Fearless Friday, Impasto

the Painted Apron

7 years ago

A large abstract floral painting has been on my to do list since last Spring when I was commissioned by a friend to paint Bloom

I also wanted to experiment with using gel mediums and decided to incorporate impasto

Impasto is a painting technique using very thick amounts of paint resulting in a 3 D texture

“According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, the root noun of impasto is pasta, whose primary meaning in Italian is paste” source

It originated as an oil painting technique but you can create the same effect with acrylic paint

Heavy body acrylic paint is pricey, but you can use a soft gel mixed with a little color to create a thick application for a lot less $$$

In the finished painting below you can see the dramatic texture differences

I added soft pink and coral to the soft gel and only stirred it a few times, so when applied, the colors mix on the canvas, producing random variations

I began by painting opposite corners with black gesso

I wanted these corners to be very dark for a dramatic contrast to the mostly white painting

I continued the underpainting with gray gesso

By using a contrasting color for the underpainting, the finished painting will have more depth and interest

After the underpainting was dry, I painted in the areas where I wanted the blooms and the pops of deep pink

Using a palette knife, I began laying in the background, using greens and just a touch of aqua

My favorite green formula is Cerulean blue & Cad yellow Med, depending on the ratio, you can range from a deep sap green to a delicious lime, and then add white for a warm light green