Nerd Art: A Tribute to Dice Games

Here are some paintings, "Blue Dragon" and "Beholder", that I recently completed for some friends and family. They are influenced by fantastic creatures from Dungeons and Dragons, a wonderfully nerdy pen and paper game that inspires creativity not about summoning demons (as some may think).

I am trying out a new technique of using Golden Absorbent Ground to use gouache, a water-based paint on canvas. The absorbent ground is a white paint that is painted on a surface to create a ground for water-based media. I purchased pre-gessoed canvas and painted the whole surface, covering it entirely with a coat of the chalky white absorbent ground. Once it dries the new surface absorbs water like paper and any water media, ink,watercolor or gouache can be painted on the canvas.





The gouache goes on smooth and flat and dries to a papery matte finish which works well on some artwork. In this case I put a clear acrylic gloss over my paintings to protect them from possible damage in the mail and also give them a deeper color and gloss. I did learn that since the gloss is also water-based, it causes the gouache to run if not painted on quickly. If one quick coat is applied then dried it will not run with sequential coats of gloss.