Sponge Painting

Thursday, May 15th, 2008 by Alyice

Can you really make beautiful art with everyday household sponges and a few acrylic paints? According to Terrence Lun Tse you can! And that’s just what he proves in his exciting book, Sponge Painting.

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I originally went to the bookstore to find a few books on painting backgrounds as I have a few ideas that could use a little polishing but when I found Tse’s book, I had to buy it. It’s amazing what he does with an ordinary household sponge and how many beautiful effects you can create with nothing more than a rectangular sponge, a little water, and acrylic paints. In fact, I think it’s a great book for beginning collage artists who want quick, easy, and fun backgrounds for their collage work.

There are 20 projects in the book with 14 quick sponge painting demonstrations and four pages of getting started instructions.

The projects start with a photo of the actual painting you’ll be making and a description of that painting. It’s followed by a list of acrylic paints you’ll need to complete the project along with colored squares to help you match the colors correctly. Next you’ll see a few photos of the painting in progress and step-by-step instructions on how to achieve certain effects. Finally, you’re given instructions on how to critique the piece so that you can give yourself constructive criticism and make the changes necessary to go from “okay” to “wow”.

After showing the book to my daughter she asked if we could do a few projects together this summer. I can’t wait! It’s the first book I’ve shown her that she actually thought she’d have fun doing as a “mother-daughter” activity.

Alyice Edrich, Editor-in-Chief

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Southwestern Canvas

Saturday, May 10th, 2008 by Alyice

After a week of trying to take a good photo of this canvas I’ve decided to give up and just post it. One day I will master the art of photographing paintings but for now I’ve decided posting something is better than not posting anything at all. So here you have it…

Copyright 2008, Alyice Edrich
Image © Alyice Edrich, 2008

This canvas was made for my brother-in-law, Frank. He’s the gypsy of the family and absolutely loves the great outdoors. In fact, his wedding was held in a ghost town in Arizona, complete with western attire from the 1900’s and a gun fight—right in the middle of the ceremony. You see, an outlaw decided to tell the minister that the couple didn’t have the right to get married so the sheriff shot him dead. Of course it was all for show—the guy got up after the ceremony ended, unharmed.

Originally I wanted the photo in the middle to have burnt edges and appear much older than it currently looks but I couldn’t get what I had in my head to come out in my art so I settled on something else. The triangles that border the frame are pieces of paper that I painted, cut up, and placed inside the wet plaster. After the plaster dried for two days I went back and painted the plaster, being careful not to paint over the painted triangles. I then painted the middle, added the images, and sealed the canvas with five coats of semi-gloss varnish.

You’ll probably see more of this photo in the future as it’s the family’s favorite photo of their mom—and mine, too. We like to refer to this photo as “The Real Snow White”.

If you like this style of combining photos with art and objects, drop me an email or visit my online shop at AlyiceEdrich.net. I’d love to custom create something for you!

Alyice Edrich, Editor-in-Chief

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