The painting was still pretty wet today, so I wasn’t able to work on it as much. A more patient painter would wait until the paint is dry to continue working on it, but I am not that painter. Actually, I’m fairly patient, but I’m also really good at painting wet-on-wet. A traditional grisaille underpainting calls for using thinner rather than medium, but I use medium, which retards the drying process. What can I say, I like retarders.
Today, I worked on everything but the sky and the lampposts. If I was truly concerned with sharpness and accuracy, I would paint the entire painting to finish, and then add the posts and wires on top of it. But I like the look that happens when I have to paint around the posts. It’s a little uneven, a sort of hand-drawn look to the image. On all of these paintings, the wires are the last thing I paint. It’s slightly risky, painting tiny lines onto a nearly-finished painting. But I guess that’s how I get my kicks. Being risky.
Total aside: are you watching Mad Men? Was there anything better than this week’s episode when Peggy Olsen was driving a motorcycle in a circle on a soundstage? It was, as she is, sublime.
I love hearing about the process of how a painting evolves. The choices that you make.
So cute on the cycle.
I love your blog Amy O’Neill, however we have only just finished watching Season 3 of Mad Men so when you taunt us with your Season 4 knowledge it upsets me. We will not get it for weeks.
Sublime indeed! Watching this season is like enjoying a very smooth cocktail. Anya, do not think of it as taunting, but rather as being tantalized; a subtle, but ultimately delicious difference.