Gear paintings

Just finished these small 5 x 5 inch and 3 x 5 inch deep cradle acrylic and ink paintings.

I chose colors that would really pop off the wall:   bright blue, coral red, bright yellow, and green.

I used a little bit of a printmaking technique by making the impression of a 

contrasting color using burlap. 

 So, I paired:

Yellow with green, 

Green with yellow, 

Coral  with blue, and

Blue with coral.

Then, I used black India ink to paint the gears.  I have been studying Kandinsky for some time and his preference for circles, squares, and triangles in his paintings has translated to me though mechanical gears and cogs.  These cog-like shapes have the advantage of representing all of Kandinsky's prized shapes.

I also liked the unevenness of the ink application because it reminds me of the unevenness of grease.

As a last step, I sprayed all paintings with several applications of glossy permanent fixative.

I have no plans for these paintings.  I am just building a portfolio and really getting a kick out of the "Joy of Painting," as Bob Ross often said!

Here are some previous steps below, so you can see the development of these paintings:

 Starting with painting the brightly colored (acrylic) backgrounds, and

then I enjoyed getting messy with the burlap application.