Siren, or Mermaid?

Siren or Mermaid?

The question lingers, but I am certain she is a mermaid. 

You see, Sirens were so beautiful, and sang so well

 that they lured sailors to their deaths upon the rocks.

Sirens also are not really female in form though, 

in Greek mythology they were depicted as beautiful birds.

Can you imagine a beautiful bird encouraging you to dash your ship onto the rocks?

I imagine sailors saw lots of things on the ocean that really were not there. The mermaid depicted here is actually painted on a canvas that we placed into the paint left over on the table. 

I really like the effect!

I also experimented today some more with the "pours". 

I fashioned a tray out of cardboard and plastic bags. 

I managed to research the proper way to do the pours as well. 

Turns out the  glue is unnecessary and is also acidic over time.

Since I am concerned about longevity and archival, glue is out!

So is the Silicon oil.

Or any oil for that matter. They leave a residue and the paints may not properly stick over time.

So After reading several blog posts, listening to very good and very bad you tube videos, I finally settled on my process to use. I am still using the Floetrol, but in a 1 Floetrol to 1 Paint ratio. 

Then, I am adding 91% alcohol as my thinner. 

I also discovered a kind of formula for figuring the amount of paint needed for a project. One of the artists I listened to said to prepare 1 ounce of mixture for each 16 square inches. So a 16 x 20 canvas is a total of 320 square inches. Divided by 16, I needed 20 ounces of mixture for the project. (I mixed 4 ounces of 6 different colors, giving me 24 ounces total.)

After mixing up several colors of paint, 6 to be exact, I was ready for my first solo pour.

I laid out a 16 x 20 canvas with two 12 x 12 canvases underneath in an effort to catch the paint dripping off the edges. I also placed four 4x4 canvases along the edge. 

Tilting and gloves helped the paint along the edges.

All the canvases have some beautiful effects, some more then others.

I am looking forward to adding my paintings on top of them.

Things are going great here in the studio, I just need to be in here more!

Siren or Mermaid? Acrylic pour with painting, 16 x 20

Day 50 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2019