Apr
06
More water than anything
Photo Apr 05, 8 18 47 PM

More than water

 

This blog has been a holding site for the last couple of years as I found out more about myself and where I want to be going forward. After 15 years growing a photography studio, I finally decided to go back to doing what I loved, art. Over the last couple of years, I have found that my true self is from being a creator and a healer. It took a lot of work to come to that realization, but it has helped me focus more on my art and my future.

Luckily I have somewhat of a plan going forward for at least the next few years. In August of this year, I start graduate school at the University of Houston School of Social Work. Graduate school is going to be a difficult task, but I am excited for the opportunity to eventually help people work through issues of addiction and trauma. Eventually I plan to incorporate art and therapy together.

In the meantime, I am busy working on a lot of new pieces to have available alongside my new website. Please keep an eye out here for where my works will be showing. Thanks for sticking around during this odd transition. I hope it becomes much more informative and entertaining.

 

Mar
22
Fluid Pouring Cell Magic & Video

ColorStudy

One of my biggest problems with art is that I seem to delve into the technical side of the medium until I am exhausted. I do this with photography, music, painting and even cooking. It seems like no matter what I get my hands on; I need to know all the details.

So when I started playing with fluid acrylic mediums, I found that trial and error was a waste of time if I didn’t at least understand why the paint reacts some ways and not others. I watched countless videos of people explaining how they mix their paint and how they get cells in their pours. No matter what I watched there always seemed to be some part of the process missing. Either the person explaining the process didn’t know how things worked just wasn’t planning on telling everyone.

So after more trial and error, I started looking into how the paints worked and what the paint masters knew. I primarily use Golden Paints. I know they are more expensive and for testing a process it can get costly, but nobody said I had to test things out on a 30X30 panel. I do most of my testing on small 5X5 panels I get from Hobby Lobby.

First I found on Goldens blog Just Paint some great information about Techniques for Fluid Pouring. This article was the top of the rabbit hole. I read through everything and found that most of the information was super helpful. However, I still needed more data for my study.
One part of the article mentions that White paint has the highest density so applying it lasts helps create cells. Knowing only white was the densest wasn’t enough! I needed to know what the density was for ALL the colors. SO I called Golden to see what I could find. The best thing was that they acted like they were expecting my call! Mr. Townsend from Golden sent me the information I was looking for immediately. They sent me a list of all the pigments and their specific gravity. It was like a cell making holy grail!

So I started playing with the recipe more and finally feel like I have this all figured out. Of course, there are still many surprises, but understanding how it all works is what makes this process fun! I created a video on my YouTube Channel that explains the recipe for the above painting. It is straight forward, so I hope it helps!

 

Per requested, here is the link to the Golden Paint Density List.

http://www.goldenpaints.com/pdf_viewer?file=http://www.goldenpaints.com/admin/image/get_assets/density-of-pigments-used-in-golden-acrylic-colors.pdf

Mar
10
Teaching an 8 Year old.
Photo Mar 08, 9 28 16 PM

Practice Pour by Zoe.

 

I love being a dad. My kids are my greatest accomplishment. With that said, I have a responsibility to teach them as much as possible. Last week my youngest Zoe and I were painting, and she asked if I would show her how to make a “messy, drippy” painting.

So we decided on some colors and went to work. I think the best part of watching her do the fluid acrylic pour was when she came to that point of “too much.” Its that wonderfully mind bending point when your not sure if it is just the way you want the painting to look, or if it will completely fall apart when you change one more thing.

I created a video of the process. It is interesting watching it with just our hands. There are points that I regrettably take over. In my efforts to show her how the process worked she became very frustrated with me. I guess in the end I learned as much about myself as she did with the process.

Mar
02
Fluid Acrylic Pouring Test
photo-mar-01-4-05-37-pm.jpg

High Flow Acrylic – Danny Clark

With my continued acrylic play I have discovered that pouring medium is just an absolute mess.  I have seen some people demonstrate the process.  While I am not one to hold back on making a mess, I do find there is a tremendous waste.  I still do enjoy playing with the process, but my color pallet has not dialed in just yet.

Yesterday I made this little 5X5 pour with a couple of different inspirations.  One inspiration from the process of Ebru Art.

ebru_1_10_1200

Ebru Art done with heavy water and acrylic or inks.

Ebru art is a fabulous painting process and creates beautiful patterns that remind me of afghan blankets.  When I was a kid, my grandmother would crochet afghan blankets.  I remember having one most of my childhood.  These were super comforting, but when it was cold, your toes would stick through the yarn, so it wasn’t the best thermal application.

vintage-crochet-afghan-blanket-retro-orange-gold-striped-chevrons-1stopretroshop-k102423-2

Afghan Blanket from a non-smoking estate.

 

I tried to capture most of the process in a video on my YouTube Channel.  It was fun but I have a little more work before I commit any larger piece to the process.  If you have any hints or tips please feel free to let me know.  I am always open to new ideas.

 

 

Copyright Danny Clark Art 2017. All Rights Reserved