I saw these glass beads during my last trip to Montreal and felt compelled to bring back a few. They’re normally used as pendants but I will remove the brace and glue a magnet at the back.

They were hard to photograph! I tried various light sources but it’s still not easy to see what they really look like. The drawings appear much clearer than what you see here.

Here are some pictures of the drawings before they got encased…

Acrylic on paper

In the previous post, I was asked how I paint with white on black. Here’s how it goes…

A big round brush is reserved for water and smaller ones for the paint (acrylic or ink). I start by creating shapes with the water. I will sometimes draw a big circle and then, using paint, draw another circle inside of that space. The paint then expands, creating a fuzzy outside, just like with this white on black octopus. You can also paint outside the water form; the exterior will be crisp, and the interior will look like these eggs/stones. I usually add many transparent layers, inside and outside the initial form. You can also add a drop of water to your medium once it’s on the paper; it repels the paint, creating darker areas with interesting shapes.

However, this applies only to certain types of paper. The tablet I just bought is designed for charcoal. It’s the one I used for the pieces above, and the paint does not react at all like on the black paper that I normally work with. The latter has a texture similar to a heavy Canson and it’s a bit expensive. I wanted to try something more affordable, hence the new tablet. This paper does not allow you to work in the same way with water. It absorbs it right away; the paint stays put and does not expand since the liquid dries so quickly.

I willl leave you with this photo taken during one of our last walks. The vegetation looked like a big brown fluffy carpet and it caught the afternoon light in a beautiful way.

Have a good weekend!