"Traffic Jam II" 12" X 20" acrylic

Traffic Jam II by April M Rimpo

Traffic Jam II
Acrylic
12" X 20" X 1.5" deep gallery wrapped*
$600

Traffic Jam II is a second nod to Flam, Norway, where the ferry boats take travelers from near and far on a beautiful trip through a fjord. This tiny town must survive on tourists since the primary traffic we saw was the ships waiting to take us on a wonderful adventure. What a beautiful place.

The four houses you see along the water's edge are typical of what we saw in Norway. Red houses nestled on green covered mountains, with a few neighbors who chose the second favorite color, golden yellow.

The mountainside was truly the bright yellow green of Spring. I decided to feature that color by using a tertiary triad of color that included leaf green, cobalt aqua, and mauve. The mauve is a mixture of Permanent Alizarin and Phthalo Blue. I started the distant trees using Mat Acrylic Medium Gel to build up some textures then applied several variations of color from the triad to the medium while it was still partially wet.  Once dry, I used fluid acrylics for the balance of the painting, working back over the thicker background to create soft color variations in the shadowed side of the mountain.

I find that this combination of soft acrylic with fluid acrylics creates great depth to a painting, making it fun to visually explore.

* The image is painted around the edge of the canvas, so no frame is required.

You can see more "Traffic Jam" paintings at these links:

• Traffic Jam at the Concert - Concert goes waiting on the ticket takers
• Rush Hour - Enjoy the view when trying to get home
• Traffic Jam III - Cyclists backed up at a crossing
• Full to the Limit - An overloaded canal
• Thoroughfare - Amsterdam: More bikes and trikes than you can believe
• Traffic Jam - Sometimes it doesn't take much
• Country Tour - Cars waiting on a bike race
• Trapped - Traffic congestion in a tunnel

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Traffic Jam" 8" X 16" fluid acrylic SOLD

Traffic Jam by April M Rimpo

Traffic Jam

Fluid Acrylic

8: X 16"

SOLD

Traffic Jam is another one of those scene that I just had to paint. The combination of the shadowed versus light areas on the hillside and the light on the ferries was mesmerizing. 

The title Traffic Jam is a bit tongue in cheek since this small town on the fjord had essentially no car traffic, but lots of ferry boat traffic. Two huge ships docked in this tiny town made me laugh, but also demonstrated how popular the tours on the fjords are. There may not be a lot of residents but there are a lot of people who want to see the pristine countryside. This was a truly beautiful place with wonderful views everywhere you looked.

You can see more "Traffic Jam" paintings at these links:

• Traffic Jam at the Concert - Concert goes waiting on the ticket takers
• Rush Hour - Enjoy the view when trying to get home
• Traffic Jam III - Cyclists backed up at a crossing
• Full to the Limit - An overloaded canal
• Thoroughfare - Amsterdam: More bikes and trikes than you can believe
• Traffic Jam II - No spot at the port for the incoming boat
• Country Tour - Cars waiting on a bike race
• Trapped - Traffic congestion in a tunnel

Since I'm often asked about my painting process and the pigments that I use I thought I'd include that information in this post. I started by using bubble wrap to dab various soft acrylic colors throughout the tree and grass areas. This adds a lot of texture to the painting.

The Golden Soft and Medium tube acrylics (dabbed on using small bubble wrap):

•         Diarylide Yellow (OPEN)

•         Manganese Blue (hue)

•         Titan Buff

•         Naples Yellow

•         N8 Neutral Gray

•         Pyrrole Red Dark

•         Leaf Green

•         Cadmium Red Light (hue)

•         Cobalt Blue

•         Quinacridone Burnt Orange

•         Phthalo Blue

•         Indigo

Once dry I use fluid acrylics for the balance of the painting. Building color through wet-into-wet application and later I layer more colors to provide depth.

Daniel Smith Quinacridone Coral watercolor mixed with Golden Fluid Matte Medium

Golden fluid acrylic – Cobalt Turquois

Davinci fluid acrylics:

• Quinacridone Gold
• Cadmium Red Medium (hue)
• Leaf Green
• Dioxazine Purple
• Phthalo Blue
• Cobalt Blue

Contact April here

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo 2016 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Simple Life" 12" X 24" fluid acrylic gallery wrapped

Simple Life by April M Rimpo

Simple Life

Fluid Acrylic, gallery wrapped and varnised

12" X 24"

Available to purchase at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery
info@horsespiritartsgallery.com 

410-461-3505 

Simple Life is a tribute to the simplicity of life in Norway. This home stood on the edge of a fjord with no other sign of life for miles and no obvious entry or exit other than the water. I had to celebrate this way of life with a painting in happy hues. 

Complementary color schemes really make me smile and I hope they do the same for you. This painting include two complements: yellow-green/purple and teal blue/orange. Complementary colors are pigments that are opposite each other on a color wheel. I've used http://paletton.com/ to illustrate what I mean.

The first color scheme shows purple as the primary and a yellow green for the complementary color. Since the paletton.com site is intended to help website designers identify color schemes, the square on the right shows lighter and darker versions of the purple and green hues. You will hear me refer to these variations in darkness as the value of the hue.


The secondary color scheme is teal blue and orange; it is show at left. Although I used less of this second color scheme, it appears at the focal point to contrast the house with the background immediately behind it. The purple yellow-green scheme is more prevalent in the painting.


By using two complementary color schemes this painting really pops with color. Let me know what you think.

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo 2016 All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.