More Chairs and Notes on the Technique

Chair Number 11
4 x 6 inch oil on paper
available here

Before traveling, I painted these three chairs and they are now dry and in my shop on Etsy.  

Chair Number 12
oil on 4 x 6 inch paper
available here

I have been inconsistent with signing them on the front.  Sometimes it is too crowded in the area I want to sign in, or too distracting, or simply does not show well enough.  I also stopped gluing these to the mat boards because it did not seem necessary since they are so small.  They don't buckle like larger works on paper and they stay flat in a frame without the boards.

Chair Number 13
oil on 4 x 6 inch paper
available here

 About the Process

To make these I prep the paper with various colors of acrylic paint, then apply the oil paint with a palette knife.  I draw the chair by scratching through or wiping away the oil paint to expose the acrylic color underneath.  The third chair here is the best example of how I do these.  The red part of the chair you see is the acrylic paint beneath including that little splotch of blue on the side.  The background, floor, chair seat, chair back and pillow are in oil.  

These little things can be tricky because the oil painting is wet on wet, and on a very small surface.  This is another reason for the inconsistency of signing them.  It is impossible to sign them with a paint brush because they are so small, so the only way to sign it is to scratch in the signature which may or may not show up well.

Painting these has been a great way for me to explore color and also a good exercise in thinking ahead.  I always have to consider the color of the acrylic that will pop through. It dictates what oil colors are chosen.