Acrylic in HandBook Journal 5.5 x 5.5″
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The week’s Everyday Matters challenge is to draw a bar of soap. My original idea was to line up all the different soaps in my house, from dish soap to laundry soap to bath soap and make a grid and paint them all. But by the time I did all the errands I’d been putting off, time was short. Also, I wanted to play with the fluid acrylics I’d bought last weekend and hadn’t tried yet. So I settled on one soap, one bowl and tried painting with the acrylics as if they were watercolors.
It was fun and interesting. One thing I learned is that acrylic is basically a glue and if you get any kind of crud or cat hair on the paper it will become permanently glued in place. Also you can’t erase pencil after you’ve painted with acrylic. It’s ridiculous how fast the stuff dries. I guess you have to develop a second sense about spritzing the palette all the time.
I’m ready for some big, juicy, free painting next. After all the lettering and detail in the watercolor I finished and posted yesterday I’m tired of tiny, tight painting. It’s back to work tomorrow but hopefully this weekend I can go a bit wild with paint and loosen up.
Your soap bar and the bowl are absolutely stunning!
No matter what the medium, you are the queen of transparency. I like the blue reflection on the white as well.
I agree with Casey about your transparent effects, Jana! Your watercolor background really shows, even when you’re working in other mediums. Beautiful, luminous dish. do you know about the Sta-Wet palette? I got mine from jerry’s artarama or another one of those online places. I’ve used them for years and they work very well. Let me know if you want more info.
I wouldn’t have thought you could get such transparency with acrylics, even the fluid acrylics. Beautiful clear blue glass … (sigh)
Such careful observation is evident here – amazing translucency.
FAN-TASTIC!! THAT BOWL GLOWS, Jana, and you’ve captured it beautifully!! !Love the yellow soap against that bright, drop-dead gorgeous blue!!
Gorgeous, glorious colors, Jana! They just sing! And as always your glass is luscious…
And yes, glue! I always say that if there’s not at least one cat hair in a painting, it’s not an authentic Kate Johnson. That’s my seal…*G*
Jana, WOW! Luscious cobalt glass!! So much light in it and transparency!
Great contrast of colors — between the blues and the yellows. You have an amazing talent for painting glass.
Also, i meant to tell you how much i liked what you wrote on Laura’s blog. Kept me thinking — as your comments always do — about drawing for likeness and how much of ourselves we pour into the faces we draw. Thanks.
Wow, you’ve been busy. Once again you’ve got the reflections. I enjoyed the humor of the (g)old teeth, too!
Lovely! I love how you managed to capture two completely different materials here, soap and glass. You can almost feel their texture by looking at your painting.
Awesome….put my little pile of soap to shame!
This is beautiful – the blue glass is really gorgeous!
that is one gorgeous blue dish, love the combination of colors, really wonderful!
Ohhh this is lovely – the dish turned out beautiful!!!
I love the contrasting colors here – a wonderful little painting!
Gorgeous. The transparency of the glass is amazing, I’m sure I’ve said that before! Not sure how you do that – but hey I think I’ve said that before too! Also love the opposite colours.
It’s true, both these paintings really glow! Brilliant colours and I love that green, it really stands out.
Such simple items rendered so beautifully.
I love this one . . . I kept wanting to stare at it!
dish soap is crazy, I love how different brands bubble and how putting a dirty plate in the water and the dirt just lifts away…maybe thats weird. I just do. great picture
what a great artist you are!Turn a “still life” object into a poem …