Marybeth Heikes

Paintings in Watercolor & Mixed Media

Fourth & Grand Ave, Des Moines / Graffiti

Fourth & Grand Ave, Des Moines / Graffiti

Acrylic collage

My inspiration for this painting is the city life. The possibilities are endless. I enjoy walking downtown Des Moines and viewing the geometric shapes of the buildings.  I have completed many compositions using my photographs of the street scenes. I find it best to park and walk the street looking for the best angles and lighting. This particular street made me smile with the humorous graffiti on the building.

I completed a colored pencil study of this the same size as the painting. I wanted to limit my palette of colors, and working the design in pencils allowed me to explore which worked best for the scene. I do not necessarily use the colors of my sketch — it is a starting point. Sometimes other colors are used to accent the basic colors. I use my hand-painted acrylic papers and use my pencil design as a template, but not rigidly so. I edit and keep the shapes simple and adjust the design as I work. All pieces are glued and bubbles are removed after each shape is adhered to the support. In this case I used a 300# watercolor paper. A UV varnish is applied after it is dry for protection.

Posted in Midwest Life on December 21, 2018.

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Want to Buy It?

Format Size Price
Original 9″ × 12 ½″

Black wood frame (14" x 18") with white mat

$350.00 |
Print 8″ × 10″

Actual image size is 7.2″×10″.

$30.00 |
Print 11″ × 14″

Actual image size is 10.08″×14″.

$40.00 |
Print 16″ × 20″

Actual image size is 14.4″×20″.

$55.00 |
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