Getting the Feel of Things

Lots of fun painting this little guy. Yesterday, while puttering about in my not-usable-in-winter studio, I came across some 20x20m stretched canvases, and one already had gesso (Blogger spell checker does not recognize that word - it does recognize gestapo. Go figure.) Anyway, I had applied gesso to that canvas and it made a swirly, textured surface to paint into, something I love. I also decided to face a slightly different part of my view, and take in one of the trees in the field across the street. I'm starting to have fun with oils - it was fascinating coaxing the paint, and the seemingly unwilling brush, into making those fine lines for the tree branches. And then they were just a bit too hard edged so I very gently touched them with a delicate fan brush and got something close tot he effect I was after.

I have two more paintings to add, both done yesterday but I wasn't able to photo them. one of them is done with very thick paint and is impossible to move from its position on the floor until it has dried a bit. The other is thinner and, well, it just doesn't want its photo taken; I'm sure of it. Maybe later this afternoon they'll both come to their senses and pose properly for the camera. Today's painting was easier to photograph because I can hang stretched canvases on a convenient little nail in the terrace door. There's a bit of glare from the sunrise behind me, but at least it's a photo.