Acrylic on Hardboard

I went into Lowe's the other day and picked up one 4'x8' piece of hardboard, although that's not exactly what it was called (finberboard, pressed board??).  I had them cut it at the store into 4 pieces, and brought it home, only cost about $9.  I gessoed the one board, two coats, and it didn't take much because of how smooth the surface already is.  I then used my sanding block to smooth out the edges.  

Painting on this size board can be somewhat tricky until you get the hang of it.  I used a spray bottle to keep the surface wet where I was blending, and I also do a very solid underpainting first, with all of the colors, because I find the need to make the color blending perfect, and that, for me, requires two layers of paint.

So this painting came out really well, and I'll show you some of the process.

This is after I had finished up the basic part of the tentacles.  The little plate is what I use to mix my paint on.  The main jellyfish (the round white part) was painted white first, to ensure that the colors maintained their brightness.  Below is the final painting:)

"Compass Jellyfish"

Acrylic on Canvas

2'x4'