wip - first gouache test

So I broke out some paper and my new paints and played around with them, I think I am really liking it! It's hard to get used to - fast dry time and new layers pick up colors from old ones like water color but they are brighter and the colors lay down more like acrylic or oil paints. I want to try them on particle board, that used to be my favorite back in school and I think the gouache would work really well.

painting bug

The painting bug has bitten me once more. And I am super excited for some cheap, student-grade gouaches I got from ebay. Mmmmm...dontcha just love new tubes of paint? They seem to just be like little vessels of creativity, just waiting to get out.

thrift store art + acrylics = new art for our walls

So when I visit my local thrift store (LTS), I pretty much keep my eyes peeled for anything and everything. I adore thrift store art and was super pumped when I found this forgotten acrylic painting that someone obviously had spent some time working on. So it's no Mona Lisa but hey, in my book trying counts:


But it needed, hm, something. Some point of interest. Why not a shadow monster taking a nice bubbly bath? Seems good enough. So a couple hours and some tubes of acrylic later I came up with this:


Still no Mona Lisa, but now I feel like it fits in more with the decor of our apartment (and what exactly does this say about the decor of our apartment??). I still need to get a better full on picture of it, the flash is washing out the colors and reflecting off the paint. But that will need to wait until the weather starts to finally cooperate with outdoor photography.

So I highly suggest the next time you see a once loved painting sitting lonely at your LTS, see if you can give it a little new life.