Robie Benve Art

"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...

"First Lights of the Evening" 8"x10" Mixed media on canvas SOLD For this month I've switched from oil painting to mixed media, and I'm having a blast! It took me more than a day to complete this one, and I can still see things that I'd like to tweak, but that's how my life as a painter is, I could go on adding details and changing things forever, it's hard to stop and call it done. The 30 in 30 challenge is a good incentive to move on to the next piece; it might be underdone, but at least it's not overworked. :) The mixed media includes, acrylic paint, custom made stencils, tissue paper, and thread. I am behind on my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, but I'm hoping to catch up before the end of the month.  Fingers crossed! Thanks a lot for stopping by. Blessings.

"Gotta Have the Guts II" Acrylic, paper, fibers, and markers on canvas 24"x24" Sold   I had a lot of fun making this painting. I started from a completely random abstract painting, and then built this image on top, using paint, tissue paper, fabric, and markers.  There kind of is no wrong-doing when you use mixed media, everything you add to the painting can become something else with a few more layers of abstraction. The result is an abstract representation of an intestinal cell, as seen through a transmission electron microscope. The elongated forms represent the microvilli.  Each cell has thousands of microvilli, to maximize the surface area available to absorb the nutrients from the digested food. I find that super-fascinating. I actually made this and its companion piece, Gotta Have the Guts 1, for a specific juried show that was calling for art inspired by science. And they both got juried in, how exciting!!

The 30 in 30 Challenge Has Ended! On February 1st I embraced the challenge of creating 30 pieces in 30 days, and I committed to exploring mixed media for 30 days. How did I do? Overall, I feel like it went well! The month started very productively. I was painting and posting daily, then I've fallen behind with the daily postings , but even if on a few days I did not find the time or the energy to paint, I learned more about mixed media and about myself, what I like. This journey can be summarized in four key points:   Color  -  Texture  -  Simple Shapes   -  Fibers Some of my colorful creations from the 30 in 30 challenge (Feb 2018) 1. Color The first thing I realized, on the first days of the challenge, is that I LOVE COLOR SO MUCH. Color is what had me inspired to paint at the very beginning, and somehow I abandoned the idea of painting with "made up" colors, and I started painting things as I see them....