Robie Benve Art

Here is another version of the 4-leaf-clover from the last post. "Lucky" 6"x 6" Paper and Acrylic on panel See on my website I started this one with way more paper than the previous, and at times it was hard to cover the starting ground with extra layers because I really liked some parts of how it looks in the beginning stages. First, I used some red tissue paper, and then I covered that with some fibrous green paper that I got from the art store. Then, I cut shapes out of another special paper (that I bought from the art store as well) all along using soft acrylic gel medium as gluing agent. After this, it was layers upon layers of acrylic paint, trying to keep it transparent in some places, so that you could still see what was underneath. A fun challenge!

Two things happened today in my world. 1. I started a Corona Art Challenge with a weekly theme, and this week the theme is GREEN. 2. I painted a small, very green painting. Not bad for a quiet day indoors, uh? A Wish of Love and Good Luck Paper and acrylic on panel 6"x6" SOLD Now, the people that know me, are aware of my unbelievable luck at finding four-leaf-clovers. Yep, I'm one of those people that just look down and see one. Some people, like my children (lol), are very bothered by that. I guess my eyes easily catch the different pattern of the four leaves compared to the sea of three leavers. Fact is I don't need to loook hard, most times I glance down and see one. This drives my family crazy, because they can't find it even after I say there is one. lol Anyway, this particular one was on the edge of the street at last year's Columbus Arts Festival. It had just finished raining, and I was walking home when I saw it. I took a photo an...

Birch Trees I Birch Trees II Birch Trees III    I made this trio a few months ago as a way to experiment with mixed media and color. The texture and the orange sky colors are created by some fancy special papers that we artists like to splurge on. Then there is paint, more paper, and some patterns created with my hand-cut stencils, In short, they were a fun experiment, and I really like the outcome. The three paintings, which could be purchased individually or as a set, are currently on view at the Marcia Evans Gallery in the Columbus Short North, 8 E Lincoln Ave.

"Natural Wonder" 8"x8" Mixed media: acrylic, paper, markers, and fibers. Available on my website This little guy (20 x 20 cm) is part of a small series of mixed media landscape painting done from my imagination, with no reference photo, all very similar in composition. I started creating the composition with paint and paper on a wooden panel, then I added several layers of tissue paper and paint. I also added some fibers to create the tree trunks. Below is an mid-stage photo of the process. Mid-stage work in progress creation of Natural Wonder. In this particular piece I wanted to preserve the pattern of the confetti tissue paper, so I added several layers of transparent acrylic fluid paint from Golden. The final result is very textural and has a lot of interesting marks. To apply the paper and the fibers I use acrylic soft gel medium from Golden. It serves as a glue, but it's a high quality acrylic binder, pretty much it's like acry...

Sometimes I need to step out of my usual body of work of landscapes and city scenes, which I usually paint from photo, and dive into the fascinating process of painting from life using mixed media. So, here it is, Sweet and Sour, an example of such a case. It came out colorful and fun, and I'm really happy with it. I used acrylic paint, paper, and water soluble pastels. I did not use my stencils in this, I feel like it has enough interesting marks as is. "Sweet and Sour" 10" x 10" Acrylic, paper, and water soluble pastels. SOLD From An Abstract Start I started on a wood panel that I had primed with gesso, and created a base using paint and tissue paper. Some of the paper had patterns on it, you can still be see some of the polka dots. I really like that touch of whimsical :) With An Abstract Way of Seeing Things I added paint to created the forms of the different objects, focusing on one shape at the time,  looking at things in an abstract ...