Saturday, June 8, 2013

Flowers & Fruit


oil 9x12 inches not for sale at this time I've been trying some new things. This is the second of four pieces (so far) painted on Arches Oil Paper, a relatively new product. No priming needed. You paint directly on the paper. Like everything, it has its advantages and disadvantages, which I will discuss further down if you're interested. Also with this piece, I'm entertaining some suggestions made to me recently: more muted color, and a varied color scheme rather than one dominating color. I felt like I really stuck my neck out trying new stuff on a new substrate, but what the heck. I won't post the first because it's hideous, but might be worth reworking later. I would love to hear some feedback on what you think of this one. About Arches Oil Paper: ADVANTAGES: ready to go, easy to store, tear any size, smooth surface, first washes sink in without dripping, subsequent layers sit on top, dries much faster, sinking in forced me to use more paint, can be varnished. DISADVANTAGES: no canvas texture, paint really sinks in, dries to very dull opaque, dries faster, harder to manipulate edges. For framing, I'm pretty sure it needs to be mounted on board. So I'm thinking, why not paint on canvas mounted on board already??? Still, it's good to try new stuff.

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful work. The colours are lovely. Interesting to know about the paper.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen, You should stick your neck out again and again!!! This is quite lovely. It has such a subtle peacefulness to it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good for you that you are trying new things. The paper sounds interesting but I am all for ready made surfaces that are ready to frame or paint around the sides. This is a very nice piece. I personally have always loved what you have done with your still life and have never found fault with them. Don't give too much credence to someones opinion. Your work is some of the best out there.
    Painting and camping sounds like lots of fun. Love your sense of adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, Karen, I'm a watercolor artist so I'll just say I love this piece. You always get so much drama with your wonderful sense/plan for values.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Karen, this is wonderful-I love your varied colors and the background really works to enhance the set up.
    I have wanted to try the Arches paper for oil, too. What turns me off is that the manufacturer recommends framing it under glass. I think you have made some other good points about it, thanks for sharing all that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for talking about the new paper for oils. I have been wondering about it but have not purchased it so far. I really don't like matting and framing so that is a huge disadvantage for me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Karen, You work is gorgeous. I agree why not just paint on a canvas panel. I dislike the canvas texture so painting on this paper would please me except for the framing part. Maybe it's meant to be for practice or cheap studies. Anyway it is fun to try new stuff.
    Happy Summer

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love it! Thank you so much for sharing the information. Your painting conquered the disadvantages....it doesn't have that 'dry' look at all. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've been painting on the Arches oil paper over the past months mostly because tearing it into quarters gives me a good size and cheaper surface to experiment on. If I end up with a loser, it's easier to throw paper away than prepared panels or expensive canvas. :-) I have mounted one using PVA glue (archival) onto gator board which I gessoed to make it archival. I agree with the initial disadvantages you mention, but once there's enough paint, it works well. You've done a beautiful job with this painting—no sign of any struggle with the surface.

    ReplyDelete

No word verification needed. :-)