I didn’t want to call this a How To since there are so many ways I have already learned to use texture with my paintings. This one is a little bit new, and it’s an adaptation of something I read somewhere, someone else’s how to.
I started this one with an 8×10 canvas. Applied a coat of gesso, using my new favorite palette knife, a long flat one. After letting the gesso dry, I used modeling paste and applied a couple of patterns to the canvas.
This one had to dry overnight. Seemed like the modeling paste needed loads more time to dry compared to other textures. I picked orange and gray as my main colors, so I painted my first layer as gray, covering the stenciled areas as well as the sides and all surfaces. Then I painted a layer of a combination of raw sienna and yellow oxide which made an dark yellow/orange color. I used my palette knife for this color which meant that the crevices on the stenciled areas did not always get any of this color.
The next layer I used was a crackling solution. It is meant for latex paint, but I figured I would give it a try, and it seemed to work out. I left this one to dry for about two hours, and it looked super shiny, but after two hours or so, it was not wet.
Applying the coat on top of the crackle is the hard part. You have to do this in one move or it will mess the crackling effect up. I mixed my gray paint, making sure I had enough of it, then used my palette knife to spread it over the entire surface. I made sure to not go back over any of it, and applied it as thick as it came out. I let this sit overnight before doing anything else with it.
At this point, I considered my canvas nearly perfect. The next step was to apply an image on top of the background I had created. I chose a fleur de lis. I used a stencil (you can buy plastic and make your own or buy pre-made stencils), put it in the spot I wanted, then applied modeling paste making sure to only get the paste in the open area of the stencil. I didn’t mix any paint in with the modeling paste, but if i had to do it over again, I would have. Once the modeling paste dried (let it dry overnight), I painted it with a smaller palette knife and applied different thicknesses to it. Once that dried, I sprayed a coat of glossy varnish and let it dry.
The finished product (which I love):
This painting is currently listed for sale in my etsy shop (Acrylic Paintings):
dlynnart 