More playing...

Here is  a very small one (I think it is about 7 by 9) that I was playing with a bit more- adding more flecks of colour to liven it up. I think it is richer looking now. I wasn't worried about actual colours - just trying to create a mood of a fairly warm summer day turning to evening. For those who know the area, this is along the dyke near Terra Nova - but definitely not a photograph.
I've found a new toy on the internet- it is Golden Paints virtual mixer - all the fun of creating colour mixes without actually opening your own tubes. I'd like to make even lighter tints than is possible, but you still get a very good idea. The "lighter" was because I was mostly playing with the idea of skin tones.  I like doing people and am sort of a frustrated portrait painter - no paying clients. Still, I enjoy our models. I've had one person, at least, say why would they want a painting of  someone they don't know? Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to bother us that we don't have a personal connection to a  portrait subject if the artist is well-known. Well, I'm not Rembrandt or Lucien Freud, but some of the paintings have turned out reasonably well. I've actually given a few away to the models - better to have them out there in the world being enjoyed by somebody. My current "model" - not always willing- is Digby - Isabella's brother cat. So my fun of creating colourful black cats continues. ...another way of playing...

Absolutely the last version....

This is definitely the last version of "Pots and Shards". After I got it back from the show, I decided that it did need a bit more detailing and shadows on the left hand side- so, acrylics being acrylics- I was able to adjust yet again. I think I am definitely an acrylic painter, not an oil painter, because I do like being able to make adjustments after a period of time- if necessary.
I still like the smell of oil paints - whether it is healthy or not- because it smells like the old Art School to me. I've been reading about  various people's art school experiences - some good, some worthless. I'm glad I went when I did as I had a classical education. We had to learn to draw first, we had classes in composition, learned some fundamentals of graphic arts (called "commercial art" in those days) and generally received a good background. We  went out as groups for plein air work. Oh yes, we drew from plaster casts too and were taught contour shading. I think it was a good background - we even had some art history- but I don't necessarily think it made me a better artist than people who have learned on their own or in workshops. I think it is a good idea to see yourself as a perpetual student. I'm still watching demos, reading books, studying art history and going to occasional workshops - as well as doing Life Drawing regularly. I would say that the one thing- maybe a downside?- I got from Art School was that people think if you went there, you should be able to **paint** period and that includes house painting!  And, yes, I have just been doing some of that which means I am not at the easel!

Into August-

Just got my newsletter done - and I used this new, experimental painting of Isabella in her BirdsBeSafe collar. She likes the collar and it makes her visible to the birds. So I had fun with using lots of colour on a black cat. I wonder what the reaction will be to the newsletter!