Hello and welcome back. I hope you are doing well.
The past month I’ve been moving into a new studio with big windows and a nice green view. At the same time, I bought a new Sketchbook which is an A4 size and I already worked on it. I painted a scene that I want to show you.
What I like about acrylics is that you can layer the paint quite fast and create nice textures. This is for me a great tool for achieving fast results and not having to wait for the painting to be dried. Both acrylics and oils are not behaving in the same way so you can for sure notice a difference in the results of the painting. But that is not the point. Acrylic painting is a great medium for working on my sketchbook because after a painting or a sketch is done, I can close the pages and/or start a new spread later that day. It is a great tool to paint quickly and practice.
I recorded a little video to show you this painting, so you can see what it looks like:
When painting quickly I can focus on big masses of color instead of details to achieve the big picture more than losing myself in painting the details. So I paint from general to specific. And, in the end, I can paint some important details: for example if I have to suggest the expression of the mouth or the earring. This is what makes the painting, at the end, more readable. That tiny details. I like to recognize our gestures in the final painting. It is nice to find that I’ve got to suggest some scene that is recognizable, more than perfectly rendered. That is the point.
Acrylic painting has become a very important part of my painting practice and I enjoy it so much. This is a very new medium for me as I never used it before (I have been painting in acrylics for more or less one year now) but I never thought it could be a medium that I would enjoy. This is my current color palette in acrylics:
I also think that this medium fits perfectly with my painting practice. I like my paintings to get done. This has to do with the painting process in which I am looking for the result of the painting as I enjoy the process. But there is something about the fact of completing the painting. I feel relieved. This has to do with the motor of my practice: I paint what I see, what I live so there is no set up in purpose for my paintings, because I am not trying to say anything elaborated with them. So for most of the time, I paint scenes and subjects that are moments. It is only after the painting is done (and maybe a long time after) that sometimes I get to understand why I was painting this or that moment. Sometimes it is just something beautiful.
Painting scenes that seem to me difficult to paint (technically speaking) in acrylics on my sketchbook, let me evolve as a painter and let me paint some paintings that I couldn’t never paint before if I’ll be over analyzing every aspect of it. So instead I paint right away and I paint anyways even if the result is bad or the subject is difficult. It doesn’t matter. You will be getting better with practice that is for sure. Practice is key. And finding joy and being familiarized with your materials helps a lot.
If you paint, I encourage you to go on. It gets always better.
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!
On Patreon you can enjoy monthly video process of my work and other content about my painting process. I’ve been running my Patreon for one year now so by joining you can have access to a backlog of +20 video process.
I also enjoy making videos for my Youtube Channel. You can expect one or two videos per month by now :) In the last video, you can see a real-time process of a landscape painting in acrylics in my sketchbook and a Mini sketchbook tour in a castle in Les Ardennes in the Belgian countryside. Feel free to subscribe!
WORKSHOPS
Agenda:
L’Ateliers (Les Avins. Belgium) Saturday 21 October Oil painting classes
La Ruche des Artistes (Huy. Belgium) Sunday 22 October - One day Oil painting workshop. (More to come)
L’Ami Couleur (Liège. Belgium) Saturday 14 October - Oil painting classes.
All these workshops are hosted in French. The spots for Huy will be available soon. Please contact me if you are interested in some of them. These courses will be hosted monthly and some places are still available.
We paint in alla prima technique using a limited palette. We do not use any turpertine and we paint mostly on paper.
PAINTING COMMISSIONS
By the end of September, I had the chance to work on a very special commission that I cannot show yet. I am currently taking some painting commissions if you are interested in the upcoming holiday session. I work from photo reference and both in acrylics and oils. You can take a look at my online shop.
Before I say goodbye, I would love to show you another painting from the past month. This is a pencil drawing and an acrylic painting in my A6 Sketchbook.
I hope you enjoyed this October painting letter, share and subscribe if you liked it! See you next month :)
Elena.