Harriet and I took a workshop this morning at the Learning Expo in Lisle, IL. It was sponsored by Dick Blick and Artist's Magazine. The workshop was a Golden paints class that was about faux encaustics, their new products, and different mediums. The workshop was okay. I felt that the class was kinda rushed and not enough information given about each product. There were some samples of the different acrylic mediums made up for us and we just did a little painting and some layering of different mediums. I would have liked to have applied the initial different acrylic mediums myself to get a feel for them. I did not need a class on how to paint on different textures. Also, we did do a sample strip of different mediums next to an already dried strip of different mediums. I did not understand that one. The only difference was that we painted on top of the already dried acrylic mediums and the one we did had the paint mixed in beforehand. A lot of the people liked the class but I felt like I did not glean enough information from it.
We learned how to do faux beeswax and how to create different pours like an antique pour. Something new was the glass bead gel. It was pretty fun trying it but I did not buy it because I knew that I would not use it. I could just add seed beads to gel medium or light molding paste. I did like the crackle medium and did buy that. I liked how it turned out after I painted it. It did warp and buckle a little. The antique pour was okay. That dried pretty fast. I also bought the new fiber paste because I like the idea of making a skin out of it using freezer paper.
I lost interest in the workshop about 5/6th of the way through the workshop. I did not want to do something with tar gel when I knew it would not dry for a day or two. I did not catch what gel medium we were putting on where. It was okay though. I got to try the new Golden products and play with some paint colors I usually do not use. I did not feel that I gleaned a lot from the workshop.
You can get techniques from their website: goldenpaints.com
I was starving after the workshop. I had lunch with two of my favorite art friends, Sandy and Harriet. Shari could not make it. Missed ya! We had a lunch buffet at the hotel. It was decent. Sandy's darling son, Harrison, was also there. He took an airbrush class. He has talent in an area that will I will keep unexplored in my technique mind. I cannot do one more new thing! It looked really cool though.
After lunch, it was time to shop! We did take a short detour after lunch to stock up on some Golden products. I got some fluid acrylics, fiber paste, and crackle paste. They were about 30-40% off. You almost NEVER see fluid acrylics on sale. I was good and only got colors I did not have or colors I needed - colors I would actually use. THEN, we went to lunch. So, when we were done eating, we did some shopping in one of the two vendor booth pavilions. I was surprised that so few vendors were there. I thought that there would be a lot more. I actually spent less money than allocated. I did try and buy stuff that I would really use though.
Northlight books had some good books on sale for 50% off. Not all the new ones but a few new ones and some older ones. Different paint medias, too. I got Acrylic Revolution and The Artist's Muse. The Artist's Muse looked interesting because it was not just about fine art but used collage and found object examples. 50% off helped! Acrylic Revolution is a technique book with more basic techniques in there. Also, tells you about acrylic paint properties. This book is recommended to anyone who wants to use acrylics. Acrylic newbies, that means you. An artist who is an advanced acrylic user may not glean anything really valuable from this book. I got this book because I thought it would contain useful information that I could use for Art Techniques and Collage Composition (yahoo groups).
I bought 3 tubes (2.5 ox each) of Daler-Rowney copper paint for $2.50 each! What a great deal. I use copper paint all the time in my backgrounds and assemblages. I got 3 4-packs of Ampersand gesso boards for about $3.50-$4.50 each pack. What I liked about it was that each board has a heavy cardboard backing like particle board so that there would be no buckling. I was kinda disappointed that they did not have the 5x7 size there.
Liquitex - I got a free apron with $25 or more purchase. I really do not wear aprons when I work, but you never know when I may need one. They have a new, fun thing out called a liquid pour. You put about a 1 part soft body acrylic color to 1 part pouring liquid into a ketchup bottle or some other container you can squirt with. Shake and start squeezing it out onto a canvas. Do it with different colors for a great gloss finish. It moves but does not blend together to make mud. You can also use a toothpick and marble it! Loved it, so I bought some with some soft body acrylics paints. Soft body is softer and less thick than heavy body acrylics. Makes for easier mixing with the pour. Here is information on the pour medium from Liquitex: http://www.liquitex.com/Products/fluidmedpouring.cfm . Liquitex also has some great information that you can download: http://www.liquitex.com/educational/literature.cfm . Make sure you download the Acrylic Book. It has some really good information in it.
Funny, I also got a Dick Blick apron. It came with the $5.00 off store coupon. The last thing I got was a set of Setacolor textile paints from Pebeo. I love to paint on fabric. It was a deal at $26.99 for 10 colors plus some additional tools and 2 petal paints (3D acrylics).
That was my expedition for the day. Back to doing art for Dremel and CHA next week. I also have to do my name badge for Art Unraveled and finish my charms for their charm swap. AArgh!
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