A love letter to art, color, and the endless curiosity that fuels creativity

I love this day, it's the day I get to sit with my ice mocha in hand, take a breath, and write a letter to my soul sisters and artist friends, sharing all my crazy notions, ideas, and exciting news here in the Blossom Blog. Your sympathetic ear, kind words, and uplifting comments have carried me through dips and valleys and peaks and high points in this Mr. Toad's Wild Ride/Art Journey Life. The more you paint, the more you know that you don't know, as many of you, um, know....! But there's another side to the drive to paint continually, to infuse it into your every day, and to think of painting every night. Most artists are driven by curiosity. An obsession to try new techniques, new subjects, and new materials is something many of us share. I've been pulling out the acrylics more and more lately, and finding a new reason every day to fall in love with them all over again.

One of my favorite new underpainting colors for both oil and acrylic paintings is Titan Mars Pale, an acrylic color by Golden. You may have heard me mention Titan Green Pale by Golden, extolling the virtues of a spring garden on canvas laying on a bed of that divine green acrylic. But its peachy partner has caught my attention for achieving a perfect glow, especially when creating backlit figures in the garden. Pink Ribbon Girl was created in oils on an underpainting of Titan Mars Pale acrylic color. I've also found that pulling an edge on a white flower created on a bed of Titan Mars Pale gives you the perfect highlight, not too orange, not too cool, but just right.

I tint panels and cotton stretched canvas using acrylic colors frequently, (though I don't recommend painting acrylics over oil primed linen). Let those acrylics dry thoroughly before you apply oils on top. And be sure to wash the acrylic brushes immediately with warm water and soap, since acrylic dries quickly and will ruin your brushes if you don't take care of those right away. If you're working on an oil primed surface, you can mix an oil color similar to Titan Mars Pale. The recipe in oils for Titan Mars Pale is a mixture of Indian Yellow, Permanent Rose and Titanium White. A smidgen of Ice Blue by Richeson (the Shiva Series in oils) will calm the mix, if you want a cooler glow.