Formation
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Formation
oil on gallery wrapped canvas
12x12x1"
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I've made a breakthrough. It's the second time, and I confess, it's the very same breakthrough. Can I have a second one? I had been getting tighter with each painting and it was taking longer and longer to finish each piece because I spent hours dinkin' around and FUSSING with every little jit and jot and just driving myself nuts. I would end up with such a pain in my neck and shoulders, and y'know I am not into the pain. Grrr.
I looked again at some of the Daily Painters sites and studied what I saw. Larger brushstrokes, laid down with confidence. No FUSSING. So I searched through my brush collection and found several possibilities and didn't allow myself to use smaller brushes until the very last minute.
IT WORKS!
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Beefsteak Tomato
Beefsteak Tomato
oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 8x10x1"
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This was actually the first painting I did with the bigger brushes/looser look. I got excited and finished it quickly and had the whole rest of the day open to me. After paying bills, I decided at 3 pm that there was time for one more. So I arranged the apples which I had just brought back to the kitchen, and then vroom! painted them. I am feeling supercharged! NO pain in my neck now.
Mel...I have been a longtime reader of your blog and learned a lot when you were quilting. My question now is, where or what is a good place to learn oil painting? I do watercolour and acrylics, but have not tried oil. Maybe I should go to the library???? Keep up the great work! :)
ReplyDeleteColleen
Colleen,
ReplyDeleteWatercolors done well are much more difficult than oil painting. Trust me on that one.
Acrylics are easy to clean up but having worked in both, the clean up has nothing to do with the final look of the painting.
Oils are simple. Odor free turpentine has made it more pleasant, safe(r) and easier to thin the paints, or remove them completely from the canvas. I often paint over my shapes and then use a brush dipped in turpentine to remove the highlights.
As for books I would recommend...can't think of one. Go to Youtube and search for painting demos, which are fantastic and plentiful. Look at the painting a day people and see what they do.
Just dive in. I am sure you will find the experience exhilarating.
You are so right about the brushes. As the great still life painter Rasko said, "Start with a broom and finish with a needle."
ReplyDeleteYour paintings are wonderful!!
Hi from Wanda's old friend Jane, now in Massachusetts!
Love your stuff,
Jane