DIET STARTS TOMORROW - PAINTING

I used my other wooden board as a de-motivational sign (or motivation depending on how you see it). Don't believe in motivational posters, you feel empowered the first time you see it, subsequently you forget. De-motivational posters or memes on the other hand, are always relevant lol. Acrylic on wood, 18 x 25cm. I gave it a gloss finish.

Available for sale here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95773650/original-pop-painting-on-wood-signboard

SMOG - PAINTING

Entitled 'Smog', 12 x30cm. Acrylic on wooden signboard, string included. I combined everything that I liked into one artwork: nouveau, ukiyo-e and pop (bet you can already tell)! Can't remember what was the original idea for the colours since I changed it a few times, but it was not aqua blue & tan. There's a chinese saying 'when the boat is reaching the pier, it naturally goes straight'... glad it eventually worked out in the end.

How it looks after gloss varnish. The sides and back are painted plain aqua blue.

The wood grain is more visible from this photo than in the first scan.

Available in my Etsy shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95326241/original-pop-painting-on-wood-signboard

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK - PAINTING

For my next project, I had four pieces of wood lying around for some time (forgot about them for years)... they are notice signboards commonly used in Japan, made of lightweight paulownia wood. I enjoyed painting on a different material other than canvas. First one done is called 'Enter at your own risk', 12 x 30cm in acrylics.

Close-up of the painting after varnishing.

Available in my Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/95168803/original-pop-painting-on-wood-signboard

BLUE UKULELE - PAINTING

Another painting recently completed, I'm happy with how it turned out. Nothing too strange this time. The clouds and trees were inspired by art deco posters.

I gave it a matte then satin varnish this time. Though the colours are not as intense as pre-varnishing (like in the first image which is a scan before varnish), I prefer this one to have less gloss.

Original painting is available here: 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94216104/hawaii-girl-blue-ukulele-original-canvas

TECHNICOLOR MELT - PAINTING

Been missing in action on this blog for such a long time, I'm not going to give any excuses other than being lazy hehehe. Better late than never... Recently I managed to settle my jewelry listings from my Dec trip to USA (yes, again) so had time to resume painting. First up is this work-in-progress picture: 

It was started in Nov 2011, and I resumed it in late February 2012 after listing all the vintage goodies... because once I start painting, the desk is fully occupied. EVENTUALLY I'll get to it.

This is the finished product, as you can see I made a lot of colour changes, which was part of the reason why it took a long time to complete since everything had to be redone. Had also forgotten how to get back the same colour mix and what inspired me in the first place... am a very muddled-up artist ne...

I tried out matte varnish for the first time. There's this debate on whether I should use gloss or matte varnish, but I wanted a more muted tone since the colours are already dizzying... so matte it is. The shadows are less intense after varnishing. The base coat is a gloss, to preserve the colour, and the second and third coat is matte. Like the feel of it (not sticky).

Matte varnish cuts out the glare from light sources but eats up colour since wax is added to the varnish to reduce reflection. Gloss varnish makes the colours pop but light glare affects the visual aspect. I have a mix of both varnish which is midway, but it still has some glare so the debate continues.

Original painting is available here: 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94210333/psychedelic-technicolor-melt-original