Work in Progress 03/11/21 March 11, 2021 18:21

I was very happy to get back to painting the kind of work that I feel is characteristic for me--dark abstracts. Like a lot of people, I've been having a hellish time during this plague year plus. Yesterday, in fact, I was so horrifically depressed that I didn't see the point of painting or any kind of art at all. But this morning I thought I just have to paint for me, not for other people. And what do I like for my own painting? Mostly monotone, with lots of playing around with light, on the watercolor ground on canvas, which allows for so much play with lifting and highlighting with Guerra's titanium white pigment dispersion (plus QoR watercolor binder) and of course, with my absolute favorite paint, Dr. Ph. Martin's Payne's Gray. I swear, they should let me buy it by the 55 gallon drum. :) This combo is for me like an X-ray of the universe or at least of the spiritual realm that for me sits just behind and out of sight of our mundane world. Looking forward to working on this baby tomorrow. Or maybe even tonight.

I also got a bunch of new brushes from The Brush Guys yesterday, some of which I used today in making the lines of light but also the bright areas in this painting. I bought a bunch of different types of small brights, which is a small square brush like a flat but shorter. I find that for me brights are very handy for drybrush and for using side foward to make lines and to lift narrow areas. I actually learned about using them from oil painting, which I hope to get back to this summer. I highly recommend The Brush Guys. They have good prices and ship fast.