Watercolor on Aluminum panels

Painting on Aluminum panels is not a new technique, but it is one that is new to me and I’m loving it. I have purchased small panels and started experimenting. Every manufacturer has their own name for it. Alclad is used in the airline industry. AlumaComp is sold through Jerry Artarama. Jackson’s Art Supply has their own Jackson Aluminum Panel. DiBond is yet another brand. If you don’t mind prepping them with gesso, it is cost effective to purchase through a sign shop. Plus, they cut to your size specific.

I like applying the gesso myself so I can experiment and sometimes control the texture. Brush strokes can be intensified, directional, and the gesso can have different thickness. I’m using watercolors, so all of that is adding to the base challenge of watercolors ‘mind of its own’ on a slick Surface! The paintings can appear like an acrylic or oil painting, yet you have that dreamy fluid watercolor effect.

Another plus, if you don’t use a Krylon varnish to fix it, you can wash it off. Usually there is a ghost image, but a thin added layer of gesso will cover that up. When I do produce a keeper, I spray it with the Krylon. BONUS: No need for GLASS OR MATTING! Yeah!

I also gesso paper. If I use expensive 300 lb. paper and have a flop, I rinse it, dry it and gesso it for a second try.

Here are some examples. The top 2 are on Aluminum panels. If you look closely you can see the gesso brush texture and direction. The beets are on gessoed Arches paper. I found a huge full roll at an estate sale, and have been experimenting on it.

Steelville Plein Air #steelvillepleinair

SPA was good to me this year. 5 days of painting and I brought home one. Here are a few pictures of the event. Also, a few of my thank you cards I painted for the wonderful people who support the arts and bought my work. *Not all paintings were finished in the photos.

Derald and the fur babies joined me this trip. We camped in the Airstream just outside of the city limits. The trailer was subject for 3 artists. 2 sold, one of which was auctioned. It was a fun event. Always well organized by a great staff of volunteers. They never get enough credit! They herd cats all week, and many times I’m sure we neglect to say thank you. Thank you SPA volunteers and generous community! We were fortunate to dodge rain (one hour of rain), and I managed to also dodge ticks and mosquitoes!

Practice, practice…

I Purchased an online short video from John Lovett this week. #johnlovett First I copied his demo then I tried to apply that knowledge to a photograph that I had of similar subject matter. I wasn’t really happy with the first one, so I did a second. And I could see I could probably paint it 12 times and still learn a lot. (12 maybe a little short….)

From last to first, here they are.