Sometimes an idea works....updated and final

The other day I was practicing with Metal leaf on a rather small canvas.

(12" X 18")
Painting over the leaf is hard, unless the surface is prepared to accept colour.

Acrylics (if very watery as I choose to use here) will bead and clump but not stick.  

So I experimented with a variety of colours atop the Gold/Silver & Copper leaf.
I dropped the colour and then inserted other colours inside the larger drops and let it all dry.
When almost dry I sprinkled Gold dust randomly over the semi dry surface.

(New work)

I, was actually pleased with the outcome.  While some thought it could stand alone as it was, I wanted to add a dash of contrasting colour somewhere.
Because the  (now) background suggested a floral garden to me, I felt that maybe a Red Flower would be just the thing to bring this canvas to light.
Maybe a Poppie?

And I remembered....A while back (actually in an earlier post here ) I had painted three Poppies on canvas. 
While removing it from the stretcher bars for shipping, I noticed that somehow a very fine white line ran through the middle of the painting horizontally.
The line was visable only in the darker area, but very visible.
So that sale was off, and the painting stayed rolled up for a couple of years on the shelf. 
I could not bring myself to trash the painting, as I had done some of the finest brush work ever on these flowers.
So there it stayed.

Until last night.

I got the idea, that if I could cut the flowers out of the canvas and somehow superimpose them on 

the new canvas I would have the Red I wanted, the floral I wanted, and save a painting as well.

Now cutting any fine line out of a Canvas is not for the faint of heart.
It shreds, Will not stay in place, and is just about impossible to do.
But I did it.

 

 (The original painting) 

The next problem was how to affix the cut-out to the canvas, attend the loose threads at the edges 

give it some stiffness and bring it all together.

I decided to make a base with Goldens semi gloss gel, superimpose the cut-out on that,

 let dryand then cut it out again.  

This would give the cut-out some substance and stiffness as well.

I got my trusty pane of glass layered the gel on it, and lightly dropped the cut-our atop it face up.

(Bottom view of the gel process)

Then with a paint brush handle I gently pushed the
Image into the gel so it would adhere to the gel.
And now it is drying.  A long process to be sure, but when dry I will have to trim it again and decide where to go from there.
More to come on this.

( top side of the imposed flowers )


Well I got the Poppies mounted on the gel, cut out (again)
and mounted on the canvas.
I LOVE IT!
I do have a bti of detailing to do on the over-lay, but I can see this work is going to be just what I imagined.
Yes, I guess I can (sometimes) actually follow through on an idea!
I am a happy Artist this morning.
steps below.

 What it looks now!
The overlay is on and looks wonderful.

 you can see the white lines of the edges of the cut-out canvas here, I used a #0000 brush to
paint over the white, and I am pleased.

 Close up of the final work.
SOLD
Later all
Remember clicking on any photo will enlarge it for better viewing.
~~Kathleen