My First Painting!

I had some time tonight and decided to paint.  So, I locked the cats in my bedroom so that disaster wouldn't strike and set up my work station which basically meant putting a garbage bad on my coffee table and a large sheet on the floor.  I had started with one glass of water for rising and by the time I was done, had three glasses on the table (one for rinsing, another for rinsing, and one for cleaned off brushes).  Paper towels were handy too which I found the tip online about that.

I took a piece of canvas paper since this was my first time painting since art class in middle school.  I had an idea for something to paint which is kind of how it turned out.  You know the term "don't knock it until you've tried it"?  Well, keep that in mind below:

My first painting: No Name (yet)

It was actually quite fun and relaxing since it had no real purpose other than practicing some techniques and getting my feet wet (or brushes).  I originally planned on having the red in the center, then purple, and blue with some sort of background.

The red:  The first part I painted.  Was quite simple in that it came directly out of the tube.  Had no idea what size brush to use so I picked one that was kind of in the middle.  I wanted the central part to be smaller but the outer part kept getting a lot of red so it kept getting larger until I finally figured out how to sharpen the outer border which was good to know for the other sections.

The blue (dark):  The second part I painted. Same method, came right out of the tube.  It ended up being a larger section than I envisioned thanks to trying to keep the edges sharp again.

The blue (light):  This part I wanted to be purple so one would mix red and blue right?  Not in my case.  Actually, I did get what looked like a deep purple on the palate but I wanted it to be lighter so I mixed some white in thinking that would lighten it up.  Right?  Nope.  It turned into the blue color that you see on the right half.  I thought it looked unique and so just used it.  Unfortunately, I don't think it really looks good with the other blue. Too much blue.

The background:  Since I had proven not to be a mixing whiz, I went with one of the colors I already have, black.  I wanted a dark color and my only options were that or brown.

Overall, I think it looks good.  Certainly room for improvement but that's what this blog is all about.  

Things learned

1.  The paintbrush will put paint in places you don't think it will go and make your object bigger trying to fix it.

2.  Mixing is an art in itself.

3.  I'm a bad estimator at how much paint I think I will need for a section (too much or too little).

4.  I'm probably going to be sticking to painting shapes for a while.

5.  Maybe I should take that painting course in April.

Gathering ideas at an art museum

Friday night, I went with a friend and her friend to a local art museum that was having a jazz music night.  While the band was playing, the rest of the museum was open for viewing the art (which I was thinking it better be since they charged regular admission pricing).  Since you could hear the band from any floor, we decided to look at the artwork while there.  There was mostly European  and American art in the section we were in.

As we were wandering, I was looking at the different techniques the artists had used in their paintings.  How they did their shading, how detailed they were, what feelings the background colors brought about, etr.  A lot were oil on canvas which made me happy because I'm hoping to move onto oils in a few years when I get more experienced (and money!).  It was really nice to see the differences in detail that the artist used in painting figures.  Some were very detailed and looked like a photograph.  Others just had people as the shape of an individual and looked almost like a blotting technique (I like those ones, makes me more confident that I might be able to do something decent).

There were some that had the same concept that I want to start off with.  Mainly putting different geometric shapes together with a similar color tone.  Shapes, I can do.  Realistic humans, no.

The more I think about it, the more I want to take the painting course, but the more I'm kind of nervous about it.  I mean, I know I will learn techniques that I could never learn just by reading about but, I don't know, actually having someone look at my painting is a lot different than taking a picture of it and posting it this blog. I think I should just get over my fear and go for it.

Speaking of painting, I plan to start on Friday so look for a post with pictures this weekend!

Freedom in art. Ready for a course?

So the semester started for me and I'm already buried in 300 pages of readings and 2 articles I have to be prepared to discuss.  Needless to say, I've been busy this week. But I guess that's what I get for being in grad school.

I did draw a picture earlier this week.  Actually a couple using sketch paper and crayola colored pencils so neither came out looking particularly amazing.  I will take a picture of the one which I did kind of like (minus the outer border I drew).  I know it sounds corny but it was an amazing feeling to draw whatever I wanted to draw, as opposed to in elementary school where you had to draw what you were told to.  Since then, the only drawing I had really done was graphs and charts for math and science classes. It was refreshing to be able to let my imagination run free and let my hand make the decisions without any thought.  I guess that's one of the reasons artists enjoy working.  The only part I didn't like about the picture was, ironically, the part that I added after the fact after thinking about it.  Clearly, I shouldn't analyze my drawings like I have to for school.

I know I said it before and it is taking me forever, but I will eventually start painting with the supplies I bought.  I'm just waiting on a paintbrush cleaner my mom is mailing me and should arrive in the next couple of days.  I think I might start with doing a geometric pattern to get my feet wet.  Just to get the painting technique down before painting an actual picture.  Plus, I would hang up something like that in my apartment so why not?

I was looking on my university's website and found a page that had continuing education classes.  Seeing a fine arts section, I looked and found a acrylic painting course for beginners.  Being that those are the paints I bought, I checked out the course details.  It's a course that's 2 hours, 1 night a week for 6 weeks (I think).  One starts next month but I think with the semester just starting it's not a good idea to do anything extra.  It's offered again in April which ends the week after exams.  Looking at my course syllabi, I'm pretty much done with everything before exams so it wouldn't be too hectic.  Its $180 but with early registration and my student status here, it comes down to $162.  I already have most, if not all the supplies so I wouldn't have to buy much more.  I'm really considering taking it.  I mean, there's no grade and if I don't get the CEU credits I really don't care.  What would I have to lose besides $162 (which my mom offered to pay)?


The drawing I did like, until I added the red on the outside....

I didn't mention it but I also attempted to draw my cat when she peaks behind a wall at me.  Needless to say, I don't think I did that good and thus stopped in the middle of it.  Sketching is definitely not a skill of mine.

Almost ready to start

I haven't been able to write anything lately, partly because I had a 14 hour drive back home and had a guest for the past few days.  Also, I have been distracted with work and getting ready for the start of the semester.  I also have been doing some research on acrylic and canvas painting including looking at other blogs and advice they had to offer.

One thing I found out from research is that acrylic paints dry really fast.  This kind of worries me, especially if I will be mixing.  If the new color dries on the palate before I am finished with it, I might find it hard to create the same color again.  That also is delaying my start as I have no idea what I want to try to paint.  I need something simple as I know it won't be good.

I've also read about different techniques such as where to start and what to paint last.  The idea that will probably work for me is painting darker hues first and finishing with the lighter colors.  I have a lot of sketch paper that I have been using for other artwork (mainly elementary things such as geometric designs colored by colored pencils.  HEY!  Maybe my first painting should be a geometric design.  It's hard to screw that up as what I typical draw is a repeated pattern of triangles with a odd color pattern (nerd alert: there was a mathematical equation used to figure out an appropriate pattern).

Okay great.  I have my first painting idea.  I won't start doing more difficult ideas (I want to paint both my cats at some point) until much later.  I think I mentioned that I have a cat at the beginning of this blog.  Last week, I adopted another one who I've fostered before traveling last month.  Their color contrast is awesome, one's black and the other is a light colored calico, which I think will make for a very interesting painting.

My last reserve is that my mother is sending me a "tool" she uses to clean her brushes that may help me knowing that the paint dries so darn fast.  I just spoke with her and she is mailing it out tomorrow, granted she remembers to actually do so.  I think until I get that, I'm going to make use of the pile of sketch paper I have. If I create something good, I'll be sure to post a picture of it on here.