Doing a MIXED MEDIA PAINTING

"My Reflections"

The media used 
this time was: gessoes, [both black & white] pastels, colored pencil,  acrylic paints, polymer sealers [matte & gloss]..done on recycled plywood, 10 x18".
As reference a photo I took of my sister was used; though more impressionistic than a portrait, I was striving for more a dreamy, emotive  kind of effect. 
Initial stages = watery applications of the gessoes  dried overnite. 

drying glazes near infared heater

Pastels & acrylic paint next day, using  fingercots, dabbing at the cosmic pattern & background.
Additional wet glazes set near my infared heater quickened drying time.

More info on the sectioned paintbox in my post of 7/29/12.  The comb brush is great for hair strokes; as well in landscapes, etc.

finger-painting IS fun

Royal 1/2" filbert comb brush  

A CHILLING EXPERIMENT

Want to know what's more fun than watching paint dry??

Squeezing paint out of tubes! 

Not my own idea, I borrowed it from another artist's blog, wanting to try it for myself.  The reason is to have handy several shades of acrylic paint at your palette knife tips, without the hassle of opening & closing lids which ofttimes are stuck. The sectional has mointened felt fastened inside lid and it is stored in your fridge whereby it may keep up to 2 months or more.  

Having so many almost-used tubes, this appealed to me and last night I emptied 24 of them with the great help of a tube wringer.  Another practical thing: when tube has 1/3 to 1/4 left, half the time it is too firm and really should be used up before unusable. As additional means to keep fresh, I keep the sectional in a plastic bag in fridge. 

Another realization: no matter how icky the lid gets on a tube of Liquitex brand acrylic, they are always easy to open!