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Panting |
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I painted quite a bit for the first few years after I finished collage. But as other concerns came up I spent less and less time with it.
In the Fall of 2001 I picked it back up and enrolled in a beginning oil class.
I feel that, even though I have just begun, I am doing much better now. In the intervening years I had picked up some skill as a draftsman through the drawing classes I took. I also, I believe, developed my "eye". I am much better at seeing what I am painting. I have also found how much better it is to draw real objects instead of relying on my imagination. I'm sure that I will start doing stuff straight from my mind, but not until I have a base of the way things really look and the way light really acts. I used to think drawing on the canvas was cheating. I now put quite a bit of preparation into each work. |
The other thing I'm getting from the class is the work process. I used to Throw the paint on, do a little detail work and then call it finished. I now know that at that point I have only just begun. My under painting often looks like my finished product of the past.
That is true with all of the visual arts. I find that I work best by blocking in and slowly working towards a finished product. I have no idea where I have found the patience.
I currently have two galleries. The first is of older work. Unfortunately, most of my best "early work" was given away. Since most of it is in the "collections" of family members, I should be able to hunt it down and photograph it. The problem is that I live 700 miles away from my family.
The second gallery is of work from my current class.
As I create new paintings, I will add galleries. As I improve, I will start replacing some of the boring studies and ideas that didn't work.
Anyway, have fun exploring.
