The Tao of Walking Ridge

This was going to be a painting of a sailboat, but after laying down the sky and water it felt like the setting for an old merchant marine vessel. This side wheeler had a powered feel but also had masts and sails as auxiliary power. If find Liquitex blending media helps create smooth transitions between the values and shades in the sky and water. A bit of violet was added at the top of the sky. The rest of the background is all shades of blue. The deep red of the boat then pops.

Steamer - Brian Kelly, 2010 acrylic on canvas board, 9″ x 12″

I wanted to try experimenting with some of the media from Liquitex. These mix with the acrylic paint to modify it. The glazes are more difficult for me to use, since it is harder to visualize what it will look like when dry. A magenta glaze was added to the top of the this painting to add depth to the sky. Roughly a 80/20 mix of glaze to paint is used. I also used transparent paints for the glaze to reinforce the transparency.

The Slow Dri Blending Media was very easy to use. It made the paint flow very easily, allowing for smoother blending. Up to 50% blending media can be added to paint. Drying times were longer, but not as much as I expected. I found this was a really great aid for any areas where smooth color transitions and blending was desired. I will definitely be using more of the blending media in the future.

Since I was playing with color, this landscape started with the sky, and it evolved into an abstract landscape. Some soothing flute music from Nawang Khechog’s Tibetan Meditation Music served as inspiration.

Plateau - Brian Kelly, 2010 acrylic on canvas board, 9″ x 12″

A friend periodically tips me off to interesting websites. This one was really deep, and it was hard to imagine that I’d never heard of it. FreeMusicArchives.org There is a bunch of really high quality but obscure and original music on the site to explore. One of the very fist I listened to was Steve Gunn. His blues based improvisations were totally stripped down (instrumental guitar) but still held my attention. Steve has three improvisational tracks in his album along with other works. There are also countless other musicians to check out.