10.27.14: stagnation (part II)

Good evening everyone.

I have titled this post stagnation (part II) because I am at it again: nothing has occurred this week. Nothing exciting at least. I went to Walmart and saw the pretty colors of acrylics in huge bottles and thought, "If only I had time..." 

AND

it turns out that I actually don't have a blank canvas at home. My sister has used them all for her artsy room decor. You know, middle schoolers being all middle-schooley.

THEREFORE

I need to buy at least one-two blank canvases this week. I'll try to paint on that (hideous) thick paper (that falls apart when I try to remotely blend with my pinky) and just get into that feel for the paint. The deadline is soon approaching.

S

10.17.14: realizations

Hello everyone.

No painting yet.
College applications are the current cause of my daily migraines and have consumed my life morsel by morsel.

I have come to the realization that I shouldn't be "planning" on what day I will paint, and more importantly, I shouldn't be planning what I will paint! The purpose of this project is for me to learn how to paint abstractly AND to learn how to view things above one view point. I feel that I am missing the point of abstract paint: do not think, just do. I think this principle may very well apply to other aspects in life as well. Sometimes we find ourselves in a rut, but by just doing something a little something will react and then that something can possibly turn into something bigger and greater than that original something, you know? (This all makes sense in my head and of course when I try to type it out, it sounds awkward.)

My point is, I will just stop giving myself weekly deadlines. The big deadline isn't until December 5, 2014. That's presentation day. My major, overall goal is to have a few paintings to display. More than one for sure, but if I feel inspiration for only two paintings, I will feel satisfied with myself. I need not pressure myself into painting 6 pieces (like I originally had intended).

Til next week.

S

10.11.14: more learning

Hey y'all!

So yesterday in class I was going to bring in my painting stuff, but alas, I ran out of the house (again) and forgot my stuff. Sad.
But I did indeed do something productive in class!
I watched even MORE videos and saw that I apparently purchased really expensive acrylic paints (Folk Art - $1.79 a pop!). They're teeny little bottles, and since I intend on painting on larger canvases (facility), I needed to buy the larger tubes that came with the flip up lids that I hate. Ew.
Guess that's something I'll have to work around.
Also, I need larger brushes :)
The ones I got are perfect for detailing and smaller canvases... I won't be using small canvases.
YouTube's also shown me that I shouldn't be afraid of blending. It's key. I was slightly appalled by the artists mixing yellow and fuchsia or blue and red, but the important part is the end result. Never judge something by its cover. The end results were always beautiful.
Videos that spurred my imagination:

Abstract Art Painting Ideas, Techniques, Tips, Tricks and Tools at AbstractArtLesson.com

Learn How to Paint Abstract Painting with Acrylics video - Antigone by John Beckley

Time Lapse Expressive Portrait painting. Tim Gagnon oil/acrylic artwork.

Custom Portrait painting (Acrylic painting techniques on canvas) with ARTSYHILS

VOKA - Marilyn Monroe - Spontaneous Realism

Next week, I'll have started my first full painting. It won't be on a huge canvas because I have supplies for a medium-to-small canvas, but it will finally happen people! Anticipating the outcome already!

S

10.5.14: something

Hello!

Saturday I found myself with some extra time.
This resulted:

The flowers were made after I watched a YouTube tutorial on how to use an angular brush. I ended up using the wash though, and I found that I liked it the most.

The sunset was just a random painting. I was messing around with the wash, the smaller angular, and the larger shader. I also know that I will purchase different paper because in this painting I used my fingers to blend in the colors and bits of the paper were literally coming off. Not cool.

I'm excited for the rest of this project and I can't wait for my first actual painting to result!

S

10.3.14: small steps

Howdy do?!
Today in class, I was attempting to view videos online to see if I could learn how to distinguish between the different brushes when I hear that the woman in this particular video says turpentine. Intrigued, I decided to make a quick Google search. This is what I found:

The traditional solvent for oil paint is turpentine. Turpentine is used in traditional oil painting mediums, especially those that contain damar varnish. Unfortunately, turpentine produces noxious fumes. Odorless, artist quality mineral spirits (OMS) is now available, which dramatically cuts down on noxious fumes. Hardware store mineral spirits or paint thinners also produce dangerous fumes and are not suitable for fine art oil painting.

Oil paints cannot be mixed with water or water based paints, including acrylics. Some artists, however, layer oil paints on top of dry acrylic paint or gesso. Acrylics cannot, however, be used on top of oil paints because they will not properly bind to the oil surface.

Interesting.
Apparently it's a strong solvent used to take out paint. It's better at cleaning off paint compared to water, and also serves in diluting the amount of paint (in case I want to make the painting look watery or less bright I guess). Very interesting.
Artist's White Spirit (or something like that) was also something that I decided to look at.
As for painting stuff, I haven't put brush to canvas yet! It's mid-semester, and I'm about to get there, I pinky promise! This weekend I shall view the videos that I couldn't view at school, and then I WILL (I actually will) practice. I have a nice medium-sized canvas in my room waiting for it to be destroyed :)

S