1 of 3 Secret ArtWorks 2009

Okay, I just figured it out: the first time I participated in Secret ArtWorks was 2008, so I've been participating for six years, not seven.

Here's how I know: In early 2009, C. F. Payne gave a demonstration at the Evendale Art Center and I was very inspired by the mixed media techniques he used. So I started experimenting with them in my own painting. It required drawing on heavy cold-press illustration board. But I learned in my first year of Secret ArtWorks (2008) that artists adhered all kinds of materials to the 5 x 7" entry papers: my studio mate Glenda Suttman did one in ceramics and Margi Meier's doing at least one this year in fused glass. I found out the surface can be no more than one inch thick but this illustration board I wanted to use was less than 1/4 inch thick, so it would be fine.

The painting above is of an old historic chapel near my house. I was interested in capturing the big oak tree behind it, which was more than 300 years old. They just cut that tree down a few weeks ago, because the root system was diseased and it was getting hollow inside, becoming a threat to fall on the nearby building.

I cut my illustration board to the 5 x 7" size, then drew the subject on it in pencil, like I did in another painting below:

Next, as Payne taught me, I covered the entire board with a light wash of oil paint in a warm reddish purple color. Then used a kneaded eraser to lift the highlights, leaving the rest in shadow.

That worked well on the chapel painting, so I could lift up the highlights on the building not in the shadow of the surrounding trees. Finally, I used a spray fixative to set the oil paint layer -- one used by people to retouch color photographs. Once that was dry, Chris Payne showed us you can put other media on top of it: acrylics, color pencil, etc. So that's what I did.

This example is a portrait I did of the Krippendorf Lodge at the Cincinnati Nature Center. I've made giclee prints of the chapel picture I did for Secret ArtWorks but I don't know who has the original. If you do, please let me know.

In 2008, I did 4 Secret ArtWorks -- 2 vertical and 2 horizontal. In 2009, my second year, I did 3 -- all horizontal. This is the first of those. Watch for upcoming posts of the other two.