I have been experimenting with a new technique of acrylic pouring with mixed results. This little 8*10 painting is one of those pours that didn't quite turn out the way I hoped, so when it dried instead of repouring it, I decided to use it as a background for another painting. I drew inspiration from the complimentary muted turquoises and rusty tones to dictate the overall theme of the painting. As there were not a lot of "pre-loaded images" to work within this pour so I had to carve out the images and work with the texture of the background. The muted blues/greys and texture also reminded me of washed out plaster of the Mediterranean so running with that I emphasized the oranges, pinks, and greens. With all the visual interest the background you don't have to worry about covering all the underpainting, just add enough detail develop your vision.
I chose to use a grisaille technique for the painting of this old man in watercolor. Grisaille is an old technique oil painters used to develop a monochromatic value study, kinda like a road map for your painting. This later served as a base for the addition of transparent layers of color. For this painting, I chose to use a limited palette of dioxazine purple, Naples yellow, alizarin crimson for the face with a pop or 2 of transparent orange and green gold at the end. **This is not a palette I would choose again and here's why. Naples yellow doesn't pack any punch and is opaque. This is not a great mix when you need to cover or mute the purple. Diox purple is also strong stainer, making it difficult to remove pigment. Sometimes this is ok, but didn't really help on this piece. I started this gentleman with an ink sketch that can be found in my Strathmore watercolor 400 series journal. I love the quality of paper in this journal but I wish it wou...


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