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Back to Painting

I am back to painting now after several months of packing, moving, unpacking, churching, ministering, etc. It is nice to feel the brush in my hand again. There's no suitable place to paint in oils here at my new home so I am working solely in watercolor and egg tempera. I found some good egg tempera sites, by the way, here, and here. It is a great medium because of the subtlety of and quality of the brush stroke you can get, and because it works with the ease of watercolor, but has the permanence and versatility of oil painting. I have been doing some landscapes, and will soon go back to painting buildings, I guess.

That reminds me of a funny story. A lady who came by and did a TV news story on the church recently, when she found out that I paint said, "Oh, so do I. I am taking art classes in college. But I can't paint in oils because whatever you paint is there forever. I am not good enough to paint in oils because there is no room for error." A lot of people have told me that over the years actually. But the moment I hear that I know that they know nothing about painting at all, because oils are the most forgiving media of all (uh, ever hear of layers of paintings being done on a single canvas?). Oils can be layered on top of each other to no end, whereas watercolor cannot. watercolor is the unforgiving medium.

Comments

KayKay said…
You sound like a snobby artist! Very amusing.

I am in mourning. You gave me a painting of a pumpkin/gourd several years ago, and with my two moves in the last couple of years it's come up missing. I've searched and searched, and I can't find it anywhere! I loved that simple little painting! We do have a very small framed piece of yours hanging downstairs. I'm still waiting for my Civil War painting with lots of BLOOD!
October 22, 2008 at 6:48 AM
J. Gordon Anderson said…
With lots of BLOOOOOOOOD!! You're a nut. You have to go to that crazy lady at the plantation to get that!
October 22, 2008 at 9:33 AM
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