Back to encaustics

I recently learned that my preference with mediums is to be able to subtract as well as add. So I'm going back to encaustic. Mmmm . . love it . . and do not 

  encaustic, collage, oil on panel

know why. It was quite a journey and a challenge to learn this medium, but I find it is a pleasure to work with, even with all it's challenges. I felt that I was getting very tense working with acrylic, and it was not a medium I could subtract from. The joy has come back to my painting! Hurray. I have another to post that will have one final tweek. I did TWO encaustic paintings yesterday! Amazingly this photo is very close to what my eye sees. I've set my camera back to automatic. Even with this photography class I'm taking, I understand the information explained during the class, but when I get home, it seems to have disappeared. Yaye for encaustic!!

I'm also going to start using oil and cold wax and am looking forward to that. I have learned a TREMENDOUS amount by looking at a lot of art on Tumblr. It started with looking at what I like, and now I'm putting the "pieces" together that I can use with my work, what appeals to me as far as tone, composition, color, etc. I think abstract is, at least for me, much more difficult than realism. 

I appreciate all of you followers. Thank you for following and visiting here. I value your input.

New photo of below

This was taken outside with image lying down. The greys are a little blue. Looking at the white paper it rests on, around the edges of the image, you can see blue not white. One of these days I'll learn . . patience and practice and referring to the photography book . . maybe by the end of my photo class! I'm still going to keep trying.

Third in "Three" series

Acrylic, collage, & mixed medium on paper

This is the fourth image (work & rework) on this paper . . and circles, and I'm going with this. I love old dials and circular diagrams, print, rusted spokes, washers, etc. Again the photo is as close as I could get to reality. I'm not sure if I will do one more or continue and see where this theme and palette take me. As an image is developed, as I come to the finish, the surface becomes "precious", the additions slower with long periods of thoughtfulness. Interesting how an idea will "pop" up in my mind, that I had not thought of before. This is probably not not uncommon for artists, unless spontenaeity continues throughout their process. Not for me . . yet. 

Still frustrated with how photos come out for me. The top of this is lighter than it is. I took some pics in my studio, and through learning about what florescent lighting does (green), even though I added incandescent lighting, it turned out greenish. So the photo next is the more "green" (no green in this), inside-the-studio photo. This makes me wonder about artwork on the net and how true the color is.

I just might like this better, but the greys and beige are gone. The tones are closer in range. I had it on an easel on top of a white sheet of paper. On the top you'll notice that the white paper behind it is beige. It will take a while to learn this camera stuff.