New paintings and regular art updates.
A little exhibition is coming up in September and I am not sure what, if anything, I can paint. My vision is quite odd now, a bit doubled, a bit blurred.
I’m thinking of possibly painting cats. Just some simple and gentle and nice! With a bit of character. Not a generic cat… Not a pretty cat, a growl tiger, curmugeonly, interesting cat… I don’t know, golden eyes? But first I need to fish some paints out!
Without flicking paint! Each dot so far and each smudge is from a brush touching the canvas. It’s a bit over exposed. It’s acrylic on a small 7×7 inch canvas. I might paint a tardis on it if it works. There are hundreds of dots and I’m really struggling to find a brush with a decent point. More to do!
Artist ‘stuff’, paints, paintings, canvases, brushes, boxes, sketch pads, heaters, all my ornaments on the mantelpiece. Carrier bags. I’ve never been this cluttered. Some of its going to have to go. But it’s cheaper than renting the studio. I not letting many people in till I sort it out! But it’s storage not hoarding (yet!)
What are three objects you couldn’t live without?
I tell a lie,
I could live
But would life be worth it?
Colours swirl and fade,
Brushstrokes create
Patterned surfaces
Canvas grabs paint
Textures grow
Light seems to flow.
No, without my creative things
A life of sadness it brings.
Give me my paints,
I will build mountains
Canvas for landscape
Or face?
Who knows.
Brushes manipulate
Joy it creates.
I feel guilty that I haven’t painted. I think I need to get my brushes out. Painting is my reason for being. It’s not negotiable, I have to paint, or at least draw. It will happen, I’m just not sure when. As the days get darker I always find it more difficult, especially painting under artificial light. By the way, I must have a hundred brushes around the house, I think they multiply when I’m not looking!
I was looking for an image to use for this post and found this. Where the light through prisms in the mobile in my window was casting rainbows on these brushes. I hope I don’t get artists block, sometimes I just can’t paint…
I saw this rainbow light reflected on my brushes this morning. It was being caused by a holographic sketchpad that was on the cupboard next to the brushes. The pad has been there for ages but I’ve never seen this before, it must just be because of the angle of the light. I might try and base a drawing or painting on it. Today’s
Just a doodle in ArtRage oils. Playing with the oily affect of the bushes in the app. Then adjusted in Instagram. Finger painting and playing is fun. I liked making the colours bright, like printed silk or satin. Just simple lines and dots, but I think it’s quite effective. I enjoyed creating it. I could see this printed on a greetings card. X
Just got some new brushes, they usually cost a lot, but these were not expensive. They are value brushes, £3.99 each pack. I bought one lot of smallish round headed brushes and one pack of flat ones. That’s eight brushes (nylon) at about £1 each.
Apart from these I must have about twenty or thirty old brushes. I must go through them, maybe throw a few away. But they are like old friends, I use them till all of the bristles have worn away!
Using different shapes gives you different mark making. Round, pointed ones can describe the shapes of petals or leaves. Flat, chisel shaped ones can be used for painting things like bricks, or to fill in larger areas.
These brushes are ‘golden taklon’ by Royal Langnickel. I like them because they are nylon so the bristles last longer and don’t tend to snap or fall out. Also they have rubber grips so they are non slip and easier to handle. They can be used for acrylics, watercolours, oils, temperas and glazes.
I got these from a craft shop in a local garden centre.
X
I admit, this week I should have painted. But I’ve found a colouring Web site where you sit and ‘colour by numbers’.
I want to get on with things, but with everything that is going on in the world I think I’ve got a bit down again. I need to paint.
So tomorrow, I’m going to try and get my act together and start painting again.
Where do you store your brushes when you have been painting? Please don’t store them with the ends of the brushes facing downwards, in water or turps, its a bad habit and can ruin your brushes.
Brushes are not cheap. They come in various sizes, shapes, types of bristles and handles.
They range from the tiniest brush with a good point, to very large flat headed brushes which could almost be used by a painter and decorator.
Types of bristles can be made of sable, hog hair, squirrel and other animal hairs. If these sable is the softest and easiest to get good results with. A brush with strong hard bristles can be used to roughy cover large areas and block in colours.
For me a synthetic hair works best. It tends to be flexible yet durable. The cost is usually slightly less than sable.
Going back to storage.. Gently clean your brushes under luke warm running water if you can. Sometimes if the brush is still loaded with paint I will swirl the head of it round in the palm of my hand while rinsing it under the tap. This releases the paint. If I was using oil based paint I would use a little substitute turps and rinse the brush in a jar of the first, then to clean it thoroughly I would use a bit of washing up liquid in the palm of my hand and a tap running warm water and just rinse the brush till the water runs clear.
Once the brushes are clean dry them on a little kitchen towel. This also helps to assess if all the paint has gone.
Place your brushes with the brush heads facing upwards and all the bristles smoothed back into the correct shape of the brush head. You can use your mouth and lips to repoint delicate brushes. By storing them this way they will dry better, the brushes will not end up bent almost in half, and the bristles will not end up glued together with paint. Brushes are a valuable commodity and correct storage will save you money by not having to buy as many replacements.
Mallaband-Brown