Acrylic Painting Tutorial of a cat, with a mental health ribbon, with a Ruby Rock-It Designs competition!!!

Acrylic Painting Tutorial of a cat, with a mental health ribbon.

As most of you should be aware I suffer from mental health issues daily.  I fight them daily, some days are better than others.  Some weeks can be a ride off, but I am still here ;

This is the cute little cat that I decided to share with YouTube and teach people how to paint.  I wanted to do something relatively easy to follow, and teach.  This teaching business is not easy.  I have never done it before, I am still learning to paint myself, and I will still be learning to paint until the day I die.  There is so much to learn and know.

I am not going to go through all of the details of this painting as it is on my YouTube channel as a complete tutorial.  So make sure you check it out here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJh8Zt2TbPM

This is a picture of me starting to paint the cat, and the new YouTube video making set up I have.  Well, it's an old video camera I kind of forgot I had because it was so hard to get the videos off it.  I still have to mess around so much to get the videos off, then converted to the right format, then add them to iMovie but I really think my videos are getting better.

I have this damn inverter in my garage that makes so much noise it's ridiculous.  I didn't realise how noisy it was until I listened to one of my videos.  When I am painting I kind of go into my head, and I don't hear much going on.  It's my happy place.

 This is my naked kitty cat lol.  Like I said before he is one of the easier paintings I have done.  I wanted it to be nice and easy so people would be more likely to do it.  I just want people to paint, enjoy art and love themselves.

I recently had a hard week, or a hard few weeks.  Some things happened that I am not going to breath life into again, but they drained me.  I began to obsess and get super depressed over everything going on.  I lost a long time school friend, but things that were said were not nice.  Yep, I gave in too an added some things I regret saying, but what she said was unforgivable.  So after a couple of weeks of not talking, during this time I was so upset about it all, I felt so awful for blocking her, I just wanted to be friends again, my body and my mind just kind of gave up this week.  I was at my sons swimming lessons and I just needed to sleep.  I began to have a panic attack because I was so tired and I didn't know what to do.  I couldn't fall asleep in the building, that would draw attention.  So I decided I had to go sit in the car and wait.  I fell asleep in the car, like a deep sleep but I could still hear things going on.  I was worried about not being able to wake up while I was asleep.  How can I drive home if I can't wake up?

Luckily I managed to wake up just as my son finished.  I drove home and went back to sleep.  A deep deep sleep.  I think it was my body and my mind saying time to shut down and just let go.  After that sleep I haven't been as upset about losing my friend.

It is amazing how mental stress can affect my body.  So I just want everyone to realise that it is ok not to be ok.  It is ok to ask for help.  It's ok to get frustrated, I do, to the point of wanting Electric Shock to get rid of my depression.  Just listen to your body, don't let it get to the point where your body just gives up for you.

You know what got me through this week?  I stopped my obsessing by putting my hand on my chest and counting the beats.  Then I thought, how many heart beats am I going to give to this "woman"?  How many of my limited heart beats does she deserve?  In all honesty none, but of course I am human so I gave her quite a few, but she is getting no more from me.  I am done with her.

So please look after yourself, forgive yourself, and keep your heart beats for the things, times and people that matter.


Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart

I am also on Instagram.......... https://www.instagram.com/kristina_obrien_art/

Aaaand Pinterest....... https://www.pinterest.com.au/krystalrose316/pins/

And now Youtube.......https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgFuUdFo0dyREOhcSgXBrw

Making an acrylic pour swipe diptych with lots of cells, using helmar PVA glue and silicone

Making an Acrylic Pour using Helmar PVA glue and Helmar Silicone Oil for Cells

Hey guys, Kristina here again with my very last post for Helmar.  I decided to do something I have wanted to try for ages, and that is an acrylic pour using PVA glue as the pouring medium, and silicone oil for the cells.  It actually worked better than I expected.  I covered the diptych in resin to enhance the shine once it was all dry, because I just love the gloss finish resin gives.


Helmar products used:
Silicone Oil
Helmar craft and hobby pva glue


Other Items required:
Paper Towel
Floetrol
Pouring medium or Airbrush medium
Water
Mixing Jug
Acrylic paints for pouring
Plastic cups
Popsicle sticks to mix the paints
Resin (if you decide to cover it in resin)

Procedure:
First of all there is a formula for making the pouring medium that you need to know.  This is the formula from "Pouring Your Heart Out" YouTube channel.  It is Floetrol 3 parts: PVA Glue 2 parts: Pouring medium 1 part: water 1/4 parts.  So, you use 300g of Floetrol, 200g Helmar pva glue, 100g of pouring medium and 25g of water.  You mix all of this together in a plastic jug and let is sit for a half hour.
Then decide on your paint colours, and the swipe colour.  Black or white is generally a great beginners swipe colour.  Add some of your pouring medium to the plastic cups, then add the acrylic paint to the pouring medium and mix well.  It is a great consistency when the paint stays on your popsicle stick when you lift it out of the mix, but it also flows straight back into the cup when you tip your stick.  If it is too thick, add more pouring medium or a little bit of water.  If it is too thin, add more paint.  I found Jo Sonja paints to be the best consistency for this type of pour.  Once you are happy with your mixes, leave them for at least an hour, this helps the bubbles settle to the bottom.


The paint colours I used in this pour were:
Carbon Black (Swipe colour)
Titanium White
Yellow
Aqua
Burnt Sienna
Rich Gold
Pacific Blue
Metallic Copper
Yellow Ochre

Once the paints have been mixed and left for a while, arrange your canvas that you will be pouring on.  Lay down a plastic covering on top of cardboard or plastic, so you don't make a mess on your floor.  Put your canvas on top of some cups, so it is not on the ground, otherwise it may get stuck to the ground.


Right before you are going to do your pour, add the silicone to all the colours except the black (swipe colour).  Add approximately 4-5 drops in each cup, and stir once or twice, not too much.

Now it is time to pour.  Pour the paints in any order you want, but just make sure your swipe colour is in the middle of the canvas and a little at the top.



Once you are happy with the paint, get your paper towel, I had to use two joined together because my canvas was wide.  Place the bottom of the paper towel into the black paint and drag it slowly down the canvas, making sure it is dragging the paint down the canvas,



Then grab a new paper towel, place it in the black paint and swipe up the canvas in the same way you swiped down.  Almost immediately you will see the cells forming because of the silicone oil added.  It is absolutely beautiful to watch.


This was the most fun I had had in a long time, just watching the colours mix and cells form.  If you have any spots on the canvas that are not covered in paint, just pour a little bit on them, or mix it around with a popsicle stick until you are happy.





Just leave the canvas on the flat surface until it is dry to touch.  It can take up to three days to be dry to the touch, depending on your weather etc.  Mine took two days, and even though it may look dry, refrain from touching it unless you are absolutely sure.  Yes, speaking from experience here, I touched it, it wasn't dry.  Once you are absolutely sure it is dry, give it a wipe with a slightly damp paper towel.  The silicone will rise to the top of the paint and make a slight film on the canvas.  Just wipe it off and it's done.

Next step is to wait about two weeks to ensure the paint is fully dry, and the pouring medium too.  This can take a while.  Then either varnish with your choice of varnish, or you can cover it in clear epoxy resin.  I chose resin, I have a pretty bad allergy to resin so I probably shouldn'y have, but I just love the gloss shine when it's dry.

Mix up your resin how the instructions tell you too, wear gloves, mask, fully cover up and do it in a well ventilated area.  I didn't do this when I first started with resin, and it caused me to become allergic.  I cannot even be touched by the fumes of the resin without getting a serious allergy burn with rash and severe itching.  It is not fun so I recommend always covering up.
You should always wear a mask, the fumes are pretty harsh, especially on your respiratory system.


Lay your canvas flat and above the ground, like you did with the acrylic pour, and drizzle the resin over the canvas.  Help it smooth out and cover the canvas using a long flat stick or your hands with gloves on.

Then when you are happy with the coverage you need to remove the bubbles using a heat gun.  Go gently over the whole canvas with the heat gun.  Then leave it alone to dry, it should be touch dry in about 12 hours, depending on weather.  This is what you should end up with, a gorgeous acrylic pour thanks to pva glue and silicone oil.










Thank you for these awesome last six months, I have enjoyed using my creative side again.  It has been a pleasure and I hope everyone keeps creating with Helmar.  Don't forget you can purchase Helmar products from here:  http://www.helmar.com.au/shop/manufacturer/





Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart
I am also on Instagram.......... https://www.instagram.com/kristina_obrien_art/
Aaaand Pinterest....... https://www.pinterest.com.au/krystalrose316/pins/
And now Youtube.......https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgFuUdFo0dyREOhcSgXBrw