I am so excited to share that I will be participating this year in the Sarasota Superheroes On Parade art affair, benefitting Southeastern Guide Dogs. I feel so blessed and honored to be given the opportunity to paint one of these beautiful pieces crafted by local artist and sculptor, Scott Moore! Photo taken at State of the Arts Gallery There are 50 of these beauties in Sarasota, standing at 42" tall and 62" in length from head to tail. Each will be painted and decorated by local artists, auctioned off, and placed in various locations throughout town. So if you're in the area this year, certainly keep an eye out for them! It's going to be loads of fun and all for a great cause. (Stay tuned next month for updates on mine!) Maybe you have a wild or creative design idea? Leave a comment below and join me in brainstorming! xoxo Alexa
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PorkFish...Blue FishThe blog page is officially back up and running---HOORAY! This week, I wanted to post progress photos of a fish painting that I'm currently working on. The progress from beginning to present shows from left to right. This is an Atlantic PorkFish, found off the western side of Florida. On average, these guys grow up to 6-10" in length, and upwards of 15" at maximum. Standing at 30" tall and 40" in length, the painting started out colored with one of my favorite beiges, but decided that he should be a brilliant blue! Throughout his progress, he will be getting more detailed and acquire more variants of blue. I can't wait until he is completely finished! And yes...if you caught that (no pun intended), the fish is a "he"... I couldn't really tell you why. But in honor of him, here is a picture of a little girl holding a fish that will be sure to make you smile. xoxo Alexa This weekI want to share with you my secret weapon and the true staple in the art supplies that I use. Bah bah bah BAAAH. Presenting, MOD PODGE (aka craft glue). One day I was talking with a colleague, and she presented a great idea to me that sparked a search for the perfect solution...I needed to find a way to preserve my line work within a painting. What do i mean be that? You might be wondering. Well, when I start a new piece, I sketch out the subject matter with pencil or black ink. As the painting progresses, I like to switch from paint brush back to pencil/pastel and add some extra line work on top of the acrylic paint once it has dried. The problem is that by adding paint on top of the pastel or pencil, the lines would just be washed away or smudged almost as quickly as they had been created. There had to be a way to "lock in" those lines, have the ability to paint over them, and not have to sacrifice any mark making all at once. After doing some searching, I realized that this craft glue could potentially be the perfect solution. Turns out that it was! Mod Podge can be found at your local craft store, such as a Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I prefer using the matte finish kind so that there isn't much of a reflective surface on the finished product. (You want to be able to photograph the finished piece with as little glare as possible). The pastel can still smudge when you apply Mod Podge on top, so... Here's the trick: -Use a wide, flat head paint brush -Load your brush with a generous amount of Mod Podge -Holding your brush at an angle, almost parallel to the canvas, gently drag and unload the brush across your line work Happy Art Making!
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