As some of you know, I went to a workshop with a wonderful artist… Rebecca Crowell in Dallas earlier in the month. Before I left I started the last painting……..very large one, too, so I had to complete it before I got back to working with the panels and oil paintings that I started at that workshop.
Today I have finally been back at work on these ‘starts’…. or I call them that. Who knows, the starts may look better by the time I get through than the finished paintings. One thing about working with oil and cold wax medium is that it is very easy to just keep getting a whole different painting each and every time you work on it. That is if you are not using brushes but are using squeegees and brayers. Not that you cannot use a brush, but I am trying to use the paint in a thinner application to build up layers and also hopefully dry a little faster. In fact, over time I probably will use a brush as I was itching to get one out to do some negative painting on these two that I worked on today. BUT, I think I will still do the preliminary work with the squeegees and brayers to keep it drying faster until I know where I am going with the painting.
These pieces are 20 x 20 x 2 inch wood panels I bought from a local canvas shop…..great people, making a wonderful product, at a good price as well as made in the USA….. Sunbelt Manufacturing in Longview, TX.
One piece…….when I left the workshop looked like this.
early stage when I left the workshop
This is what it looked like after I worked on it a little more today. I kept turning it around…and it looks possibly more contemporary turned in the opposite direction but for some reason I like it this way, at least at this stage. This could be an intermediate stage or the final one. Who knows right now? I need to keep looking more.
Intermediate or final version
Here is the second one that I worked on today.
early version of painting 2 (also labeled 4 on the image file)
This painting was just TOO brightly a permanent green. My idea was to break up some of that with some softer, warmer greens and then go from there. WELL… you know how I said you can get a new painting…not quite but also a different look. It could have been drastically different but I softened and changed and it started taking on a better look. These photos are just I-phone pictures so sometimes the glare even without a flash makes for bad color. They are not what I call true to color. Sometimes I get good ones, sometimes not. This second painting photo is more intense and has more contrast..especially the too light violet in the bottom right.
2nd painting intermediate stage
Like the first one, I will keep looking to see if I like this new version or if I need to work more on both.
I, also, determined before I went that I am going to gesso the sides of these panels and paint the sides like I do my acrylic paintings. I just have not been liking MY work with the bare wood sides. You can only imagine how much paint ended up on me as I would forget and pick them up. Next time, I will add paint on the sides as I start like I do with acrylic paintings.
I will work on the other two next session…. put them all there on the side of the room to just evaluate for a time.
All this is a little out of my comfort zone working with a medium I haven’t used since the 60’s BUT it’s good to shake things up now and then.
I really like the second one, it looks like a tintype photo negative of a distant forest tree line or something , that is unbelievably interesting to me…mine are morphing with every effort too…liking yours though!
Thanks, Cathy……….as mentioned the color on that one is off but otherwise the shapes, value (other than that lighter violet) marks are still showing up. I, actually will be happy to get these behind me and start a fresh one without all the stop start here where you get away from the painting too long to connect again with the exact feeling that you had when you started.
Cheryl:
I love the first one that you left with. [Gold tones.] more so than the finished product. It’s really nice. I like the finished product too, but am partial to the first one because of the soft edges & colors. It has a dreamy quality to it. I am not very good at critiquing [not that you asked]. I just know what’s good and what I like. Great work. I am sure you had a lovely time with Rebecca. I met her for a couple of hours in June.
Diana… the image is not so good. The way it left, the light areas were too light (white)and the side opposite the rounded shape that was so prominent needed ‘something’… so it ended up being marks. The image from the work now is a little dark. BUT, I recognized that different people would like some before I changed them and others would like the changes.
Thanks for the comments…………. AND Rebecca is a lovely person and a great teacher. I learned some technical stuff I needed to learn about the cold wax and oil combination.
REALLY ENJOY ALL OF YOUR WORK ON FACEBOOK. I AGREE ABOUT SUNBELT…..THEY ARE GREAT TO WORK WITH AND HAVE GREAT PRODUCT AND WILL BUILD ANY SIZE CANVAS FOR YOU. I ALSO FOLLOW UP ON RECOMMENDATIONS YOU HAVE MADE ABOUT OTHER ARTISTS……..GOOD INFORMATION.
Thanks, Missy.
I really like what you did…permanent green is or can be deadly! Your color gradations are super.
Hi Pat… yeah, that green can be tough sometime. Unless it is in a strictly non-objective painting where you can be a brash as you like.
Cheryl, I just googled cold wax oil and up you popped! I just started really painting, took a terrific workshop at Idyllwild Arts near where I live, and totally burst into flame, wish I could paint all the time but still work fulltime. Your work . . . wow, I love it! What a burst of luck for me to find you. Your process photos are so inspiring–I can’t find a teacher out here–so I’ll be checking in with you often to see what you’re doing. Can you recommend good books or manuals for self-teaching cold wax? Thanks so much. I feel better just from looking at your images!
I appreciate all the accolades, Rhonda. Where do you live? And, I haven’t been working with oil/cold wax for very long although I have been painting with other mediums. Darn it, I should have added the ning site Rebecca Crowell started to help people share. You can look it up or go to her site or blogsite and I think there is a link. There a lot of people post their paintings, ask questions and share freely what they are doing.When I get through with these other two I started at her workshop (we all worked in our own styles, not hers)……. I will post them there or the links to my blog where it shows my work.
Here… I found the link… go sign up. http://oilandwax.ning.com/
Sure would love to take a workshop with Rebecca. I agree it’s good to shake things up once in a while. I’m liking how these are going. The bottom one says “Cheryl” and looks finished to me.
Martha.. she is a really good workshop leader. Thanks for the comments. Looking like me is what I want. All these things evolve. I didn’t end up getting to work on the other two yesterday….hoping for today.