I have started a new series of paintings. I haven't done a series in quite this way before, and have never documented the process, so it will be interesting to see how this goes. I've been following Robert Elrod's blog and have been inspired by the way he shares his work.


I'm using a working title of "Transcend" for this series of twelve small paintings. The painting size itself is 8"x8", to be mounted on 10"x10" mat. The frames, which I'll build, will fill out the visual border to probably 12"x12" or so.


I wanted to start the background with the feeling of the state of current affairs, so I did a collage of newspaper headlines glued on newsprint. Then I made color copies of this collage at the local office-away-from-home store. The ink on the copies needs to be waterproof (not from an inkjet printer/copier) for the next step. I wanted to start all the paintings with the same background. They could all go together as a set, or be separate paintings on their own. Either way, I wanted a common element. There may be more common elements as I go along. I'm only a few steps ahead in my mind as I plan the work.


The next step is to paint the surface of the color copies with a couple of thick layers of acrylic gel medium. I chose high solid gel for this stage because I didn't have any clear tar gel; both dry clear, but clear tar gel would have required only one layer. Since the high solid gel would take two layers, I painted on the first layer with a brush and let it dry for a day; I applied the second layer with a palette knife for texture, and let that dry over the weekend.

I've made a special worktable for my studio for this project so that I can work on the entire series at the same time. This precludes setting up my easel for the moment because I don't have any extra room unless I juggle some other projects around. I have another painting of an entirely different nature to work on right away; if I can get that set up I'll show a stage or two of it as well.