Monday, March 4, 2013

Greens Galore SOLD

"Knee Deep"
4x8  Oil on unstretched canvas
$85 - SOLD

This was a demo for my student who has all the pieces of the puzzle and is trying to put it all together.  I follow the same process for each painting.  Start with my sketch which if it has "character", then I move onto premixing my palette.  Premixing allows me to ensure harmony of values and color before I proceed to apply  paint.  By the time I'm ready to put paint to canvas, I've (hopefully) eliminated any major issues and can concentration on enjoying and applying the paint.  Students tend to jump to the application of paint too fast and then struggle trying to "pull" the painting together.  I was like that to, once upon a time.  But having a closet full of bad paintings taught me to slow down, think each step through and success followed.  I've learned to fall in love with each step of the process.  The seemingly effortless brushstrokes, that so many of students want, are mostly calculated brushstrokes.  When you know that you have the right value, temperature and saturation, then all you have to concentration on is the actual placement of the stroke.  Patience is a virtue but it also produces good art.