A few weeks after we moved in, our neighbors gave us a triptych painting. It’s got some outlines etched in which is cool, but it’s not exactly our style (it’s airbrushed in gross colors and generally very dated – it is something that must have been very popular in the 70s and 80s). We didn’t really want it, but we felt rude refusing it – especially considering the language barrier between us and our neighbors. We don’t speak Chinese and they don’t speak English. How do you communicate, “It’s nice, but we probably won’t put it up in our house.” without words?
The original matches the carpet – not a good thing.
The painting sat in our garage for a couple months as I tried to find a nice painting to fill up some space and add color to our living room. I finally decided I would paint something myself and planned to buy a canvas and some acrylics and brushes to refresh my supply. Then, I remembered the painting in the garage and decided I would try to paint over it instead of starting something new. I got some fresh acrylics and set to work. I wanted the painting to have texture but I didn’t want to spend a lot on paint, so I used both artist quality acrylics and craft paint acrylics. And, I’m quite pleased with the final result.
The final product. Bright and fresh.
At work in the kitchen.
I set up at the kitchen table and finished it in two nights. The first night, I just did a quick coat across the sky and realized I wanted and needed more purple and orange paint. You get thicker paint in the artist quality tubes, but they are more expensive, so for the casual painter, the bottles are a good choice.
The nice thing about the airbrushed surface, is that if I screwed up, I could just wipe it off with a towel.
I didn’t cover the entire painting in acrylics. I left the waterfall because I actually really like the teal on cream airbrushing there. I just turned the rocks from airbrushed brown to acrylic black. It’s a nice contrast of color (black, cream and teal) and texture (acrylic and airbrush). I also let other colors show through, including the red and yellow of the trees.
I really like these houses, I imagine it’s a kind of mountain homestead with curly-wooled sheep and thick-maned horses.
I thought of adding a chimney and smoke, but then I reminded myself, “Know when to stop.” I took a break and came back to it and the idea seemed dumb. It’s a good way to work.
Here’s the painting in situ – plus a sneak peek of our new couch cushions!
“I wear my sunglasses…in the house, but never outside when I actually need them.”