Start with a Line Drawing Pet Portrait.

This line drawing pet portrait experiment is a keeper!

I have often used line drawings in sketchbooks as warm ups to other art but I have never used this technique for a pet portrait of my own.

If you are like me and obsess over details, a line drawing is very helpful to loosen up.

With Rosie’s portrait, you can just barely see the lines as I painted over them with white and purple and pink.  I tried to keep this very simple  to avoid getting bogged down in those pesky details.

On social media sites, I posted a sheet of freezer paper that I had used to wipe all my leftover paint. In Canada, we aren’t very familiar with freezer paper. I know I wasn’t and I did receive some questions about it after I posted the photo.

Freezer paper is very similar to what we call wax paper with one exception perhaps – the sheet is waxed on one side and the other is not. Freezer paper is more similar to parchment paper than wax paper.

Uses of freezer paper in the art room

Anyone who paints or is in any way creative knows that supplies are very expensive.  I use quality professional paint for my commissions so of course, I don’t want to waste any of it…NOT ONE DROP!

There are many ways to save paint. Depending on what I am painting I might choose one of several methods.

I might use a paper plate and then save it with all the dried paint on it to create a textured background later on.

Or I might use a store-bought palette on which I have many layers of dried paint and then scrape those pieces off and keep the acrylic skins for more texture in my paintings and experiments.

But freezer paper is certainly one of my most favourite art supplies in the art room.  I have been using it for several years and never throw out the luscious colours that are spread on it while painting.  Acrylics dry very quickly so it is easy to just fold the sheet of freezer paper and file it away for use later on.

Once the freezer paper is collaged onto a substrate with generous brush strokes of matte medium, the freezer paper disappears into the background.  So one way to use it is to rip it up and use it as collage.

Freezer paper in art is very versatile.

Another way to use the freezer paper is to actually purposefully add the colours to the paper and while still wet, smoosh it onto the substrate to create different patterns. They can be left as is for a background or become inspiration for loose florals.

Freezer paper is also very useful in a sketchbook.  When you close the book after a painting session, slip a piece of freezer paper in between the pages so that they don't stick together.

Line Drawing Pet Portrait for Rosie.

Finally, in Rosie’s portrait, I used the entire sheet behind the painting to create that background with the gold showing through.  I decided to add the swirls to mimic the shape of roses for obvious reasons.

When you paint with a sheet of freezer paper next to your painting, you can then save those sheets very easily in a STA-WET airtight box and place in your fridge for another painting session.

Last year, I painted the following coloured line sketches of people you see on Zoom and wrote stories for these expressive faces.

I would love to hear about your favourite odd art supplies and will use your suggestions in future posts about most loved peculiar art supplies.  Thank you to a follower who has already left me a message suggesting Q-Tips!

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