I got all excited about sitting down to write this post the other night and then when I did sit down to write, it all went away. Or just sort of scattered. I had a couple of things I thought I’d share so I thought it was going to be quick and easy to write. That was not the case at all.
I started writing and everything quickly morphed into long explanations of the history of why this was a cool thing or some sort of back story to what I was doing. And all of that might have been fine if it wasn’t also a bit jumbled and unorganized.
So. Here’s the short of what I was excited to share. I did a couple of different things regards art making and they have promise. I think. Maybe. We’ll see.
The first thing I did was some work with charcoal. I’ve worked in it a long time ago as part of an art class or two. It’s not really my favorite. I don’t despise it, I just don’t tend to use it. For anything. Though, I do have some that I just keep shuffling from shelf to shelf. Anyway. I was feeling like I wanted to try to loosen up my sketching and since I didn’t seem to be doing so well in my 8 inch by 8 inch sketchbook with using a pencil I decided to try a big newsprint pad and some charcoal. I feel like charcoal, and pastel when I let it, are very good at requiring you to not get too far into the weeds, those tiny details, right away. But they also allow a bit more flexibility than trying that with watercolors.
I didn’t do a lot of charcoal sketches. Mostly because I was wanting to get started on something else and didn’t want the charcoal dust to get into it. I did do just enough so see the value of keeping the newsprint pad and some vine charcoal handy for occasional quick exercise.
The other thing I did was to start a practice painting in oils. I would like to learn to paint in oils. I can’t really tell you why other than that it feels instinctual. I have tried oils before. A couple of times. And I have even completed, exactly one painting in oil. I do like oil better than acrylic even if it feels a little more involved, complicated, cumbersome, and confusing to work with. Though, to be fair I found acrylics all that and frustrating. Go figure.
I’ve spent some time trying to decide how to go about practicing with the oil paints. I have some canvas board but I didn’t want to use it because it seems so permanent for something that is meant just as practice and not as something to potentially hang on a wall. For whatever reason, I feel like if I’m going to use canvas or canvas board then the end result has to be display worthy. And that can hinder the learning. It creates pressure to ‘do it right’ and make it perfect. I don’t feel like it’s ok to mess up. And I need to be able to mess up. I finally decided that a good option would be to coat some watercolor paper, not the good stuff that I use for my paintings, the old stuff that I don’t really like to use for my watercolor paintings, coat it with some gesso. This makes it less susceptible to the oil soaking in and separating from the pigment. Canvas is primed with a type of gesso for the same reason.
There are two things that made me think to do this. One was when I thought I’d try to learn to paint with acrylics. I used watercolor paper then too. Though I don’t remember priming it. The other is this Italian painter I follow on Instagram who paints super hero and fantasy type of characters, for either covers, or graphic novels. I remember reading about one of his paintings was oil on paper. If he can do these finished master pieces on paper, I can surely practice on it.
That’s the other different thing I did, a practice oil painting. I started with a small piece because the idea is to use it as a sketch and a practice. And for my subject, I chose a taekwondo image that I took. Since that is ultimately what I’d like to paint using the oil paints, I figure it’s a good thing to learn with. I’ll have a chance to see how easy or difficult it is to blend the paint to create the folds and wrinkles and creases of the uniform in motion. And how easy it is to keep coming back to work on it day after day until it is finished. How will the colors blend together, or run into each other? Or which thinning medium is going to be better to work with because of quality of the color and paint or drying time? And by doing that all on the type of image I want to paint, then I’ll have a better idea of how to get what I want when I am ready to try it “for real”. At least that’s the hope.
So far, I’m liking the prospects of the oil painting. I have only just started and have a fair way to go. It is fun to see that in the little time I worked on it, and the not very well defined shapes, I feel like I can really see the potential and the feel of the subject. Might just be me because I know what it is I’m painting, and that’s ok. It keeps me encouraged and motivated.
I did have to wait to do these experiments until after I got the painting I was working on to it’s resting point. That point where I need to set it aside for a while so I can look at it and see what else it might need. The way I have things currently set up/laid out/arranged in my studio, I didn’t have a good space to use until I got to the point I was ready to move the painting off the desk. I have an easel but it’s got a big board and paper set up on it at the moment and I didn’t want to risk getting something on it since I haven’t decided what exactly I’m doing with it.
All that, to say, I also worked on a watercolor painting the last couple of weeks. I worked on one I’m calling ‘Say Cheese!’. I think it’s a cute picture and it looked like it might be fun to paint. I’m a little surprised at the results and not disappointed. I’m not sure if it needs more work yet. I should have an idea in a few days to a week.
I’m still working on what is going to go on the big board. I have an idea of what I want I just haven’t chosen the reference I want to work from. I also haven’t decided if I want to do it in pencil and make it a full pencil rendering or if I want to do it in watercolor. It will probably depend on the reference I choose to use.
I took an extra day off from the day job for this week’s holiday so I’m hoping to get more painting time in. I think I may need to make a trip to an art supply store as well. I’m going to try to keep that from getting too expensive. But I think I need some brushes for oil. I have a good collection that were my grandmother’s but I found a few types that I wanted to use were not in the collection or were not the size I was looking for. I also want to see if the local store has a clear gesso. Then I could draw a rough sketch on paper or canvas board and then gesso over it and still see the drawing underneath for reference. Whatever I find, or don’t, I have a nice few days with nothing scheduled except normal chores and painting, and I’m really looking forward to it.
That’s all I’ve got this time. Have a safe holiday if you celebrate. And for those in the northern hemisphere suffering through heat waves, stay cool. For those in the south, stay cozy.
Cheers!