Oils and Learning

The oil painting class is going very well. We finally got to put paint on canvas last week and I got most of the way through my gray scale. And it’s going splendidly. Really, I’m very pleasantly surprised by how well it’s going, and more than a little worried that it will all end in tears when it comes time to add the color. But we still have one or two more sessions of working in gray scale before that happens.

But before we started the paint, there was an issue with my first canvas. The instructor had us add a layer of gesso and sand it. And I did, but the canvas ended up with what looked like brush lines anyhow, even though I applied it with a foam brush. And the sandpaper I had just wasn’t touching it. So I got another canvas to use and started over again with the drawing, chalking it up to practice.

This afternoon I went to add another layer of gesso to cover the drawing that was there so I could use it for a different painting, and I suddenly started seeing those same “brush” strokes. So weird. When the gesso got to a certain level of tackiness, it looks as though the texture at the very edge of the foam brush was transmitting. Instead of stopping, I just kept on very lightly brushing the whole surface in different directions and the lines smoothed away. I’ll still sand it down, but it’s now looking much much smoother and ready for use. Mystery solved.

And because I’m impatient, I’ve also been working on an acrylic landscape using a different photo of mine on a 12x12 canvas, using most of the same techniques, but with a very limited palette of transparent blue and green. It’s still not everything I would want, and I may end up attempting it again some time, but it’s also quite satisfying.

So, did taking this class actually teach me how to paint? Well, not exactly. I mean, we’ve only had one session with paint going on to canvas. I am learning the basics of dealing with oil paints that I had expected to learn, plus some very specific tid bits about how to work effectively. But a lot of what I’m seeing on my canvas is the result of several years of reading and watching and thinking, along with the messing about I’ve done with acrylics and watercolor, and even the improvements I’ve made in my graphite drawing. It’s all related.