Category: oil painting

The Latest Work on the Easel

New oil painting on the easel is this Greek island seascape

Getting to the easel to paint has been both a struggle and somewhat easier than usual lately. Of course, it’s the thing I most want and need to do. Then there are so many things that need attention. Don’t forget that my art studio is at my home, and everyone thinks I’m totally free.

I’m not, but Mr. Resistance is always hanging around, talking non stop, telling me what to do and not do.

Besides, Grandbaby #4 arrived recently and that has been a glorious event. Grandbabies #1, 2, and 3 need attention, too. However, this artist needs to pay close attention to herself. Since this week has been kind of free for me, I was able to put this open schedule to good use. Doing me!

The Greek monastery painting was waiting for more work, but I needed something new. I decided to start a new scene with fresh colors like this Greek island seascape. Having two works going at once could be a good thing, I thought.

The twitter art exhibit postcard was sent out to Edinburg, Scotland. Done!

Armed with new oil paints to try in these amazing turquoise and blue colors I went right in sketching the shapes, darks and lights. It just had to happen like that, without too much thought. I let my instincts take over my actions at the canvas with the brush and paints.

It felt really good to work like that, in a mindful, process only method, using the reference photo for the colors and direction.

I’ll tell you a little about the new oil paints I recently purchased to try. Besides the Gamblin paints I’ve been using, I bought Rembrandt and Michael Harding oils. Buttery feel and vivid colors from both of these companies makes painting with them an absolute joy. Keeps me at the easel longer than I think I’d paint. That is big.

Before I could ruin the progress I made in this work I stopped. Things could get ugly if I get too much in the details. Tomorrow is wide open and maybe I can finish this and move on.

Finished for Friday

Watercolor painting has become a good thing. I always loved oil paints, but there’s the long drying time, the wonderful odors that are toxic, and the pretty high cost of the paints and canvas. Using watercolors in the past, I wasn’t such a fan.

The quality of materials just didn’t hit it, I guess. Remember those little discs of hard, dry watercolor paints in a tin box? They just never worked right for me.

The ease of using these professional quality watercolor paints makes up for what I missed about oil painting. They clean up easy, dry quick, and I am using wonderful paints and great papers as the surface. I had no idea watercolor paints could be so creamy and vibrant. 
In oil painting I painted from dark to light, adding light colors to the shadows, but in watercolor I learned to go backwards, leaving the whites and moving in layers to darks. It wasn’t an easy lesson to learn. I’m applying the watercolor almost like the way I used the oils. I mix a bit on the palette, apply to the area I want then add straight color and mix on the surface. Works for me.
Beginning the next work

Depending on how you mix mediums into the oils, the painting could take long, or dry a little faster. So far I haven’t used any mediums to retard drying the watercolors so it’s not an issue unless I need an area to dry faster. I’m not a fan of painting wet on wet.

For this latest work I cropped another area of a photo that had a composition I liked. You can see my fond pebbles helping to block out areas by holding down paper around my subjects. This time I sketched in pencil, took a lunch break, and returned to start adding color. It happened to be such a day that I could do this.

Fruits and Cukes ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

By the time the day was over this painting was finished. I almost forgot to take a photo of the progress!

To Beat Resistance: The Timer Is My Friend

©2011 Dora Sislian Themelis

Here is the last of the sunflower photographs I took during the vegetable share season. It’s kind of Vincent van Gogh-ish. When I get a chance to buy larger watercolor paper I will be painting from this photo. Did you see I said “when.” And “when” will that be?

I could see these sunflowers in oils, too. The oil paints have sat for so long I can’t even think about getting them out and painting with them. Yeah, I know, I need a bit of time to look them over, set them up around the palette, but then there’s the medium to deal with, a large enough canvas to work on. These are the distractions that stop me in my tracks.

Maybe I will do a small and quick twenty minute watercolor? Well, let’s see where it goes.

These are the things I grapple with during my day. The road blocks are my own. Mr. Resistance can wreak havoc on plans.

Watercolor paints are so easy to get out, paint, clean up, and put away. The oils are out, the painting sits wet for days, the air needs to be well ventilated because of the chemicals in the paints and the medium. Unless I sketch quick with plenty of turpentine so the paints dry faster, this could take time.

Do people still use turpentine any more? That’s how long I haven’t painted in oils, don’t tell on me.

Am I making excuses not to paint at all? Gee, let’s see: no watercolor paper large enough, the oils are a pain, I might not have enough time to paint. Sound familiar? Resistance is stepping out into view here.

Now we are on the verge of December, and all that comes with the holidays. How can painting be a priority if there are so many other things to get done?

The thought running through my head right now is this: The timer is my friend. The timer is my friend.

From Sketch to Done

The latest watercolor painting is done.  Finished.  I finished something!  I was so happy to remove it from the paper block.  I have so many ideas in my head I just couldn’t work on this any longer.  Once I painted in the details of the butterfly’s wings I was just so done with it.  Here’s a look at the progression from sketch to finished work.

I really have to remember I’m not using oil paints.  The highlights have to stay white or else forget about highlights.  There’s no adding in later.  It’s a process and I’m learning.  And waiting for the work to dry is another thing.  With oils it’s just the opposite.  You can let it dry and then have issues because now it’s dry!  Watercolors need drying time.

The other thing I wonder about is if it’s too big a painting for the size of the surface.  I tend to go large and then find out that my subject pushes the edge of the paper or canvas.  The size of this paper is only 12×16.  I think this looks as if it’s a huge work.  Just another thing to ponder over. 

I can hear my painting professor saying “Great job. Now go bigger!” 

Painting is Better Than Math

When I was in high school I was all about art.  What a great time it was!  No responsibilities to anything but my school work and my art.  Painting was it for me.  I was horrible at math, loved English, history and French. Definitely hated gym class. Bleh! 

One painting class was right before geometry and I had to bring my wet paintings with me.  Of course, the math teacher was not impressed.  She wanted me to be good at math which I just was never going to be, sorry.  This teacher complained to my parents at conferences that if I could spend more time studying math instead of painting pictures I’d be good at it.  The truth was, and is, that my brain is not wired for math.  Ok now we use calculators, but I still don’t know what answer I’m supposed to come up with, no matter how hard I try.  I would go for extra help after school to try to get math to work for me.  The teacher was so helpful and I’d seem to get it, but when class time came-whoosh!-right out of my head.  What else could I do?  I felt sorry for the teacher, she just didn’t understand why she couldn’t get it in my brain. 

In art class I was a star! Yup! Our school won awards because of my work. The year I was editor of the art/literary magazine it won awards and I designed the yearbook cover for my senior year.  No, I was not popular, except if someone said Art, then yeah, they knew who I was.  One time I was up to my elbows in silkscreen ink and was going to miss the next class.  I ran there, my arms all purple, and told the teacher I needed to skip her class.  She didn’t mind, she knew me well.  But once I didn’t run there to say I was full of paint and she put me down as cutting out.  What?  Me?  Cutting class to me was when kids hid behind the school building to smoke, or whatever.  I was painting!

Stuck for motivation, I needed an idea for my next project.  I was complaining to my mom what to paint, what to paint?  She was reading a Women’s Day magazine and suddenly ripped out a page, threw it at me and said “Here. Go paint this!” It was winter and the ad she tossed at me was an actor dressed like Scrooge.  Well, ok, I might as well try that. 

At school we were using gessoed masonite-cheap school!  So I sketched the portrait on it, nice and big, and went at it with oil paints.  My only hang up was the cotton candy-like eyebrows.  I just couldn’t figure out what to do, but my father made a suggestion to use a big brush and blot on the paint in the shadows then detail the highlights.  And voila!  His idea clicked in my head and that’s all I needed to finish the work and it came out great.  My whole school knew Scrooge.  I used it for my college audition and the professors liked it too.

When my kids were little they were afraid of it because they said the eyes were following them around.  My friends ask me if I still have Scrooge.  Well yeah, my mom has it hanging in her dining room!