The need and the act.
November 2024 Painting Letter
Hello there,
I hope you are doing well. From time to time, I sit down and write all the things I like to work on and how I like to do that. What I need and what I no longer need. It comes normally after a period where I’ve been very busy normally doing not painting-related work. All those things that no longer serve the purpose of making painting light and the heart full. Some house-painting cleaning. In general, those things are easy: putting painting down in your palette and painting. Having everything displayed in order to minimize the period of time (and thoughts) that occurs between the need and the act. This, for me, involves having my brushes clean, or not having objects that interfere with space, for example.
Just start painting.
Not leaving that much time for questioning an idea and executing it as soon as possible.
This is a way of work that works for me. What I need. What I no longer need. It may be different for you. Time and thinking processes are different, and it is OK. I am someone decisive and efficient. This affects the way I like to work. I like to remind myself, from time to time, that I need my materials to meet what I need. It sounds easy. And it is.
I like acrylic painting because it dries fast, and you don’t have to be that cautious about drying times as it goes for oil painting. But I manage to make my life easier also with oil painting. For example, cleaning the brushes (as I said before) and my palette at the end of a painting session. Putting a good amount of oil painting on the palette is also important, because it helps you to mix and use a good amount to take with your brush (and paint) and it prevents you from grabbing your paint tubes every 15 minutes, or to paint with a very small amount of paint. Oil paint dries slower than acrylic paint, so you can also leave the painting on your palette and come the day after to paint. You can also store your palette in a plastic box or have one of those sta wet palette (which I never tried before btw). If not, you can easily remove the thin dried layer with a palette knife even some days before. I do these things as much as possible, but being flexible, because sometimes it can’t be possible to clean the brushes right away (for example) or other life things happens. It is ok too.
In the end, it is all about reducing the time between the need and the act of painting. Making life easier.
This week I am going to release a new video on my YouTube channel about sketching materials. I am showing you what materials I like to take with me and always in this optic of having a kit that helps me work. Talking about materials I took with me for sketching on the go, at shorter distances. Stay tuned or subscribe to my YouTube channel if you don’t want to miss it :)
I hope you enjoy some pictures of this month, some of them I already shared on my social media or with my patrons.
Some videos
This month I worked on two different videos for my youtube channel. I really enjoy recording videos for my channel. In both of them I am doing some pastel drawing. I hope you enjoy them!
Thank you so much for taking your time and reading this painting letter.
I hope you have a nice day,
Elena.