Artist State of Mind |Noonie's Artistic Journey Part 2 Acrylic Paints|

Back in the day. Workin' on some art while out camping.

This post is a continuation of my previous post Artist State of Mind: Noonie's Artistic Journey Part 1: Drawing, which I suggest you read prior to jumping into this one. As I mentioned in the previous post, the Summer I began drawing, was also the same Summer I began experimenting with acrylic paint, and that my friends is exactly what we are going to talk about.

After some success with drawing I wanted to take it to the next level, acrylic paint. I don't recall why I was inspired to try acrylic paint next, but my guess would be is because I really liked Van Gogh's paintings (as I still do) which is what would influence me to want to try creating art by way of acrylic paint. I initially began experimenting with acrylics on paper, but soon grew tired of this medium and I wanted to try something else. When I was growing up the entrance to the attic happened to be in my room, it was framed and had a piece of wood that would slide in and out in order to gain access to the attic. This piece of wood was turned into my first conscious painting, and yes it's still around although my mom is hanging onto it for safe keeping (she gets more of a kick out of it than I do lol).

The one that started it all.

There were a few paintings here and there after my first initial one, but I mostly focused on pencil drawings for a while after. My next real painting, "Sunny Sublime" was one that I had painted for someone as a Christmas gift. Working on this painting really ignited my interest in using acrylic paints, and after completing it there were many more to follow as I started focusing on using acrylics more rather than just solely utilizing a pencil. This is about the time I took my first art course as an adult.
 

"Sunny Sublime"
My 2nd painting

 I enrolled in an introductory painting class at my local college, and that is where I began to fine tune my painting skills. I learned about quality paints, how to properly wash my paintbrushes, and all those other basic painters' skills. I was introduced to a lot of new knowledge and techniques from that course, including painting my first black and white piece. I of course dabbled in other mediums but focused mainly on acrylics for a looong time until recently.

My first black + white piece

Here are some of my acrylic pieces from the very beginning, onto my more recent pieces. It's fun to see how my art has progressed over the years, and how much I've improved since the beginning. Enjoy the show! :)

 I think this was my 3rd painting. 

 (Sorry for the photo quality folks)

I do like how the sun came out, but that's about it. Us artists are often are own worst critic. 

Obviously another one of my first paintings.

This was before I learned about a little thing called perspective + depth.

 

"The Tornado"

This is one my all time favorite paintings that I've done.

Painted this as a birthday gift for a friend.

This painting was done for my first painting class as an assignment about depth. 

This painting was also an assignment for a painting class. 

I used to walk by this old truck everyday when I lived Downtown. 

This set of 3 paintings were done for fun.

 I think this was my first time experimenting with abstract work.

This is my 2nd black + white piece. Really happy with how it turned out. I ended up giving my dad this painting, which he had framed. This is my only piece that has ever been framed.

(again sorry for the photo quality)

Method Man

This was another abstractish piece I did a few years back. It was the first one I did in my 'rappers series'. I was taking an Art History course when I painted this one. We had just learned about Matisse, which is what inspired this piece. 

Mac Dre

Ice Cube

Snoop Dogg

This was me experimenting with impasto.

 

The inspiration for this piece came from a bottle of booze. That's right a bottle of booze, although I don't recall the brand I just really liked the buffalo that was on it. I painted this piece a little after bit after learning about Picasso's "Blue Period", which was the inspiration for using the colors I used. This is one of my favorite paintings that I've done as I really like the color scheme, and how although I didn't add much detail to this piece it has a really "intense" feel to it.

An unfinished piece...

 I really like sugar skulls which is what inspired this piece.

 In fact I was a sugar skull girl for Halloween last year :)

This piece is almost finished.
 I plan on taking a piece of lace + airbrushing the lacey design in white on top of the woman's shirt. 

This piece was inspired by Frida Kahlo's work in ways that are very personal to me.

This is the last acrylic piece I've worked, and happens to be the first piece I ever sold! 

What inspired me to experiment with other mediums was the fact that I had been mainly using acrylics with my art for quite some time, and to be honest I was kind bored of it. That and my health issues were/are getting worse and I didn't feel like setting up a painting station all of the time, as it does take some time to prepare all of your paints, to get your water together etc. I wanted something that was simpler and wouldn't take as much time to set up, this is where my use of oil pastels come in, but we'll have that story another time...

Until next time...Cheers!!