What's on My Easel
My current painting on my easel.
What I'm Doing
I'm painting a larger painting of a small study I painted of a lady with a hat sitting in the grandstand. It's been my experience that whenever I paint the same painting twice, even though I change a few things, it never seems to work out to my satisfaction. Why is this? I wish I knew. I don't often do a second version of a painting but I'm hoping this one won't suffer the same fate as my other attempts at a rerun. So far, I'm feeling positive.
The size of this one is 18 by 24 inches and I'm using acrylics. I think I should go back to using oils because acrylics dry out too quickly to suit me and they seem such a struggle.
I seem to be terribly disorganized in my painting area; I'll have to work on this problem because it makes painting difficult at times and not fun.
Advice
- On back of canvas, with label or other, always sign, date, and what medium used.
- Never run out of gesso, white paint, or cadmium red
- Always have several canvasses prepared in advance for future paintings.
- Clean up painting area and brushes used on last painting session.
- Don't get discouraged while halfway through a painting; see it to the finish then decide it's fate!
- Paint with fewer colors the results will be rewarding.
What's the Month/Year?
November, 2009
Marion Boddy-Evans, Painting Guide, says:
Don't forget different brands of acrylics have different drying times, so maybe try a tube of other brands and see how you go. Or add retarder to slow down the drying time.
I think a second painting often suffers from "trying too hard syndrome". You're pleased with the first and are trying to replicate it exactly, whereas you should be painting a new version. I think of it as painting the sunflower growing next to the one I just painted -- so it's similar, but not identical.
