painting!!!!!
So, it feels like I've fallen off a cliff this week. Part of that has been doing security for the new exhibit, which has involved me sitting in the basement and occaisionally opening a door for people. It was about as thrilling as it sounds, and the low point was the day when I walked outside and was shocked to discover that it was still light out. At 5pm.
But anyways, possibly because of this, I've started an oil painting for the first time in at least three years. Which, really, is quite sad. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer and I've always had a thing for doing digital art (it's pretty much the first thing I ever used a computer for. I used to make painting pixel by pixel in Microsoft Paint), plus working digitally is infinitely more practical (the lack of drying time for one thing, the fact that if I'm doing an illustration for someone else it has to be a digital file eventually, no matter how hard I try not to I get paint everywhere and ruin clothing), but there is something about using real paint and real brushes that is so visceral and fun and I'd forgotten how much I love it.
Even still, I think I was right to not continue with a painting minor, as certain faculty in my school's painting department annoyed the hell out of me and any more exposure would have likely resulted in hair rending and mouth frothing. I'm sorry, but if you think that all art, or Art, needs to do to be successful is "shock" someone, than we will have Words.
Right, whatever, the point of this post is to show off that look! I've finally used the damn stretcher bars that I put together sometime in college and then never used! Actually it's because I thought a progress report might be interesting for people to see.
This is what the painting looked like after the first pass through.
There's no underpainting to speak of--I had the general composition in my head, but despite having taken about twenty billion photos of Union Terminal, none of them were from the specific angle I wanted, so I was just winging it. With a building that is a bit more normally shaped, I could get by with photos that weren't quite right, but Union Terminal is kind of tricky to draw. The good/bad thing about oils is that they take days to dry. So on one hand, you can work with them far longer than you can with acrylics, on the other hand there usually comes a point where you have to stop for the day because the whole canvas is wet and any more painting will just turn it all to mud.
This is what I did tonight, having acquired appropriate reference.
Yeah, I don't own an easel. It's a good thing that I don't mind sitting on the floor for long periods of time, though my knees aren't very happy with me if I forget to move for more than 20-30 minutes. Chairs are a wonderful invention.
It's not finished yet--I'm not certain exactly how it'll end up, as I'm not doing just a straight portrait landscape, so I'm sure how much more work I have. We'll see how it goes.
But anyways, possibly because of this, I've started an oil painting for the first time in at least three years. Which, really, is quite sad. Don't get me wrong, I love my computer and I've always had a thing for doing digital art (it's pretty much the first thing I ever used a computer for. I used to make painting pixel by pixel in Microsoft Paint), plus working digitally is infinitely more practical (the lack of drying time for one thing, the fact that if I'm doing an illustration for someone else it has to be a digital file eventually, no matter how hard I try not to I get paint everywhere and ruin clothing), but there is something about using real paint and real brushes that is so visceral and fun and I'd forgotten how much I love it.
Even still, I think I was right to not continue with a painting minor, as certain faculty in my school's painting department annoyed the hell out of me and any more exposure would have likely resulted in hair rending and mouth frothing. I'm sorry, but if you think that all art, or Art, needs to do to be successful is "shock" someone, than we will have Words.
Right, whatever, the point of this post is to show off that look! I've finally used the damn stretcher bars that I put together sometime in college and then never used! Actually it's because I thought a progress report might be interesting for people to see.
This is what the painting looked like after the first pass through.
There's no underpainting to speak of--I had the general composition in my head, but despite having taken about twenty billion photos of Union Terminal, none of them were from the specific angle I wanted, so I was just winging it. With a building that is a bit more normally shaped, I could get by with photos that weren't quite right, but Union Terminal is kind of tricky to draw. The good/bad thing about oils is that they take days to dry. So on one hand, you can work with them far longer than you can with acrylics, on the other hand there usually comes a point where you have to stop for the day because the whole canvas is wet and any more painting will just turn it all to mud.
This is what I did tonight, having acquired appropriate reference.
Yeah, I don't own an easel. It's a good thing that I don't mind sitting on the floor for long periods of time, though my knees aren't very happy with me if I forget to move for more than 20-30 minutes. Chairs are a wonderful invention.
It's not finished yet--I'm not certain exactly how it'll end up, as I'm not doing just a straight portrait landscape, so I'm sure how much more work I have. We'll see how it goes.