Picked out colors to match the living room rug, and bought a 2′ x 3′ pre-prepped canvas ($50!) that would fit perfectly “Over the Fireplace”. I wanted the first painting I made to have a home.

For the canvas I used some heavy matte gel medium for some texture, a whole bottle of “parchment” colored acrylic paint, and a little “the pinkest pink” pigment, mixed in roughly to create a slight streaking effect.

Then 02-19-2022 I roughly palette knived and then big-brushed the paint on, including the sides. It was hard to get every little white spot.

On 2-20-2022 the canvas was dry enough and looked great. Beige with little shots of subtle pink. I made the mold with 5 layers of dental wax and cut with an X-acto knife. Now for the first test of actual shapes on an actual canvas. I carefully masked the wax mold onto the canvas, and then masked paint down in case I dripped. I did not drip even once but I WOULD HAVE if I hadn’t masked.

I put a book underneath the canvas so it would support the weight of the paint and mold and my pushing. (Hope For The Flowers, old school.) Then, I mixed the shapes using white acrylic, three different colors of mica-based pigment from a set I bought, and heavy matte gel (ran out of extra heavy!).

Finally, I shoved the mixture down into the shapes with a palette knife and really mounded up the paint to try and make it dry as flat as possible. It still shrunk down slightly but was pretty good. I used my thumb to bevel the edges and make a clean line against the wax.

I let the shapes dry for a full 2 weeks, until 03-04-2022 until fully firm to the touch. It was firm all the way to the canvas. Huzzah! The painting I’d been trying to make.

The shapes create very coool shadows on the canvcas. It came out a little shockingly bland, color-wise but definitely in general was the effect I was trying to create.

03-05-2022 I added wire and hung it on the wall “Over the Fireplace”.