need to get larger tip markers to work on the larger works, but that’s a whole other expense. I might try taking some of what I’ve learned with the markers and seeing if I can adapt it to brush work.

Will I be able to obtain the same energy and spontaneous feel with brushes? Probably not quite, if for no other reason than that acrylic paint applied with brushes dries much more slowly than markers do, even using a hair dryer to speed things up. Using the acrylic markers is much more like drawing with a pencil or even pastels. Still, I look at the energy and spontaneous feel Van Gogh achieved with oil paint (which seem like they never dry!) and I’m thinking it might just be possible.

Do you like it? If you do, imagine what fun it would be having this original artwork delivered right to your door (like where else would it get delivered?).

If you do like this painting, please share – because it really helps!

All work is for sale, Pay What You Want. Seriously. I don’t believe that original art should be available only to those with deep pockets. Not every art lover has deep pockets. So just tell me what price works for you. (You pay the shipping, though.😊)

Let me expand on that a bit: It’s not that I don’t think artists shouldn’t get paid well, because of course I do. But here’s the thing — My patrons help keep me in art supplies. Social Security helps keeps a roof over my head and food on the table. So after a full career in art I can now indulge my mission of making original art accessible to those who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to afford it. That’s it! So if you can pay a high price, thank you! But if not, don’t be embarrassed to tell me what works for you, because I’d be truly glad to help you own one of my original pieces at a price that works for you.