Stain Painting part 1

http://www.themindfulartist.com Michele Theberge shows how to encourage pigments to soak into canvas to create staining effects similar to Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. Portland State University

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• acrylics
• acrylic paint
• stain
• stain painting
• Michele Theberge
• how-to
• painting
• technique
• art
• Helen Frankenthaler
• Morris Louis

[MicheleTheberge]

We are using Liquitex Acrylic Inks in this workshop. I like them because they are very thin but the color is super saturated. If you want to use a fluid or soft body acrylic you will thin it out with water or flow-aid water, but you will lose some of the intensity of the color when you do that.

[devotedViolet]

i've been soaking my canvas and putting drips on my paintings without knowing it's pollock's and frankenthaler's style! Just knew about stained painting when somebody mentioned my painting looks like frankenthaler's (not comparable to her tho) Thanks for this! so to wet the canvas we use water and what? what's in the bottle?

[MicheleTheberge]

@devotedViolet The stuff I use to create that color bleeding effect is called Flow Aid by Liquitex. It is highly concentrated - you just need 1 part Flow Aid to 20 parts water but it really creates some vivid effects allowing the color to spread and feather out to a soft edge and really penetrate the canvas. I think you'd have fun trying it out at least. Let me know how it goes!

[deeeecraig]

Does acrylic paint or medium cause any sort of erosion in the canvas support during and after stain painting?

I've wanted to stain, but others have advised that acrylic "hurts" the canvas just as does oil paint, and that the only archival safe method of stain painting is by using molding paste or acrylic porous ground on the surface of a board. I've tried it-it doesn't look the same as the 2nd generation New York School's work.

Can I stain paint a canvas that is archival safe? How?

[MicheleTheberge]

@deeeecraig Oil paints have acids in them that will eventually rot canvas, which is why using oil paints directly on untreated canvas is not recommended.

Acrylic paints have a base of acrylic polymer emulsion which has no detrimental effect on canvas. You are safe applying acrylic paints directly to paper, canvas, wood that has not been treated or primed.

Acrylic gesso is used to prime most artists canvases so it is widely understood that acrylic directly on canvas poses no problem.

[batcactus]

Thanks M--so inspiring--triggers my Inspirational Painting gene

[MicheleTheberge]

Oooooooo! I love to hear this inspired you! Thanks for the comment.

[cassandragaslobos]

Great video for the technique, thanks!

However, I am not actually clear on he paints used to stain. That bottle of liquid blue that you use first looks like China Ink. Do youuse ordinary Golden Acrylics? Liquid Acrylics? How do you thin them out?

[gregoryklugersmart]

Thank you Michele, very good posting on stain.