1st layer of 2nd oil painting

Work in progress: Oil on board, 15 x 12 ”
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

This is the first layer: I expect there will be two or three more. Before I started this, I set up my palette, grabbed a library book with some oil painting technique exercises and tried doing the first exercise, copying a value study of layers of mountains. It was boring and awful. I finished it and tossed it, feeling discouraged. Then I decided to stop worrying so much and just start painting. I grabbed the photos I took the other day and used the veges and bowl from this one:

and next I think I’ll add the tablecloth from this one:

I ran out of time before I could start the background.

The biggest hurdle for me to get over is using white paint. For 20 years of painting with watercolor, I’ve learned to preserve the white in my paper instead of using white paint and to use more water to make colors lighter. There’s a big taboo about using white paint with watercolor–it’s considered “cheating” in some circles. I didn’t think I cared about that, that my preference for leaving the white of the paper had more to do with wanting the luminance and clarity that you don’t get with opaque white paint on top of transparent watercolor.

But when it came time to actually mix up colors using white paint, it felt like what I imagine an alcoholic might feel after being sober 20 years and then being told now it’s ok to drink and reaching for that first bottle. (Except I know there’s really no comparison–terrible things don’t happen from using white paint). But I was definitely stressing over it, which was interesting for me to observe. I received a couple answers to my worries about using white paint that I posted online. One person on Wet Canvas told me to paint a white object to get over it and Nel wrote and told me to “Use white paint happily and freely in oils!” She should know–her recent oils are scrumptious.

It’s going to be interesting switching back and forth between oil and water and monoprinting. I think I’ll try the same composition in watercolor tomorrow too–especially if this oil is still to wet to work with.