Fibermania

As if I don't have enough to do

Yarn Harlot has issued a challenge to knit something of Olympic magnitude during the games, starting and finishing in 16 days (presumably while we watch the Canadians win everything).

Strangely, yesterday two internet buds sent me sweater directions, unrequested, but happily received , and it was like a sign, an omen, a nudge that I really have got to get past the four unexciting stalled projects on the needles and give something my full attention.

Hmmm, I am in the midst of quilting The Dance which looms ahead for days and days...BORING. OK I am game.

But then Tommy and Frieda ( among others ) are doing daily drawings and I wanna play with them too. I volunteered myself into their play and I know they are not happy with my (rotten cheating unfair ) experience in this area, so I suggested: To make it an equal challenge I will make mine non-pictorial, and using alternate drawing materials.

No response.

So I am tanked with my second cuppa coffee and ready to leap into the fray. For my knitting project I am going to do something with these triangle modules.

And for my drawing exercise, I am going to do something with this:

I swear this is a big leap for me. #1 because it is a messy drawing. #2 because I am going to coat it with matte medium and get out my oil paints and paint it. O dear.

Cruciform Series: Painting#1

Oils on primed paper about 6x9"

OK. First I did two coats of matte medium and then I covered the drawing with a wash of raw umber and burnt sienna, diluted with Turpenoid, a colorless odorless version of turnpentine. What a great invention. I used a handy studio hair dryer to speed up the process.

I used a turpentine lift to find the light areas, which is basically using just the turpentine and a rag to brush away the paint to reveal the clean surface. After that dried I started with just wo other colors, cadmium blue and cadmium yellow, plus the original two earth colors and then I included white.

Detail.

More details. I found it much easier to use a limited color palette with paint, being that the tubes are ancient and difficult to open.

I have tons of art supplies, some older than most of you. Plus I scored a ton of new stuff from an art store that closed for retirement. Don't even ask how many sets of colored pencils I own.

This painting was really fun and non-threatening since it is merely on paper in my sketch book, took almost no time and didn't involve a perfectly clean stretched and primed canvas.