Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Boy at the Beach - sold

"Sand Bucket"
sold

7.5"x 5.5 Oil on gessoed linen

Another image from my recent beach trip inspired this study. I just love to see children of all ages playing with such excitement and delight at our beautiful beaches. Again my goal was to see and paint shapes taking care to record accurate values. I also played around with the color wheel in choosing colors other than the actual local colors. I'm quite happy with the result this time and I needed that!

Some of the success of this piece is in part due to painting on wonderful linen. I had forgotten the joy of doing so. While doing these "exercises" I have been using Frederix canvas pads to not waste good board or linen. Forget that! Linen made a big difference in how I put the paint down- so much easier.

I used no medium on this painting but I did use the new solvent I talked about in my last post (Turpenoid Natural). I liked it and I didn't. It takes a little getting used to. For one, the paint doesn't sink to the bottom of the can, just staying suspended in the liquid. The liquid is a little thicker than regular Turpenoid, very much like it has a few drops of clear liquid hand cleaner in it. When you clean your brush it almost feels like there is a little soap left in it but it doesn't seem to affect the paint. And two, I found that I had to swish my brush, squeeze with paper towel and repeat more times than with regular solvents. After several hours of exposure I still got a headache but time will tell if it was the Turpenoid Natural or just a coincidence. I'd love to hear of anyone's experience with Turpenoid Natural.



6 comments:

Dana Cooper said...

This is such a sweet piece, and your values are spot on!!

Carol Blackburn said...

Nicely done. Your talents are evident.

Debbie said...

It's a wonderful thing to be inspired in a new direction, trying a new thing,and then seeing good results come! I envy you!! I have been stuck lately and I'm not sure how long it will take me to get out of it. Also.. I don't know if you've ever tried to use dawn dish soap to clean your brushes, instead of some kind of solvent,But, that's what I've been using to clean brushes at the end of painting. Just wipe most of the paint out of the brush with paper towel, put a latex glove on, put a few drops of soap into your palm and swish the brush around.. squeeze the paint out, and rinse. Or, I also use "the masters" brush cleaner, it's a solid soap that comes in a plastic tub, works really well, and no smell.

Nancy L. Vance said...

Hi Marilyn,
I've just started with oils in the last year, and my teacher says he ONLY uses Turpenoid Natural for cleaning the brushes at the end of a session - not with the paint. Not sure what the can says though. He says it sure cleans up car seats and clothing that has oil paint - even dried - when you have one of those 'oops' moments... He uses Gamsol as a medium (and cleaner), but mostly uses WN Liquin the most. I really like how this makes the paint glide and makes the paint dry quicker.It also seems to add a nice depth/luminosity to the painting if you use it as you work along in glazing. You can add a light coat to a painting that has mostly dried to start painting again the next day or so. And in the end after the painting is dry, he uses it like a varnish.
Hope this helps! I enjoy your blog!
Nancy

Dewberry Fine Art said...

This is a gem. It has wonderful emotion along with great values, color and brushwork. Your study has paid off well.

Dean H. said...

Great color, Marilyn! Love those reflected lights.