Working it all out... New Art from Julie Prichard

I’m having a moment with “melted color” in my work. I am experimenting with different ways to mix and apply paint, and I am having a pretty good time with it! The tests take me between heavy bodied acrylic paint and fluid acrylic paint and I can’t decide which I like best…yet.

“Road Trip”, acrylic painting by Julie Prichard. Tap the image for more details.

Part of the process I am experimenting with is mixing my usual brush work with the use of a flexible palette knife. The cheaper the knife the better (I find these better than an old credit card) I am also using a lot of medium to hide the texture in my canvas.. and I am leaning towards liking painting on wood better than canvas.

I do not like pouring paint because I can’t control the placement of it. I like the color I apply to look more deliberate for sure. I can stretch my imagination and enjoy the challenge of discovering new shapes I can pull out of these organic compositions.

“I’ll Order Dessert”, new art from Julie Prichard. Please tap the image to learn more.

I think there is a really nice controlled texture element in these new paintings that I like very much. In my online workshops, we talk about deliberate texture vs. texture that is haphazard and placed all over the place…also how to push it back anyhow to highlight it and make it work for the composition. I think this point is often overlooked.

So a the summer progresses, I’ll be gradually hammering this out and increasing the size of the paintings when I am ready. I like to work on small pieces like these when I am pushing through things because they are easier to correct when I see something I do not like.

How is your summer going so far?