Refinements

" Trio"

oil on linen on panel, 10" x 8"


This li'l guy was fun to paint and a little more complicated than the last two. Circles! Yuch! But I have to be able to do them, so I keep challenging myself. I am learning that the way to paint with oil is not to be tight from the outset, but to block in and gradually adjust and refine. Being a trained watercolorist, the process in that world is much less forgiving. So, I have to shake the habits and develop new ones. I am moving from accurate drawings now to rough, massed in estimates of where things are and their general shape. It is actually fun to do, though a little intimidating if one is driven to accuracy or replication. Then it is a matter of refining. I am finding that beyond the image itself, one must look back at edges and strokes, too.



Today I am visiting with a "famous artist." We will be playing golf or just flopping around and painting someplace on the coast of California. We have been internet pals since 1993 and get to see each other only rarely. Maybe I'll record the event and post something tomorrow.

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