Practice is a lot harder than it seems, for me anyways. Practice does make perfect (well, in some cases) but takes time and dedication. Something not always convenient with our jobs, houses to take care of, laundry to do and raging children running around like mad. I regret to say that I have fallen victim of the awful habit of just doing "finished" paintings. Doesn't seem so bad right off the bat, right? Wrong! So much of the artistic process is lost to just finishing commission works or paintings to sell. Quick sketches, studies and such open up to so many possibilities. Practicing for the sake of practice greatly improves skills and techniques with out the added pressure of worrying about how it will turn out, if it will sell, or if the commissioners are going to approve. And I've come to realize that its just plain out fun : )
So with that in mind, some art buddies and I set up a still life and practiced away(well I did anyways)! And long last I got a chance to try out my Yupo paper. I've had in on the shelf for about 6 months now, too worried to try it out on a "real" painting. And I must say I quite like the stuff! Its paper made out of plastic and compatible with acrylic, oil, and water color, just to name a few. Also in the sake of my practice session I went about doing my painting in a different manner. Didn't use a pallet knife once! Decided I needed a little more practice with just a brush. I used a size 8 mongoose brush on this small painting so I could focus more on shapes and colors and forget about detail. Not that I actually forgot about it, it was just impossible to get it with that size brush. Overall I had a great time!
Painting measures about 11x14 inches Oil on Yupo paper
via artdebustillos.com