Copyright April M Rimpo

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Saturday, May 23, 2015

In Search of New Textures

What you likely know about my work is that I often like to include as much visual texture as I think fits with the piece.

Join the Crowd by April M Rimpo

Sometimes I drip or spray water on an area that has started to dry to force some small lighter areas, as I did on the background and in the feathers on Join the Crowd.
Join the Crowd
Watercolor
10" X 14" image
Framed in Brushed Silver Frame
$425







Poinsettia Tree WIP by April M Rimpo

Other times I apply paint and when it is mostly dry I spray it with water to remove the areas that are slightly wet leaving hard, yet organic, edges. You can see this in the leaves in the closeup of Poinsettia Tree, taken fairly early during the creation of this painting.  To see the completed painting click here.



The Apex by April M Rimpo
Drips are another favorite method of mine to create textures, as demonstrated in The Apex.  There is always a purpose when I use a texture since I feel the texture has to enhance the painting, not just be decorative.

Since I always an looking for new, interesting, and maybe faster ways to create textures I decided to take a mixed media class from Nancy Barch. First of all let me say that Nancy is a wonderful teacher, full of great ideas. The variety she uses in her work is fascinating. I knew from others who had taken her workshops how much she had inspired them to try new approaches in their art and I am so glad I took her workshop. 

Since I love the transparency of watercolor and fluid acrylic I was looking for techniques I could adopt and transform, as necessary, to enhance my work without being a major shift in style. 

Below are images of some of the work I produced in this workshop. You can see we used much thicker applications of paint on the first three pieces, but the variety of textures are magnificent.  My challenge over the next few months is to test methods to adopt Nancy's concepts and use them in a slightly more fluid manner to see if I can add more depth and nuance to my paintings.  I'm always striving to add visual interest and believe the new vocabulary of textures from Nancy's workshop will do the trick.
 
Abstract Flowers;  White on White;  7th & Carroll;  Lunar Blue; Destruction

4 comments:

  1. I already love how you use texture, so I am really looking forward to seeing how you use these new-found skills in future paintings!

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    Replies
    1. thank you, Rolina. Never enough options since they have to be just right for what I want to say.

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  2. April I LOVE Pigeons II. The colors are exceptionally gorgeous and the blends that you create seem so natural and so expressive! I am in awe of the way you do that. And thanks for explaining the technique... although I'd never be able to do it the way you do!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Katherine. The technique I used on Pigeons II is one that takes a while to get right. I practiced first on some other paintings before diving into this one since it was so crucial to its success.

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I look forward to hearing from you. - April

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