White Study

White Study

7x7

oil on paper

I clearly remember the first assignment from Robert Christie in my one and only University studio class many (sigh) years ago and that was to drape a piece of white fabric in some appealing way and paint what we saw (with oil paint). Actually it was the first of several assignments we were given along those same lines, with something new added each time. I knew nothing about oil paint and didn't even gesso the paper! I also recall that I left the whitest highlights of the fabric as bare paper. It stunk. With a few tips the next assignment went a bit better, as did the next and the next. Studying the whites was a good lesson in values and using fabric as the subject was a good way to learn how to see soft and subtle differences. I'm going to look to see if I kept those early assignments, it would be fun to post them! With those early assignments in mind I put together this little study.

After playing with oils last Monday and Tuesday I was flying high with excitement of the possibilities. It was so fun to blend and move the paint around even after a half hour or more had passed. That is just not something that can happen with acrylics. They just dry too quickly. As it turned out, this very thing I was loving about oils those first two days was the very thing that made me mental on Wednesday when I started working on this little white study! I kept forgetting that the paint was wet and I would try to add a nice white highlight somewhere and the paint would just smudge together. Turns out the quick drying aspect of acrylics has it's place. And I kept wondering how people paint with oils en plein air! I was such a mess sitting in one spot in my studio, I can't imagine trying to transport them (but I probably will try someday)! And layering colours as I do in my reflections would take weeks and weeks and weeks. I'm not sure I have the patience or stamina.  

This little study is okay. I can already see some things I would tweak, but I likely won't. It is what it is. It was just an exercise and I will do more of them as I learn this new medium. And I will try to be brave enough to share the results... good or bad.