Tag: process

I have been working on more paint ‘n collage wee canvases. This one is not finished yet. It is too simple but I am not sure yet what else to do. Perhaps I need to add some sparkle, or gold brads or something! So I am putting it away for the night to dwell on the possibilities.

The other day I commented that I don’t use brushes often, and that’s certainly true. But it doesn’t mean I never use a brush, and it sure doesn’t mean I don’t own any. I own heaps in fact! I was lucky enough to buy a huge bundle of beautiful ones when an artists’ house was being cleared out. Here’s a bowl of them that sit on my desk.

I use brushes mainly for mark making towards the end of the painting process, now that I think about it. Most of the paint goes on with paper towels and baby wipes, and brush marks tend to come last, adding highlights here and there. I keep a small bucket of water beside me as I paint and the dirty brushes get dropped in the bucket as I go, so that clean up at the end of the day is quick and easy.

I am one of those artists that wears almost as much paint as the canvas. I have more ‘painting in’ clothes that I care to think about. I sometimes often have slightly unusual coloured fingernails – where the paint has ‘almost’ come off in the wash. Putting handcream on before I start painting would be a good idea, but I loathe the feel of it.

I don’t often paint with a brush; most of the time I smear paint on with paper towels or baby wipes. Baby wipes are a favorite tool, but the paint does get all over me. I love them because I can move the paint around, strengthening colour here, fading it there. I use cheap, eco-friendly ones from the supermarket. Sometimes I keep the paint-stained ones as base for collage or using in my journals.

Has anyone else tried painting with baby wipes?