"Aglow" 14" X 10" fluid acrylic and watercolor

Aglow by April M. Rimpo

Aglow

fluid acrylic and watercolor

14" X 10" varnished and framed

$375 within the United States*

Available through Xanadu Gallery's Online Artist Studio Store

* Contact April regarding purchase outside USA or if interested in the painting without the frame

When sitting in a park (Madison Square Park in NYC) a woman appeared in the distance carrying a parasol to block the bright sun.  As she passed in and out of shaded spots the umbrella would light up like a spotlight.  She was wearing light colors and her hair was blond so she appeared to almost glow against the backdrop of the park. With my camera at the ready I started taking photographs as she walked in hopes of catching a moment when she was lit up by the sun.  I wanted to feature the stark contrast between the glowing woman and the dark textured foliage and fence rails that she passed.   My painting, Aglow, was the result.  

I decided I wanted to make the background very colorful to add a lot of interest since I planned to make the colors of the woman very light and simple. The contrast of light against dark augmented with simple versus complex color blends felt right. 

I chose to use fluid acrylics for the background which I first applied in a few areas and let partially dry before washing off most of the color. This approach leaves a ragged edge "batik-like" appearance that added texture to the background. While the background was very wet, I flowed in a wide variety of colors: blues to make the orange parasol pop, reds, greens, golden, and purple hues that blended and swirled to make wonderful variety in the dark background. The balance of the painting was done with watercolor. I saved some spots of white which I later tinted with pale colors to add a bit of sparkle throughout the painting. 

Follow this link to see other paintings where I combine fluid acrylic and watercolor


Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.