As you know, this is a painting/teaching blog. Students come and read and learn, fellow artists come to get inspiration (hopefully) from my work, and patrons come to buy. We all mingle together.
I've been hired by Grumbacher to do a series of painting Workshops in the Michaels Stores. They are promoting their line of fine Grumbacher paints-in acrylic. I have worked in oils, as you know, for many years. I decided, since the mediums are so different and yet much of the same "look" of a deep, rich oil painting can be accomplished with acrylics, I needed to share it with my blog-followers. This is going to be quite the ride. Hold onto your painter's cap.
I am challenging myself to reproduce all of my earlier oils in acrylics. The result: fine paintings, done in acrylic. It will be fun to compare. When an artist works from her own work, many of the problems are already solved by her in the first work. So, the second time painting the same work goes much faster. I intend to do these acrylic repros at a very fast speed. An oil usually takes at least 9 hours to complete. I have done demos of my orignals at these workshops within the appointed two hour class time. Since I talk a lot in class, I do not use the entire two hours just to paint, so that reduces the time to even less time spent on the piece.
Why is the time element even mentioned? Well, ask any artist, this is probably the most often asked question we receive when out in the public doing demos, or at out door booths for exhibitions. You all want to know, "How long did it take you to do that?"
I have an answer I give when asked this: "Oh, this painting here? Hmm, it took me 9 hours and 28 years."
Time is irrevelent, really. Technique and the mastery of painting methods is really the answer to this question. Why can I do a whole finished painting in an hour? I have worked out all the details already. I have the years of experience behind what I am doing, cutting through the struggle to to do what all artists call "Transcending the Technique". It is a glorious thing. When a ballet dancer transcends the technique, she is truly dancing for the pure art and emotion of it. The passion one feels is unhindered. Have we all "arrived" as professional painters? NO! We are all students, always. I hope I am still learning things when I am 90. I hope to make my best piece when I am that age.
Come, get a cup of tea, sit and watch, I have three to post to get this challenge started. As soon as I figure out how to use my new video camera I will add video of the various projects.
Exciting news: I hope you will find these new works every bit as lovely as the original, because the good news is-they are all going to be for sale at a slashed price. I do them fast, you save big! You receive your own original painting, much like the oil I began from, but unique in its own way.
