"Puget Sound Underwater Marine Life #1" - Acrylic painting on canvas (12"w x 12"h)
I am currently finishing up a series of paintings featuring aquatic marine life common to Puget Sound. This painting is the first of three.
For a photo reference, I used a combination of several photos taken from a recent trip the Seattle Aquarium. I stitched them together in a panarama in Photoshop, and produced the image below.
If you are interested in how I created the textures in the background, check out my recent post about How to Create Distressed, Chipped Look With Acrylic Paint. I layered tissue paper and acrylic paint in the background, and distressed it using sandpaper, revealing the colors of the rocks.
My photo reference for the Puget Sound underwater marine life series.
"Cupcakes for Layla" - acrylic painting on canvas board (14"w x 11"h) - Not for sale
For Christmas I promised my sister-in-law, Holly, that I would paint her a painting of anything she wanted. She chose cupcakes as the subject matter. For my inspiration, she shared this image of a blanket that belongs to her daughter, Layla (below). This painting is aptly named, “Cupcakes for Layla.” Does this painting make you hungry?
My favorite part of this painting is the chocolate drizzle on top of the white frosting. I create this effect by combined Acrylic Medium Golden Clear Tar Gel, Permanent Rose and Ultramarine Blue acrylic paint in a plastic cup, which mixed to make a very dark purple color. Then I used a palette knife to drizzle the paint directly on top of the painting. I recommend experimenting on a piece of paper or something before applying to your painting. It took a little bit of practice to get the hang of it.
Close up view of the chocolate drizzle effect.
Free hi-res pink, magenta and blue painted texture
Free hi-res painted texture
"Rock of Ages #1" - Acrylic painting of a guitar against a red wall (16" x 20")
A fellow artist, Christopher Clark, recently asked me, “in some paintings, some of the texture looks like it’s actually chipped away like it was plaster or wallpaper or something. How do you get that effect?”
Here’s how I create a distressed, chipped paint look in my acrylic paintings…
First, coat the entire canvas or wood board with a thick, underlying base color. Start with a layer of Acrylic mixed with Acrylic Medium Golden Regular Gel Semi Gloss
. Also try mixing in old dried up paints and paint shavings into the base layer of paint.
Once the paint is tacky, apply tissue paper or rice paper on top. It’s important that there are some air bubbles underneath the paper. It helps to crinkle up the paper before laying flat on the painted surface. Allow to dry. Then applying another layer of paint. This time, thin your paint a little bit with water. Don’t add any thickening agents. Then add another layer of paper. Repeat as necessary… Apply as many layers of paint and tissue paper as you want!
Then, distress the surface with sandpaper, exposing the colored layers underneath. Be very careful, especially if you are working with canvas on stretcher bars. You could easily puncture your canvas if you aren’t careful. Here’s a tip with working with canvas: spray the painted tissue paper with water (after the paint has already dried), it will distress more easily. If you are working on wood, you can be much more aggressive. Pull out the power tools and go crazy.
Keep working the surface until you are satisfied that you have the perfect colors and texture. If you hate it, paint over it and add more layers!
Once you are ready to start painting your subject on the top layer, switch to the higher quality acrylic paint. Once finished, add a protective varnish coating over the entire art piece. Tissue paper and rice paper are fragile and can easily be damaged over time, so I recommend applying a couple layers of Liquitex Matte Acrylic Varnish
once you are finished.
I created distressed, rusty looking textures using the described technique in this painting of Bill Murray (inspired by the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou).
Close up view of distressed textures.
Dano Self Portrait - Acrylic painting on wood (16" x 16")
This is a self portrait, if you couldn’t tell. When you are looking at it close up, you don’t immediately see the face. You have to stand back – and I mean really far back – for the face to come into full view. Here’s what it looks like…
I created this image by layering thick layers of acrylic paint mixed 50/50 with a gloss gel medium. I also mixed in shavings that I’ve collected by scraping the paint off old palettes. Once I had several really thick layers of paint applied to my wood board, I painted a grid. I painted from a 16 x 16 pixel image, being careful to match the tone and color of each cell. Next, I pull out the power tools! I aggressively sand the surface, exposing the vibrant colors beneath. Each cell is like a small abstract painting. Here’s a close up of some of the cells.
Close up view of some of the cells.
I’ve been experimenting on some small canvases, creating interesting, distressed textures. I thought I would share some high resolution images of painted textures for all of you fellow designers or artists that would like to use them in their own creations. Feel free to download and use these three images however you want. Click on the image to download the hi res version.
Green and blue painted texture
Grey, yellow and orange painted texture
Yellow and orange painted texture
I recently discovered a pond full of koi fish outside the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park (Seattle). I’ve done several paintings of koi fish in the past, but I feel like I’ve taken this painting to a new level. I’ve spent considerable time on the background. My goal in this painting is to create textures that are rich with movement and color.
I achieved the background texture by first applying a thick layer of color to the canvas. Next I drag a toothed puddy knife through the paint in circular motion. Once the paint is tacky, I apply a single layer of tissue paper. I allow the paint to dry overnight. Then I paint the top of the tissue paper. Once that layer is dry, I sand the surface to pullout the interesting colors from underneath. Then I clean off the dusty residue with a wet towel. Once dry, I go crazy splattering with paint. In the end, the energy invested in the background results in something special. Let me know what you think!
This painting is 24″ x 18″ wide, and it’s for sale for $500. Please contact me directly if you are interested.
"Portland Night Skyline" Acrylic painting on Canvas (24" x 18")
I completed this painting of the Portland skyline almost a year ago, and I never posted on the website. So here it is! It’s for sale at $395 plus tax. Contact me directly if you are interested.
"Rock of Ages #5" - Acrylic painting on canvas (18"w x 30"h) - $445
This is the fifth painting in a series called “Rock of Ages”. I had previously sold several paintings in this series, and I wasn’t sure what to do with what remained. The few paintings that were left couldn’t be hung up all by themselves. I also had several violin paintings that connected well with this series. So I painted this painting to help tie the orphan paintings together into a cohesive whole. I’ve hung all the paintings in my living room to show how they might be arranged together. All of the paintings in the photo below, including Rock of Ages #5, are for sale. Contact me if you are interested.
A series of paintings featuring musical instruments: violins and guitars.
This is my first self portrait. I’ve been heavily influenced lately by the artist Chuck Close. He paints enormous realistic portraits from photos using a grid method. To create his paintings, Close puts a grid on the photo and on the canvas and copies cell by cell. I’ve employed this similar approach, except I’ve taken this image away from realism. I’ve also added movement to the painting by building my color on a foundation of grooved impasto texture. I love how colors can blend together to create a vibrant impression of my face. This painting is for sale for $385 plus tax. Contact me if you are interested.
