Waiting...

I'm at the point where I need to work on something else... anything else. It's too wet. Not being an alla prima painter, I rarely knock anything in oil out in one day. I like the versatility that layering can bring. It's also really easy for me to get muddy really fast. So... I need to wait. It needs to dry for a day. It will still be "blend-able" tomorrow, but with a gentle hand, will also stay put if I want to paint on top.

This part drives me nuts. I pace a lot... going back to the easel, seeing if maybe there is a part that is dry enough to work on and yet I know I shouldn't because of 1) the muddiness factor, and 2) I'll be too tempted to put something down that would be better off going on last. What you notice first is usually the last thing you put on... but oh, do you want to do it first. Grrrrrr.

This is the part where Grizzled comes in handy. He hears me walking into the room and yells from wherever he is, "Leave it alone!" He's probably not sure why I need to leave it alone, but also knows that if I don't, he'll have to listen to me grumbling about how I should have waited.

In my ideal world I've got a couple of large easels and room to store lots of wet paintings that are waiting for the next step.

Comments

[Miss Jane]

That is really cool Grizzled is in tune with your pacing... Sometimes letting the paint dry is more work than painting... Hopefully you are having a warm sunny day and can take a spring walk :-)

[Bill Stankus]

"Alla prima" ... I like that and I guess that's mostly how I paint. I get antsy doing still life and sitting outdoors painting natural scenes drives me nuts. I'm at my painting best (?) when I get an idea and start dabbing, splashing, smearing and jumping up and down while I paint - and nothing outside of that zone exists. I hardly notice if someone enters the studio and stands next to me when I'm in that groove. Tho there are canvases I do fuss over much as you describe for yourself. I've been doing more acrylic paintings to lessen the wait time.

[Jennifer]

Miss Jane- I don't think Grizzled has a choice. He probably even found it charming at some point, but now... well you know, familiarity breeds contempt. :)

Bill- I can fully believe you're smearing and splashing and dancing the Watusi. Your paintings are so full of movement and spontaneity. I'm more like that with sketching or if and when I do use acrylics, but I love all of the different things you can do with oil and I love that you can be fast or slow, careful or sloppy. I will never be one who goes for the uber-slow Dutch Masters' process, but I do love what some layering can do. Some underpainting popping through is pure eye candy for me. And yes, you can layer with acrylics, I just don't get as much depth... plus I've never gotten used to the color change they make when they dry.