Oil Painting

I was in the Art Show at the Norfolk Pagoda last Sunday. It was a great day. The weather was nice and so were the people. I sold over 100 note cards with prints of my paintings on them!

I spent time talking with a few of my artist friends about art, and painting and sales and marketing and business and grants and galleries and all the other things that artists talk about.

Recently I have been thinking about doing some oil painting again. For the past 4 or 5 months I've been working primarily in watercolors. And I love it. But oils are calling my name.

The Dragonfly and Blue Dragonfly are two oil paintings of mine. I really enjoyed painting them. When I paint in oils they seem to come easy for me and if I don't like what's happening in the painting then I wipe it off and/or cover it up and correct my "errors". Sounds like a piece of cake. But there are challenges in my oil painting. In the two Dragonfly's the challenge was to make them transparent. So that you can see through the wings. I think I accomplished that.

In watercolors I have taken many classes and read books and articles and planned the teaching of classes. I have done exercises and painted many paintings, many of which I have filed in the trash. When I complete a painting that I am pleased with, I really feel a sense of satisfaction.

In oils I really have very little formal training. I took classes from Dorothy Raxter for many years. Her classes were open sessions that you worked on your paintings and if you needed assistance she was there to give it to you. But you developed your paintings and your way of painting on your own. Oils come more naturally to me but they do not provide me with the same satisfaction that watercolors do.

But I do have a couple of ideas in the back of my mind of things that I'd like to paint in oil. Maybe someday soon?

Tommorrow I will be at Virignia Beach Town Center. My tent is on the corner on the Ruth's Chris side of the fountain. Hope to see you there.