Aikoi Sugoi

 

Title: Dance Like No One’s Watching

Medium: Acrylic

Type: Mixed Media Paper

Size:  9×6  

Artist: Aikoi 

 

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This is the first painting I’ve done without recording for YouTube and I have to say it felt good! It definitely was the right decision to stop making videos. I don’t miss it at all! Sadly the painting itself did not turn out well and I’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s talk about the paint.

This was the first painting I did using Golden Paint and initially I was impressed. The walls were painted using the light magenta color and I was blown away with how smooth it went on and the way it covered the page, but that was where my awe ended. I was disappointed that the less transparent colors I used (ultramarine violet, for example) looked no different from my cheaper paints on paper. In both cases I still had to apply a second coating to get the coverage I wanted.

I understand that one of the benefits of professional paint like Golden is that it has excellent lightfastness and more vibrant colors, but since I’m not at a stage where I would need those benefits, I don’t think professional paint is best for me right now, so I won’t be adding any additional Golden paint to my collection for the foreseeable future.

Now on to what went wrong with my painting. Everything was going great until it came time to outline the painting, in which my wonky fine lining abilities promptly ruined my hard work! It goes without saying I am absolutely terrible at fine lining. I was using a fine lining brush and black acrylic paint, as I hoped that with practice I would get better at making solid lines like the professionals I see online, but I’m not making any progress.

I think the problem is I work with very small details compared to the larger works that professionals create, making fine lining harder. I have such a hard time controlling line weight no matter what size brush I use. The first piece I outlined was the standing lamp, which happened to be my favorite thing in the painting. I was so upset with how badly I botched it that in that moment I didn’t want to even finish the painting, but just as quickly as this thought cleared my mind I decided I actually did want to finish it. I figured since it was already ruined, then any mistake I made after that wouldn’t matter anymore. So I ditched the paint brush and dug out my abandoned Posca pens, and while they presented problems of their own,  my lines came out much better than when I was using the brush.

In the end I’m glad I finished the outlines. I have grown fond of the painting with each passing day. But to say I’m tired of having my work ruined by poor outlines is an understatement. The only thing I know for sure is that I am done using paint brushes to do the work. It doesn’t feel right. And while I don’t know what is the right thing to use, I do know I have no intention of giving up. The passion to keep making art is still as strong as ever. And I will keep going until my skills match the vision I have in my head.

 

Materials Used

*Mechanical pencil

*Posca paint pens

*Craft Smart acrylic paint

*Golden Fluid Acrylics

*Canson Mixed Media Paper (9×6)