And Now, Painting Secrets

Time for a painting update, and this time I thought I would focus on the details....the real details that I probably only notice but thought I would enlighten you with.  Typically I do not paint in layers.  You guys have seen my work and process, and I really just keep filling in the blanks until they are all filled up.  I don't put layer after layer of paint on my canvas and go back to rework areas.  What's done is done, and I move on.  I don't like to fiddle with things cause honestly, you could be fiddling forever.  Of course there are exceptions where I might look at the completed piece and touch up something here or there, but at a minimal level.

Well, this current painting has proved to have its challenges where I sit back and look at it thinking, "How do I even do this?"  That's always a great feeling.  How do you make something look fuzzy?  How do you wrap your head around something with so much texture and parts?  Like any problem, you break it down...into layers.

Here, take a look...

Can you see the difference?  The left side was the first layer, and then I went back in with mostly white paint to make things a bit more "fuzzy".  The contrast always looks a bit heightened too.

How about stripes?  You can't do it all at once because you'll have a sloppy, smeared mess.  So, you let that base of yellow sit for a day or so while painting other things.

Return to add your stripes, and voila'!

It's little lessons like this that you learn along the way.  For those of you novice painters out there, practice, try things out and don't be afraid to mess up.  With oil paints, you can't really mess up too much.  It's so slow to dry, you just wipe something off or move the paint around.  You'd never know if I made a mistake!

I'm always open to help a fellow artist (or wannabe artist) out, so feel free to shoot your painting questions over to me anytime.  Happy Friday!