It's been a long time since my last post because there has been a lot going on. My dog has a rare cancer in his middle ear, and that, among other things, has kept me quite distracted.
As my contribution to the pet rescue Kismet Pet Adoptions, I will soon be teaching a mini-workshop as a fundraiser. All proceeds will go to the rescue. I know so many artists who are doing paint/wine parties. I would like mine to be a little more instructive than just a fill-in-the-blanks party, but after a few glasses of wine, who knows what will be possible. Anything that exposes ordinary people to the arts and gets them interested is worth the time.
Supplies are coming out of my own pocket. As a result, I've been experimenting with some slightly less expensive supplies to use. I have used a wide range of brushes in my own art from the cheapest to the very expensive, and really, it just depends on the brush. Sometimes the cheapest brush is awesome, and sometimes the most expensive is dreadful to use. I know fellow artists who use big chunky brushes with long handles and broad strokes. I prefer to use short handles and have some brushes as small as size 0 all the way up to the kind you use to paint fence boards. Because I like to do tiny details, many of my brushes are very small. My prof once called my brushes "one-hair wonders" because they only had little wisps of hairs. I guess my writing and drawing background makes me want the brush to feel like a pencil, a precision writing instrument. I've never been able to endure a dull pencil.
Among my experiments also are different levels of acrylic paints. I've used several brands of those over the years as well. My favorite brand is Golden for its smooth, buttery texture. Liquitex Basics run a close second, and Artist's Loft gets used for garage sale signs, etc. (i.e. I don't like it). Today I bought some small bottles of cheap decorative acrylic paint. They are very fluid in comparison with my usual paint, but I actually kind of like them for just that reason. I can't imagine I'll be doing whole 24x36" canvases with these, but they should work perfectly for my class.
I'll try to post after my dog's surgery and after the class has occurred to share how it went.
As my contribution to the pet rescue Kismet Pet Adoptions, I will soon be teaching a mini-workshop as a fundraiser. All proceeds will go to the rescue. I know so many artists who are doing paint/wine parties. I would like mine to be a little more instructive than just a fill-in-the-blanks party, but after a few glasses of wine, who knows what will be possible. Anything that exposes ordinary people to the arts and gets them interested is worth the time.
Supplies are coming out of my own pocket. As a result, I've been experimenting with some slightly less expensive supplies to use. I have used a wide range of brushes in my own art from the cheapest to the very expensive, and really, it just depends on the brush. Sometimes the cheapest brush is awesome, and sometimes the most expensive is dreadful to use. I know fellow artists who use big chunky brushes with long handles and broad strokes. I prefer to use short handles and have some brushes as small as size 0 all the way up to the kind you use to paint fence boards. Because I like to do tiny details, many of my brushes are very small. My prof once called my brushes "one-hair wonders" because they only had little wisps of hairs. I guess my writing and drawing background makes me want the brush to feel like a pencil, a precision writing instrument. I've never been able to endure a dull pencil.
Among my experiments also are different levels of acrylic paints. I've used several brands of those over the years as well. My favorite brand is Golden for its smooth, buttery texture. Liquitex Basics run a close second, and Artist's Loft gets used for garage sale signs, etc. (i.e. I don't like it). Today I bought some small bottles of cheap decorative acrylic paint. They are very fluid in comparison with my usual paint, but I actually kind of like them for just that reason. I can't imagine I'll be doing whole 24x36" canvases with these, but they should work perfectly for my class.
I'll try to post after my dog's surgery and after the class has occurred to share how it went.
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