Post 200

Update: Added a non-cellphone picture of Quatro and the oil painting.

Really wish I had something more exciting to post on such a grand occasion other than a piss poor cellphone snap of last week's duck, but the larger scale meant no scanning. (I still owe one for this weekend, but more on that in a minute.) For Quatro, as he's affectionately named, I decided to go large scale. For the previous three paintings I'd stuck with 4"x6" or 5"x6" canvas. It was a hot arsed weekend (100+) and I didn't feel like dragging Lilah out to the store, but I remembered Angie had picked me up a canvas with the new easel she'd gotten me for my first Father's Day. Checked me paint supply and figured I had enough to cover the larger surface, which I did.

Now this painting does represent Lilah and I's first collaboration. With the smaller size canvases it was easy to keep Lilah's wayward pencil from straying into my composition. With the 2'x4' canvas however she decided to stake out an area to create. Luckily most of that area was covered with the blue, but she did invade the yellow area, which resulted in a heavy layering of yellow to cover up the dark blue lead she's fond of.

All in all it turned out okay. I skimped on the shading and whatnot as my paints were dwindling. Plus, it's a pain on something that large. (I admit it, I'm lazy sometimes.) Lilah loves it and that's all that matters.

As for this weekend's duck, there wasn't one. I've been itching to do some oil painting since I started this duck exercise, so this weekend I had another canvas stretched and primed. I took a cellphone snap of it, but it looks even worse than the above duck, so I'll hold off posting an image of it until I can use our camera. The piece is a total departure from my usual work in the sense that it's abstract, something I've never done. (I like my some subject matter. Be it still life or portrait.) And, it's also all palette knife. No brushes. It was simple, easy, but very much fun. Plus, it was nice to smell oil paint again. (As strange as that sounds.) I'll take a snap tonight and post it for you fine folks.