Branching Out

I have want to try painting with acrylics. I have done a couple of things but it was always over a stamped image, nothing that I actually drew myself. Went to Dick Blick's the other day and they had a pack of small canvas boards on sale. Decided it was time to take the plunge and give it a whirl.
I did copy the images (the trees and the scroll) from some new stamps that I got from Paper Artsy - Squiggly Ink. I drew them instead of stamping them because I really wanted the images to be bigger. I changed them around a bit so they aren't exact copies of the images. I also drew the star. The Merry Christmas is a stamp and was stamped on an old book page that I covered with gesso, then did a light wash of brown.
This one started out as a forest scene and ended up as Christmas some how or another. Just kinda fit. Not really pleased with the outcome. I haven't figured out how to include shadows appropriately with the paint. It kinda reminds me of something that a 2nd grader would do but not as good.
The part I do like is the snow under the trees. I used Diamond Dust. It gives it a sparkle. That turned out kinda cool.

This second was a a bit more work. Lots of little areas to paint. Again, I used images from the Squiggly Ink Stamps as inspiration. I did a little better with depth here. I went back and added black shadows. I haven't figured out how to blend the paints well enough and I have limited colors so the shading needs work. To finish this up, I did a very light wash of a brown color hoping to create an affect of aging. It didn't really work as well as I wanted. It just muddy the blue sky.
I do love the little lady bug. She turned out cute. I didn't have any silver for her wings so she got gold wings. She is a very special lady bug, which is why she has her own house.
Trying to keep my hands steady enough to do the small details in black was interesting. Thankfully I had a really really tiny paintbrush. That helped.
This one turned out a little better and I am encouraged to try again. I still want to take a couple of classes. Just haven't found any near my house. I will keep on practicing.
Thanks for stopping by - Annie