"They're Everywhere" 30" X 24" Fluid Acrylic by April M. Rimpo

They're Everywhere by April M Rimpo

They're Everywhere

Fluid Acrylic

30" X 24" image

Available through my website 

Two of my favorite things combine in They're Everywhere: the colors of pigeons and painting with drips and splatters to create the illusion of a rocky cliff.

I know, so many people think pigeons are pests but I love their iridescent colors. I'm also amazed that no matter where I travel I see pigeons. I've done paintings of pigeons in Italy, Seattle, New Jersey, and now Colorado. 

They're Everywhere was particularly fun because of the way I created the background of this painting. I started by spraying water on the paper letting the water run in all directions, making rivers of water the went across and down the page, weaving a random pattern on the page. I then dropped on color, either with a brush or by using a pipette, and tipped the paper to make the colors blend randomly following the path of the water. I also added some splatters here and there that became the shadowed spots on the cliffs.  After drying I continued painting to refine the cliffs, but many of the random cracks in the rocks and shadows were already established from the first wet-into-wet wash.

I've included a video of me creating this painting; a time lapse over a week of painting. Enjoy!  I'd love to hear your feedback.

Post Updated Sept 8, 2020

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Contact April and see more of her art on her website

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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.

"Cycling" and "Race": Different approaches to showing their movement

Cycling 14" X 11" Fluid Acrylic
by April M Rimpo

         Cycling

Fluid Acrylic
14" X 11" gallery wrapped and varnish
$375

Available for purchase on my website.

Race 18" X 12" Fluid Acrylic
by April M Rimpo

Race
Fluid Acrylic
18" X 12" gallery wrapped and varnish
$540

Read more about this painting on my website

Race was selected for the Georgia Watercolor Society's 2019 National Exhibition on exhibit 
March 9 through April 26, 2019.

The exhibition is held in:
Bowen Center for the Arts
334 Highway 9N
Dawsonville, GA 30534


Wondering how these paintings evolved? Sometimes you can't really tell when you look at a finished painting where is started from.  I think Cycling falls in that category, while Race is much more obvious. Let take a look.

First I created the backgrounds for the two paintings by spraying water and applying fluid acrylic paint until I had the "netting" background I like to use when painting high energy paintings. My cyclist paintings are nearly always in this category because they are so active when they flying by.

Cycling Underpainting & Drawing

Race Underpainting

You can barely see the warm underpainting that was the beginning of Cycling in the final piece. It evolved through a variety of stages eventually ending up with a fairly dark background of purple, burnt orange, and dark greens to represent the natural treed background. A lighter swath of mostly pale greens and yellows for the grasses by the road that are lit by the sun. Only the drips that cross the road remain from the underpainting.

Race at start of demo

On the contrary, I decided to start by painting the woman in Race allowing some of the underpainting to come through providing the illusion of shadows on her body. I so liked this appearance I shared the painting at the stage shown at left with some artist friends to get their feedback. They all felt the simplicity was perfect and that I should not develop the background further. My intuition had told me the same thing, so it was nice to get validation of my thinking before I went further. 

I continued to work on Race as part of a demo in a gallery where I had a solo show on exhibit.  The images below show me completing some details in the bike and reinforcing parts of her form to get to the final version shown above.



My thanks to Mala Sarkar Sehgal for taking these photos while I worked. 

Refining the bicycle

Nearing the end of the demo

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.

#hocoarts  #hocoartist #touchstonewdc #bicycles #fluidacrylic

Inspirations through Travel : Near and Far

I'm often asked where I get my inspirations for my paintings and whether I ever struggle with what to paint.  Ideas for paintings have never been a problem for me because I am so fascinated by the world around me. Landscapes, Cityscapes, and figures captured during everyday observation help tell the story of a place.  I have learned that I love sharing these stories.  Even if you see a very different story in my painting, that is great too. My story may have been my inspiration, but your story is what really matters. 

Recently I became aware of Jen Reviews' blog that includes the 100 Best Things to Do in Maryland.  Reading the list I thought the places I've visited might be an interesting example of the variety of places that compel me to paint. Don't miss the link to Jen Reviews' link near the end of this post.

Egrets' Haven by April M Rimpo
7" X 5" Acrylic on Aquabord

Some have been as far away as New Zealand, Guatemala, France, Norway, and others right here in Maryland, where I live.  My little painting on Aquabord, titled Egrets' Haven was inspired by a visit to, Assateague State Park, which is quite close to Ocean City, Maryland.

You've likely hear of Assateague because of the wild horses that live there. I was lucky to get photographs of the horses while there and am sure that one of these days they will appear in a painting.

Tall Ship Gloria by April M Rimpo

Even this painting of the Colombian tall ship, Gloria, was inspired here in Maryland at the Baltimore Inner Harbor, during Sailibration, an event held annually to commemorate the War of 1812. More than 40 tall ships visit the Inner Harbor to participate in the celebration. In the lower left of this painting, near the bow of the ship, you get a sense of the crowds that come to visit these beautiful ships each year.

Tall Ship

Watercolor

23" X 10"

in a 29" X 16" frame with a white mat

Contact April Regarding Purchase

B & O Caboose by April M Rimpo

Historic Ellicott City, sometimes called simply Old Ellicott City, is a quaint town that preserves its history down to the color of paint used on the buildings in town. This painting is a view down Main Street showing the clock by the Train Station Museum, where a B & O caboose is on display. The real caboose no longer rides the rails, but it seemed only fitting to transport it back in history.

B & O Caboose

Original Sold, but
Prints Available at
HorseSpirit Arts Gallery, 8090 Main Street, Ellicott City, Maryland

Spring by the River by April M Rimpo

A little over 20 miles from Ellicott City is the Brighton Dam Azalea Garden in Brookeville, MD 20833. Nestled on a hill adjacent to a reservoir is this garden that comes to life each Spring, just in time for Mother's Day. I visit it every few years to capture the gorgeous blooms in a wide variety of color. 

Spring by the River

Fluid Acrylic

24" X 36"

Original Sold

Prints Available - Contact April

A Clutter of Kayaks by April M Rimpo

Traveling toward Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, you come across many waterways and small parks where you can sit and relax or meet up with friends to kayak on the river.

A Clutter of Kayaks

Fluid Acrylic

20" X 36"

Contact April to Purchase

Summer Breezes by April M Rimpo

Summer Breezes is inspired by the Annapolis City Dock, which is located near the Annapolis capitol building and not far from the Naval Academy.  As the name implies, this is a nice place to sit on a bench to relax and take in the sights.

Summer Breezes

Fluid Acrylic

11" X 14"

Available at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

I hope you enjoyed this small tour, through my eyes and art, of just a few of the places you can visit in Maryland.  

If you are interested in learning about more places to visit, take a look at this Jen Reviews article, 100 Best Things to Do in Maryland.  I've only been to a few of these locations, but agree they deserve to be included.  This list now has me intrigued to explore other regions of Maryland to check out more places to see and enjoy; and just maybe paint. 

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.

"Freight Yard", 24" X 45" gallery wrapped acrylic and watercolor

Freight Yard by April M Rimpo

Freight Yard

acrylic and watercolor
24" X 45" varnished gallery wrapped paper
$2595

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE HERE

I am not sure what draws me to industrial scenes,  but it is probably the colors and the structure of the equipment.  I didn't want the blue crane to blend in with the sky so I decided to use a golden, gray colored sky.  I love to use red and orange with blue to create tension with this red based analog color scheme. By using very dark values I accentuated the structure of the equipment and the train rail. Contrasting the geometric shapes of the freight yard with the soft sky and wet runs at the bottom of the painting provided an interesting balance between industrial and organic.

Freight Yard is included in North Light Books' AcrylicWorks 4: Captivating Color, best of acrylics. Read the press release for the book here. Below is an image of the cover and page 31, where my painting is included.

April's other industrial paintings include:

• Shipping Port
• Port of Call - NYC
• Streetcar

To see a sample of my prints check my store.

"Glacial River" 40" X 36" fluid acrylic

Glacial River by April M Rimpo

Glacial River 

Fluid Acrylic 

40" X 36" Gallery Wrapped*

$2875

Available at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

Phone: 410-461- 4505
Email: info@HorseSpiritArtsGallery.com 
Open: Open 6 days a week, check their website for hours

Inspired by the small towns in Norway and the fantastic countryside. Glacial River highlights this village sitting along the banks of a glacial river. These rivers are fed by the glaciers making the water a grayish blue. I was told the gray tints were the result of the tiny stone debris in the water because of the pounding of these fast moving rivers over rock. I haven't researched to confirm this, but it is quite believable since the glacial rivers were ferocious in their strength. The white caps shown in the paper are the result of the fast moving water.  For those wondering, there is no waterfall, just the love of drips in my paintings.

If you have ever been to Scandinavia you may have noticed that the majority of houses are painted either red or gold. Roofs are often red as well. So you are not seeing artistic license in this village scene, the houses are true to their original colors.

I not only loved the beauty of these villages, but also the majesty of the surrounding mountains and this fantastic river. If you have ever been to Scandinavia, I hope my painting brings back great memories of these pristine countries. 

* The image wraps around the edge of the painting, so a frame is not required.

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.
#HoCoArts #aprilmrimpoart #norwaypics

Day 9 of the 30 Day Challenge

Perception III by April M Rimpo

Day 9 brings the third panel of the quadriptych, Perception. One of the things I love about watercolor and fluid acrylic is the drips. When used to enhance a painting they can bring a whole new depth to the painting. I have used drips in several of my landscapes and in some portraits with great success.  The portrait, Woman with a Wrapped Hat, has received awards in national and local exhibitions.  Here are examples:

• Freight Yard
• Arriving at Kensington
• Woman with a Wrapped Hat

Using the drips in these abstracts has been more to create texture in the painting.  I think they help move the eye around the piece. Although Perception III has drips that run primarily in one direction, there are smaller drips that run in random directions since I didn't want the abstracts to be too linear.  However, I ended up adding colors to this underpainting that reinforced the linear direction of the drips which I didn't really want.  I went back and introduces swirls which significantly reduce the directionality of the painting which feels more harmonious to the concept of these paintings.  

To see all of my 30 Day Challenge paintings click here
#jan30in30 

Monuments, 14" X 12" fluid acrylic on gallery wrapped, varnished paper

Monuments by April M Rimpo

I traveled with my family to New Zealand about ten years ago.  We traveled all over both the North and South Islands.  Everywhere we went was beautiful.  What amazed us what how these two little islands had nearly every ecosystem on the planet: volcanoes, glaciers, marshes, rain forests, and more. One area we visited along the northwest coast of North Island had beautiful beaches with black sand, caused by the volcanic area further inland.  This area is dotted with farms but in some spots the winds are so hard and constant that the trees grow bending toward the east.  Some, like those shown in Monuments, lose all their leaves, but many remain standing, like they won't let the wind win. I thought these wind and sand bleached trunks were beautiful additions to the landscape that deserved to be featured.

This image shows the front of a gallery wrapped painting done on watercolor paper and then varnished after it was wrapped.  The painting extends around the sides of the frame allowing the painting to be hung without a frame.  I use a satin finish varnish to avoid glare on the surface.

"Struggles in the Sourthwest", 24" X 34" gallery wrapped fluid acrylic on paper

Struggles in the Southwest by April M. Rimpo

You may remember my June blog post called Pouring Paint, about a workshop I had taken from Linda Baker.  During that workshop I painted Harder Times which was a close up of one grave in Mission Tumacácori.  I designed Struggles in the Southwest earlier but decided it was too much to tackle in a workshop and went with the simpler version. I visited Mission Tumacácori sometime in the 1980s as part of my explorations of Arizona. After moving to Arizona in 1980, my husband and I continued to explore many National sites with Indian ruins during our 17 years in the state.  One of my interests, in fact my initial major in college, was archaeology, so visiting these sites allowed me to catch a glimpse of the past.  To learn more about this Mission visit the National Park Service site.

Like Harder Times this painting was poured, but with fluid acrylic instead of watercolor. Below are a few images showing steps in creating this painting.

Value Sketch

I generally start each painting with a drawing of the outlines of the shapes in the painting, but this one was complex enough that I decided to do a value sketch. The purpose of a value sketch is to work out the darks, mid-value, and lights in the painting. I admit I went beyond a value sketch and toward a much more complete drawing. However this was done on tracing paper to allow me to more easily transfer the drawing to watercolor paper.

The image at right shows the result of the first pouring of acrylic paint.  The acrylic was poured after I transferred the drawing, then masked areas I wanted to keep white. The first pouring uses the lightest colors in the painting, filling the role of the lightest mid-tone.  To accomplish this with acrylic, the pigments are very diluted with water.



When the first layer dries, more masking fluid is added to some areas where I want the lightest mid-tone.  A second pouring is done that has nearly the same amount of water mixed with the paint. Since it is on top of the first layer of color, it looks darker.  I added more blues to the second pour allowing them to mix with the Quinacridone Coral pigment to create lovely lavender shades in areas where there are shadows.

In this third process photograph I have added a few darker areas and, when the paint dried, I removed the masking.  

Notice the golden tan stripe along the left edge.  After I gallery wrap the painting over a stretcher frame, the stripe will be on the edge of the painting. Sometimes I run the image around the edge and sometimes I use color stripes.

    

This last photo was taken after several touch-up sessions. A variety of dark colors is added in the darkest shadows under the rocks and more color to the crosses. A great deal of work was done on the rocks to blend some of the dark edges and to emphasize the twigs and grasses in the sand around the stones.

There was a small amount of additional touch-up to finish the painting after this image was taken.  The finished painting in the top image shows just the front of the painting after gallery wrapping. 

The Apex, 36" X 24" fluid acrylic and watercolor

The Apex by April M Rimpo

The Apex

acrylic and watercolor 

varnished in brushed silver frame

Giclee Prints Available

 

I always admire the accomplishments of athletes.  In The Apex these rock climbers scale one of the pillars in Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This park is a registered National Natural Landmark that I strongly encourage you to visit. In this painting I am showing only the top third of the peak, so the climbers' accomplishment was very inspirational to me.

My goal was to emphasize the majesty of the peak, helping to make the accomplishment of the rock climbers stand out.  I felt starting with an under-painting of drips on the peak would add vertical lines, much like the crevices in the stone. These drips serve both to emphasize the attributes of watermedia, but also to help create an illusion of height.  I've intentionally left some of these visible in the lower part of the painting.  The colors in the Southwest are consistent with my favorite color schemes, so this painting is pretty true to what you would see if you visit this wonderful landmark.

* Contact April regarding purchase outside the United States

"Flower Vendor" watercolor 22" X 17.5"

Flower Vendor by April M. Rimpo

Flower Vendor is my third painting about vendors.  In each case the vendors seem to be small business owners.  This painting and The Vendor are based on people here in the United States, while Fruit Vendors features Guatemalan vendors.  Perhaps I am drawn to these because I grew up in a family that has a small business and know the long hours it takes to make a venture succeed. Each of these paintings capture the vendors concentrating on their wares. 

Flower Vendor

watercoclor
22 " X 17.5" image

28 " X 23.5" framed

$1100

Available at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery

Phone: 410-461- 4505
Email: info@HorseSpiritArtsGallery.com 
Open: Open 6 days a week, check their website for hours

Although the vendor is an important character in this painting, it is the flowers I wanted to highlight.  To accomplish this, I used blue pigments to mute the background and the woman while keeping the central flowers bright warm colors: yellows, reds, and pinks. The woman has a red apron to help create a consistent color scheme throughout the painting, but the red is more subdued than in the flowers; I added blues and purples to reduce the vibrancy of the apron.  

I also reflected golden and red colors from the bouquet in the vendor’s face but again used blues and greens in her flesh tones to keep you focused on the brilliant flowers.  Of course I want you to look at the woman, but when all is said and done, it is her love of the flowers that I want you to admire.

At left is the triad color scheme I chose for the painting.  I ended up shifting the yellows toward gold and the reds toward pinks, but I did retain the concept of the blue triad.  Primarily cobalt blue is used in the initial wash to help push back the background and much of the woman allowing the bright colors in the flowers to be the star.  I used a very wet wash in the background so a wide variety of colors could mix on the page creating a beautiful backdrop.  After the first background wash had dried I added a second dark wash created from a variety of dark pigments. As the second wash was drying I sprayed it with a mist of water to create water spots, which further diffused the background and revealed some of the underlying color.

I happen to love drips in watercolor paintings since it reveals the fluidity of the medium.  I wanted drips across the bottom of the painting.  Although the woman was placing flowers in a vase I decided to change it to wrapped flowers where the stems are sticking out of the bottom of the wrapping.  This way the stems could also be created from drips.

Other "vendor paintings" include:

• The Vendors
• Fruit Vendors 

April has prints of many of her paintings,  if you don't see one in her online store ask her about availability.

* Contract April regarding purchasing outside the United States