Where Creativity Takes Wing
Do you find yourself yearning for polite discourse instead of heated battle when the subject of politics comes up? Do you remember when we could discuss things as ideas instead of simplistic views of good versus evil? When people of different political leanings could actually be friends? Prepare yourself, then, for a refreshing journey to […]
The post A Different Kind of Cat Poetry Collection in Support of a Different Kind of Cat Charity appeared first on Katzenworld – Welcome to the world of cats!. A Different Kind of Cat Poetry Collection in Support of a Different Kind of Cat Charity A brand-new poetry book ‘The Poetic Mews: Cats and Their Poets’ written…
The post A Haven For Cats appeared first on Katzenworld – Welcome to the world of cats!. Chachi’s Haven is a cat shelter located in Tel Mond Israel that has been run for over 20 years by animal advocate Gail Joss. It all began when Gail met a stray cat, who she later named Chachi,…
This week I did quite a few drawings, and more of them will be here in a day or two. I also started oil painting and completed a couple of tiny test canvases. One was four inches by six, the other four by eight. I included a picture of the two of them together so you can get an idea of how small they are. Soon I’ll be moving up to a much larger canvas (probably 18 by 24 or so) but these were a fun way to get my feet wet and find out what it was like to work with the materials.
So far I love it, by the way. The way the paint smells and feels, the brushes, the long working time, it’s all great. I’m happy to have the opportunity to do this at long last. It was one very big item on my bucket list. If anyone has interest, I’ll write an article about the best way to find halfway decent painting supplies without paying a huge amount of money.
I learned a lot about what not to do with a palette knife here!
Here, to be random, is a picture of Nezumi sleeping with her paw over her eyes. “Moms, turn the light off, wouldja?”
This week I did even more cards for coworkers – Boss’s Day plus a couple of birthdays. So that cut into my InkTober arting just a bit. However, I also finished a painting that had been sitting for oh, ten years or so, and did some digital stuff. I’m still fascinated by clouds and never cease to be amazed by them. Who cares about the latest entertainment news when I have Omigawd CLOUDS! That one is a perfect orangy pink and I could totally do that with a liner brush and just a little blending… it looks like brushstrokes across the sky as it is…
On to the art.
-Rohvannyn Shaw
I jest, I jest.
Well, maybe I have a little midlife crisis. I’m about to…. (drumroll please) switch from acrylics to oils.
It happened like this. Due to the neighbor problems that caused me to buy a house in the first place, I hadn’t felt much like painting in quite a while. Who knew acrylics can go bad inside a sealed tube? When I was transferring my stuff from apartment to house, I realized that nearly every tube and bottle of acrylic paint was lumpy, half coagulated, and resistant to re-mixing.
ART DISASTER.
Or is it?
Living in this house with all its possibilities has caused me to think a little more creatively – and since I’ve always wanted to try painting with oils, and have rediscovered the wet on wet painting technique via Bob Ross, why not replace my acrylics with oils?
Problem solved, opportunity found.
The cost is a little higher, yes, okay maybe a lot higher, but like the watercolors and colored pencils I used on the greeting card you see above, oil paints take a lot more punishment before going bad.
For cleaning I am going to use orange oil (similar properties as lavender spike oil, used by artists before turpentine was common) and for those really hard jobs, stinky mineral spirits. I don’t want to use odorless mineral spirits because most of the danger is still there without the warning signs. This will be supplemented by an open window, and open door, and an exhaust fan in my study/studio.
Some of my brushes will still work. My canvasses can be reused. Same with my gesso. I think this will be an interesting adventure, and hopefully start a love affair with oils.
So there you have it… my version of a midlife crisis.
