Imagination at Work and a Nice Surprise

Recently I sent for some small canvases online that had no explanation of depth. I like to do my collages on canvases with 1.5 to 2 inches of return. These turned out to be just 3/4" return. So I decided to have some fun. I squirted some liquid acrylic paint onto the canvas and started smearing it. I then added more paint to vary the look and conjured up a scene of a garden. I wanted this to have a modern feel and did not worry about a lot of detail on the flowers. I plan to put this one in a floating frame.

An organization has purchased "Mountain Peonies" from viewing it on the blog. Every now and then that happens, and it feels really good,.

My Fourth and Final Day of the Gwen Fox Workshop

"Happiness"

13 x 14" Acrylic

 

Actually I began this painting on Thursday and completed it on Friday. This one is Gwen's favorite, which is rather pleasing as she is both an abstract and a floral artist. I did not have much to go on, mostly memory of my garden. I find florals fairly easy to paint and I like their shapes. Too bad that there are so many floral painters that it's difficult to be unique.

 

 

My biggest challenge with acrylics is to keep myself and my workspace clean. I know some of it is poor organization, but I hope to figure it out. You should see Bob's old shirt that I wore when painting. I was ready to throw it away, but Joan insisted I keep it as part of my history is on it. I managed to get my sleeve in the deep Pthalo Blue and put a big blob on the bottom petal. Thank goodness it is acrylic so I could paint over it and that is what led to the "design" of the lower part of the painting.

 

 

My Third Day at the Gwen Fox Workshop

"At Peace"
10" x 12" Acrylic

This piece was actually inspired by a photo of grasses at the University of Vermont with the iconic Camel's Hump mountain in the background. However, it looks totally Southwest to me as I was so influenced by my surroundings in Taos. I like the way I can get some watercolor effects while having the flexibility of adding a different color over the original color. I first painted the mountain in magenta and then went over it with a mixture of magenta and blue, leaving some of the original layer showing through. I also added the greens and gold. The grasses were done with a palette knife, which was very fun and new to me.

Gwen suggested I extend a few grasses above the blue mountain, which I will do when I get at painting again.

My Second Day at the Gwen Fox Workshop

"Taos in Living Color"



 

Gwen said she would be working in acrylic, so I decided to use the medium. I want to get more proficient with them because I want to combine them with collage and do abstracts.

 

Gwen suggested that I paint with acrylic on 300 lb. cold press paper that I first gessoed. I use the three fluid acrylics that Gwen had on the supply list that are quite transparent and make a wide range of colors. I included one tube of Titanium Buff. They were perfect to suggest the typography and colors of Taos.

 

I created a semi-abstract painting depicting  the deep slashing canyon carved by the Rio Grande, the eroded sandstone mountains, the plateaus, and manmade adobe structures.

 



Personalized Thank You Cards

Cards for my granddaughters
Left -- Kelly playing her flute at my home
Right - Jamie competing with Sky in a Vermont horse show

I always like to personalize my thank you cards. Last year I was really creative with my cards for my son's family. You can see the collaged cards here. This year, I printed cards with images I recently painted of the girls and shown earlier on this blog. I know they will appreciate receiving them. They are very thoughtful teenagers.

Portrait in Acrylics

"Jamie"
Acrylics on gessoed paper
12"x 10"

This is a first for me - a portrait done in opaque acrylics, and truly I had quite a learning experience. Unfortunately, I can't get the colors true in this reproduction. I have not yet bought any Ampersand panels as suggested by Hallie, so I gessoed over a failed watercolor painting on Arches 300 pound paper. The support is quite rough and very rigid. I drew the figure on tracing paper to avoid erasures on my support. I transferred the drawing using a method I learned from Myrna Wacknov. I turned the tracing paper over and went over all my pencil lines with a blue watercolor crayon. Then I placed the tracing paper over my gessoed paper crayon side down and used a ballpoint pen to trace over the lines. A very thin line of watercolor crayon gets transferred to the support. The line disappears when painted over as it dissolves with water, more critical when using watercolors, but a great method.

I wanted the acrylics to remain open and blendable for a while, so as recommended in Barclay Sheaks classic book, I used an acrylic gloss medium over the surface and to mix, slightly diluted, with the paints as I applied them. At first I was like a young child trying something new. Then things began to come together for me as I found how much paint I needed to apply and how to blend the edges. I like the way I managed to keep the edge of Jamie's hair soft and to blend her left shoulder with the background. I am inspired to try more people paintings. The gesso over rough thick watercolor paper provides an interesting subtle surface that glows from the glossy gel medium.

The source was a photo of granddaughter Jamie at the beach in Capitola during their July visit. Like everyone who visits California, Jamie expected very warm days. This summer was about the coolest on record in recent years, but even in the warmest summers, the coast and San Francisco can experience fog and cold. Mark Twain once wrote "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." He was surely exaggerating as Vermont winters trump it every time. But you get the picture. So Jamie wore her sundress. She was able to shed layers briefly and enjoy the warm coastal sun about 2 p.m.

Using Photoshop, I isolated the portion of the snapshot I wanted to use and enlarged it a bit so I could see Jamie's features. For the background, I took inspiration from the colors of the beautiful beach houses reflected in the water where the San Lorenzo River meets the sea. Here is the source photo.


I had a lovely time with my latest adventure in art. I need lots more practice on how to apply thicker paint and paint skin.

Painting with Opaque Acrylics on Canvas

"Jamie and Sky Compete"

9" x 12" acrylic on canvas

This is a thick application of acrylic paint on canvas, like painting with oils, my third attempt at painting in this manner in the past couple years. To achieve the color of Sky, I mixed a magenta and orange as I had no burnt sienna. For the Vermont grasses, I put down a base coat of Permanent Green Light mixed with Hanza Yellow. I came in with a feather brush and Cad Yellow Light to make the tall Vermont grasses. I went back in with a green and magenta mixture to suggest variations in the grass. The same color creates the trees and I added some touches of orange and yellow with the bristly end of a stiff brush. To create dust clouds at Sky's feet, I scrumbled Hanza Yellow with a touch of Ultamarine Blue into the canvas. Next I need to work on blending edges. It's fun to tackle a new medium and painting with thick opaque paints is very different from working with my beloved watercolor. Hallie suggested painting on Ampersand panels, so I am going to get some. I also want to try mixing media, such as watercolor and acrylic, or acrylic and pastel.

Jamie is my older granddaughter, now 16. This photo appears on a family calendar that her Mom made and is likely more than a year old. A few years ago Jamie really wanted a horse because she loves to train animals. She saw a handwritten ad for Sky, an Arabian-Quarter Horse mix, in the local hardware store. Sky was just two and half, very young for an inexperienced trainer to take on. However, Jamie's instructor evaluated the horse and agreed that Jamie could probably succeed. Sky is a sweet horse, and she has come along nicely. I believe she was about four in this picture.

Jamie pooled her money with sister Kelly and bought the horse for a very modest price. Later, Kelly was able to purchase her own horse and in fact, now owns two. The girls are not from a family that has grooms and stable hands, so they do the heavy lifting. Jamie also works at her instructor's horse farm to help pay expenses. Both girls enjoy training their horses and competing in Vermont horse shows.

The Flute Player

"The Flute Player"
10" x 12" Acrylic

Yesterday, between making a few things for Thanksgiving with family, I started this painting in acrylic. Today we rode the tandem to pay for our gluttonous ways yesterday and then I finished this painting. I captured a reasonable likeness of granddaughter Kelly. This is acrylic done in watercolor style with impressionistic tendencies.

Wishing my blog friends a lovely Thanksgiving weekend doing your favorite forms of relaxation.

A Preliminary Sketch

A Kelly Sketch
8" x 10" Acrylic

Kelly and Grandpa Bob practice the flute

This summer we had a wonderful treat -- my son Jeff's family came from Vermont to stay with us in California for a week. Kelly is the youngest at 14 and has so many interests. She and sister Jamie spend a lot of time caring for and showing their horses, and they both play sports. Kelly's flute playing has been largely set aside. However, she enjoys playing with Bob who is a very accomplished woodwind musician and a patient teacher. She surprised all of us and brought along her flute. The final day, she and Bob spent an hour playing together. I took several pictures of this heart-warming scene.

There's a nice story behind the dress Kelly is wearing. Her mom had been looking for a clever dress made up of much two-sided gauzy material that supposedly can be tied into 99 different styles. On the Web the prices were too high, but of all places, a tourist shop on Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey featured them for $12.99! The girls each bought one. Turns out that Jamie, the artist, is a pro at concocting outfits from this dress, and styled this one for Kelly. We were having an extended family barbecue that night and we women decided to wear summer dresses. Bob took time out from preparing the barbecue to play flute.

I've been wanting to paint more in acrylics, but I love my watercolors, so I seldom use them. I decided to begin experimenting with doing figures. I have a 1996 book by Barkley Sheaks, an early acrylic expert, in which he suggests painting on construction paper because it's very absorbent. Unable to locate my stash I decided to try pastel paper, which is obviously different and did not take the paint well. Good enough, though, for a first sketch. I concentrated on the figure, and now will work on an overall design. More shading is needed on the figure and the angle of Kelly's arms and the flute isn't quite right. After I complete one of Kelly by herself, I would like to do one that includes Bob, my favorite model. It will surely be titled "The Practice Session."

I have a great urge to abandon the acrylics and do a watercolor, but I intend to persevere and do an acrylic on watercolor paper. I may also do one in watercolor. Blog friend Hallie posted the most luscious acrylic on her blog. I want to do that!

"Les Trois Artistes" Reception on Saturday

"A Study in Black and White" (charcoal)
"Red Peppers and Pitcher" (pastel)
"Georgia O'Keefe's Mountain" (watercolor)
"Rain in the Fjords" (watercolor)

"The Coast" (watercolor)
"Memories of Ghost Ranch, NM" (watercolor)

"Matinee Memories" (watercolor)
"Villa Montalvo Gardens" (watercolor)

"Sunset over Tuscany" (acrylic)
"Dancing Poppies" (mixed media collage)

Some of the Matted Original Art for the Show

After coordinating the Frank Webb workshop, I immediately turned my attention to the ongoing "Les Trois Artistes" show on Santa Cruz Wharf. You can read about the show here. Because of a number of circumstances, we decided to have our reception on November 20. I've been organizing greeting cards, Bob cut mats, and I prepared the matted art in crystal bags for the canvas bin I will place there Saturday. I have a limited number of pieces hung, and I wanted additional recent art to display as many of my guests have attended previous shows. I selected a variety of pieces in different media. I even have one charcoal.

If you live in the area, please stop by our reception. You can make a day of it in Santa Cruz.

Vino Prima Wine Bar
Towards the far end of Santa Cruz Wharf
Saturday, November 20, 2 to 6

Shows are Hung

Les Trois Artists

Vino Prima Wine Bar
Santa Cruz Wharf
October 11 through December 5
Reception November 20, 2 - 6 p.m.

Yesterday after Monday morning drawing class, Bob and I drove to Santa Cruz to hang the show on the Santa Cruz Wharf. There are three artists showing: Jeanne de Campos-Rousseau, Diana Henrichsen, and I. One small wall bears the title of the show and one painting each. Mine is "Big Night Out" on the upper right.

Because the area has many windows and we were experiencing a picture perfect warm fall day on the coast, the paintings under glass have a lot of reflections in these photos. Diana is showing "Watercolors of California, en Plein Air," a very lovely collection of her works showcasing the beauty of the area in which we live.

Diana Henrichsen

Jeanne's work honors "First People of America."

My work celebrates "Moments in Time" with works featuring people, landscapes, and still lifes.



On Saturday, I worked the take in duties at the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society members' show. I saw some absolutely wonderful art coming in, so it's a show well worth seeing.

It felt funny this afternoon to slow down for a moment after working very hard to prepare for the shows, along with many other commitments since we returned from back East. Now, I need to get organized and refocused.

Silicon Valley Open Studios and the Quiller Workshop

"Sunset over Tuscany"
11" x 14"
Acrylic on paper

On Day 4 Stephen switched to acrylics. We could stay with watercolor and gouache or use acrylics and I wanted to learn the medium from the master. In the morning we used the paint transparently with watercolor without adding any white to it. I will show that painting when I finish it. In the afternoon he showed using a full range of transparent, translucent (with white added), and opaque paints. He began with a transparent under painting. In my case the transparent under painting is yellow orange and a touch of red at the top. I used white mixed with cerulean blue for the sky, white mixed with Ultramarine for the mountains; thus, they are translucent. The remainder of the painting is done opaquely. I see lots that needs improving, and that's all part of the learning experience.

This year's signature painting

"Me and Matisse" is featured in the catalogue and on the website. I was delighted when one enthusiast said he came specifically to see this painting. He has collected a number of works from Open Studios and favors figures. He was very impressed, but he did not buy the work, though he came back to it several times, perhaps put off by the price. I chose to raise my prices slightly this year. The good news is I sold three paintings:

• "California Poppies on the Fault Line"
• "Sunflower Fields at Petit Rousset"
• "Springtime in California"

One collector had missed out on a bid at a charitable auction for a piece I donated , so she bought two paintings. The other person won the bid at the auction for the piece that showed a scene in Italy with the wash hanging from the second story window of an ancient building in Florence. Her husband told her to buy another piece depicting Europe. I also sold a lot of greeting cards, which are always a fun item for folks to take home. The other two artists made sales as well. We were blessed with a perfect California day and had the doors open for people to circulate. Because we don't have flying bugs here, no need to close a screen door. Another sunny day has dawned as we look forward to the second and final day of the Open Studios.

Alison Turner is set up in the back garden and she also has a children's art area out there. One set of nine-year-old twin boys had a blast doing art and we admired their work. I am always amazed at what wonderful color choices they make. They are great at analogous and complementary colors.

Small Pieces - Channeling Wayne Thiebaud?

"Summertime"
5" x 7""
Acrylic on Matboard

"It's the 40's"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on Matboard

Entryway display

I've always loved the shape element. Perhaps that is why I so enjoy the work of Matisse. For my art sales, such as Silicon Valley Open Studios, I like to offer some small, very modestly priced original work, especially in these challenging economic times. If you read my first post about the Wayne Thiebaud talk, you saw my experiment with acrylic on mat board. Bob always ends up with some mat board scraps, in spite of his great knack for cutting sheets economically. Yesterday afternoon, I got out my life drawings of Jane Ferguson that I did at a session to benefit Doctors without Borders last month. Here are two that I've completed so far. I have a stash of small mahogany frames, and these little pieces are very charming on my decorative shelves in the entry where I display multiple pieces of art.

The white line drawing was my first piece as that was my original design concept. I also love the line element. Then I found myself wondering about using color on the brown mat board. I drew each of these from my original sketches using vine charcoal. As I did the second piece, I liked the look of the charcoal line and recalled Jean Pederson's wonderful use of line with her very beautiful paintings of people. (Take the link and especially look at "Harlequin" that appeared on the cover of Artist Magazine. See below for information on a Jean Pederson workshop.) I used liquid black gesso to do the line work on "Summertime." All the while, I was recalling Wayne Thiebaud's statement that "Everything we paint has components of what was."

Jane Ferguson, my model, is one of my favorite artists. Yup, I am being repetitious. Jane scours second hand shops for interesting clothing for her modeling sessions, and she did about a half dozen costume changes. Jane happens to be one of the most accomplished artists in the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society of over 400 artists.

In 2012, I will be coordinating a Jean Pederson workshop for the society. We have many "big name" artists scheduled over the next few years, so be sure to check our schedules. If you are coming here from out of the area, we can recommend reasonable places to stay.

Artist Talk with Wayne Thiebaud

"Springtime in California"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on mat board

Tonight we will be attend an artist talk with Wayne Thiebaud at the San Jose Museum of Art where we are members. I am so looking forward to the event. We had attended the reception when his show, "Wayne Thiebaud: Seventy Years of Painting," opened at the museum, but tonight will be an opportunity to hear about his artistic vision. Wayne will soon be 90 and is still very productive. Some of the works that most appealed to me are his most recent.

I am also intrigued that my mom's maiden name was pronounced the same (teebow) and spelled differently, "Thibault." Can you tell that half of my lineage came from the Quebec area of Canada? My Quebec French last name is compliments of my deceased husband, Gary. Mix that up with lots of English and some Cuban and we 7 Pitman siblings are true mongrels.

Last night, just two of our Thursday night art group painted together at my house. In a month, three of us will do a Silicon Valley Open Studios, so we are motivated to paint and prepare. Bob is busy cutting mats, I'm framing and thinking about how to display the art, and I am painting a few more pieces. I like to have a range of prices, so I purchased several small wood frames at a very reasonable price in a discount store. Last night I experimented with acrylic on matboard. I believe the trick is to paint on the wrong side of the board, but I did not and in a few places the surface bubbled from the water. I set the painting aside thinking that was a bust; however, when it dried, the surface was nice and flat and I was pleased with the results. A small original of one of my favorite subjects is ready to go.

"Showtime!"
11" x 14"
Acrylic on paper

Here is another Granada Theater picture for the "Save the Granada" event. This time I used acrylics on watercolor paper. I am reposting the art because I am terrible at photography. I've still got a bit of skew and distortion, but this is better. I also woke up this morning and realized I had not painted in a bit of the superstructure, so I fixed that.

SCVWS "Fresh Start" Show At Sunnyvale Art Gallery

Franken Vine

Wurzburg, Germany

"Me and Matisse" hanging in the "Fresh Start" show

Part of one gallery
Works on Paper

Entering one gallery
Works on canvas

I spent about 6 hours at the Sunnyvale Art Gallery, 251 West El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, processing my entries and hanging the show with a small team of dedicated members from the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. What a spacious and interesting gallery. The Kimm family has a flower shop, coffee house with two spacious sit-down areas, an art store, and 3 large gallery spaces. SCVWS has two of the spaces for the Fresh Start show for the month of March. Serendipity has 3 members of the society doing a private showing next to us in the third Gallery: Karen Wong, Stephanie Lam, and Connie Guidotti. Karen is incoming President and Connie is a member of my critique group. I also know Stephanie slightly from the Betsy Dillard Stroud workshop.

Most fun was Jane Ferguson's delighted reaction to my painting of her, "Me and Matisse." We hung it next to her piece that was featured on the show publicity flyer. Jane is one of the finest artists in our society, so I was pleased that she loved the painting. When she saw the card I made of it in the sale rack, she wanted to buy it. I told her that I would bring her one as small gift. Terri Hill and many others gave me positive feedback on the piece.

Our hanging crew worked from 2 to 7 hanging art for 62 artists, most of whom entered two framed pieces each. We allow watermedia, so acrylic on canvas and collage are accepted into our shows. One of the walls has the watermedia works and it's quite stunning. We were pretty tired when we finished, but very pleased with the results. I am looking forward to our festive reception on March 6 at 6 to 8 p.m.. Ya'all come down, now.

I promised to show you my fourth piece that I placed in the matted, unframed art bins. Franken Vine was painted from a photo I took when Bob and I visited Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium a few years ago. As we traveled, we sample specialty wines that are generally limited to local distribution. Franken wine is made in the Franken region south of Frankfurt along the Main River. We chose to make our first stop Wurzburg, which is not a common tourist stop. While there we visited the old Marionberg fortress. We walked down the hill via paths through the ancient vineyard. The September foliage was colorful and I lay on the ground to take a snapshot. "Franken Vine" is a play on words for Franken wine.

Another Matisse - Or Perhaps a Gauguin

"Yellow Shoes"
22" x 30"
Acrylic on Paper

Last October I was one of the coordinators for a Betsy Dillard Stroud workshop. We had live models and this lovely young Asian woman came prepared with costumes. We loved her retro shoes. We had 20 minutes to capture her using a brush to draw her on the paper. The next day we were given the exercise to do a Matisse painting. At the time I did one of Jane Ferguson, a wonderful artist in our society. I really liked the results that you can see here.

We've been battered all week with wild wind and rain, so I hunkered down yesterday and pulled out the drawing, wanting to do another Matisse style painting. The greenery, the patterns, and the organic shapes mimic Matisse. I put a few finishing touches on the piece this morning. As I was nearing the finish, I began to think the piece looked more like Gauguin because the model has an exotic look. Somehow, life drawings are difficult to make into anything but what they are. The poses look very static. I'm lukewarm on this piece.

I am planning to do Silicon Valley Open Studios and registration closed mid-January. There will be three of us this year at my home. I was notified yesterday that my new pieces are now on my personal SVOS page. Each artist can display three. You can see them here. They've all been posted in 2009 on the blog.

The Yellow Line Exercise

"Big Night Out"
21" x 14"
Acrylic
(c) Mary Paquet

For my birthday, I requested and received from son Jeff's family a book by Betsy Dillard Stroud, "Painting from the Inside Out." In it there are "19 projects and exercises to free your creative spirit. When I asked Betsy in October which book she would recommend I buy first, this is the one she said would push me to experiment. This painting is the result of doing the Yellow Line exercise. I began the painting week before last and finished it up last night.

As instructed I set up a jumble of overlapped objects. The idea is to go for a lot of shapes. So I set up a couple vases, some flowers, a wine bottle, a scarf, a hat, some shoes, and a jewelry box. Betsy says you can incorporate architectural features and landscapes. I mixed up transparent puddles of acrylic paint and drew my still life using a round brush and yellow paint. I had to close off all the lines and show the lines of objects through other objects. The idea is to create a lot of shapes. Then I began filling in the shapes with a variety of transparent washes, changing colors and values. I evaluated and used glazes to unify the composition.

I'm pleased with the results, though I have some self-criticisms. I didn't stay transparent enough in the beginning, so I had to do more opaque painting than I would like to bring out the shapes I wanted to emphasize. I also struggled with achieving variety in a harmonious way. I'm still learning to work with acrylics.

"Birthday Memories"

"Birthday Memories, 2009"
11" x 14"
Collage, Watercolor, and Acrylic

As I was opening my gifts, mostly delivered from Amazon as we are a bi-coastal family, I was taken with the wrapping paper in lovely contrasting colors of blue and orange. One piece was blue with writing on one side and beige on the reverse. I decided I would recycle some of the interesting paper items into a piece of art commemorating my birthday 2009. One of my gifts is Betsy Dillard Stroud's wonderful "Painting from the Inside Out" given to me by son, Jeff. Inspired by "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" and recalling our wonderful workshop, I devised a compositional sketch centered around an orchid from a corsage that Bob gave me.

Let's call this experimental, as I don't know, nor do I care, if there is a right way to approach a piece like this. I drew my design on 300 pound watercolor paper, cut the collage pieces, and adhered them to the paper with mat medium as I learned from Gerald Brommer. When the base layer was dry, I painted the orchid in watercolor. I then began applying acrylics with a brush and stamping with acrylics to pull the background together. I found that I deviated from my design somewhat, responding to the image as it developed.

When I took Mike Bailey's 10-week Watercolor Beyond the Obvious workshop, I found that the process featured recently in Watercolor Artist magazine pushed me toward creating geometric shapes. I attribute this penchant to my engineering gene that guided my work life. By golly, that is what is emerging here as well.

I included elements that recall special moments, relationships, adventure, and where I am at this time in my life. The orchid represents my loving relationship with Bob, the gift wrap recalls my two wonderful grown sons, and Bob's little note on the Amazon gift card validates my role as artist. A piece of the 17-Mile Drive brochure provided directions on our bike ride to Carmel, and brings back memories of our cross-USA tandem bicycle ride in 2008. The coffee sleeves from a local Pacific Grove coffee shop take me back to several wonderful restaurants and cafes where we dined. The spiral pattern for growth and squares for stability are part of a stamp that I carved relating to my life. The rectangular decorative stamp reminds me of other parts of the world that I've been privileged to visit. One can say a lot about their life on a quarter sheet of watercolor paper

Dancing in the Streets

"Dancing in the Streets"
Buenos Aires, Argentina
8" x 10"

Acrylic on canvas

We spent 8 days in Buenos Aires at the end of a trip around Cape Hope by cruise ship in February. While there, we visited San Telmo where we saw people doing wonderful Argentine Tango in the streets. We were inspired to take two private lessons from a professional couple who rented studio time to give them to us. When we returned home, we added Argentine Tango to our weekly ballroom dance lessons.

We learned that the tango got its start in the brothels where the men would dance with each other to pass the time while waiting. The upper class did not embrace the tango until it became popular in France and other European countries, which gave it respectability. The dance is now a very important part the Argentine social scene. A Milonga is the venue where people dance the tango, and we had hoped to go to a Milonga while in Buenos Aires. However, we are definitely Americanos who tend towards an early bedtime, so we never managed to stay up until 2:00 a.m. to attend a Milonga. How do folks get up the next morning and go to work?

I wanted to do a very simple rendering of dancers doing the corte step without a lot of detail. I covered the canvas with an orange mother color and then proceeded to paint the scene with little detail. I finished the buildings by adding some black line using liquid gesso. I have much to learn about working with acrylics. Near the end of the process, I used some gloss medium and I rather liked the smooth coverage I got from doing that. More experimenting is in order.