Posts Tagged ‘oil paitings’
Friends
I have two of the most wonderful friends – Betty and Suzanne. We all love to paint in oils, and do landscape paintings en plein air.
Sometimes we do things individually: Suzanne had a solo show at a frame shop in the fall, Betty had a solo show in the Foyer Gallery of the Art Institute and Gallery in Salisbury in November, and I was in a show at Chesapeake College in October.
Sometimes we do things together: We have been in the Ocean City Library show both last year and this year. Betty just called me a day or two ago and because of her solo show and the corresponding article in the newspaper, she was asked to show at the Ocean Pines Library from January 15 to February 28. She said that we all would show! So the two of them will get it together and hang the paintings because I am in Florida, and when Suzanne goes on vacation in February, Betty will take the whole thing down herself! Now, I call that true friendship!
New Home Page
Last summer I joined an online mall, Easy Place to Shop. The owner, Rick Romano, helps me with my web site http://www.murphyartstudio.com , and today we rewrote the Home Page which will be up in a few days.
There are over 100 colorful, whimsical landscape paintings which I painted en plein air (French for “in the open air”) in Mexico, Montana, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio and Maryland. Please go, have a look, and see if some of these very affordable paintings might fit in your home or might be right for a gift you want to give. Most of them are framed, all are ready to hang, and they come with a money-back guarantee!.
An Abundance of Purpose – Part 2
We each have a mission in life – one that gives our lives meaning and purpose. To discover our purpose, we must ask ourselves some powerful questions. For example, your choice to create oil paintings is part of your mission, but what kind of oil paintings do you want to create? What kind of impact do you want your art to make? What values did you express? How were you unique? Your art is a response to life – your emotions, experiences, values, beliefs and choices, the sum of what makes you unique.
The great Indian mystic and physician Patanjali, who lived somewhere between 200 BC and 200 AD, said: “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world… Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover your self to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
Another Word about Glazing
There is another option if you aren’t interested in making your own glaze for oil paintings. Liquin is a glaze that can be purchased at many craft stores and is often used.
When applying the glaze, a brush can be used. Sometimes a stiff brush called a stippling brush is used to even out the glaze. For a softer or thinner application, a rag or toe of an old sock filled with cotton can be used to dab on the glaze and to soften the edges.
I came across this quote from a non-glazer: If you hear a voice within you say, “you can’t paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced”. …Vincent van Gogh
Pissarro on Landscape Paintings
What follows is more advice from Camille Pissarro regarding landscape paintings.
When painting, look for a clear object, see what lies to the right and left of it and work at all sections simultaneously. Apply paint all at once, with brush strokes of the right colours and brightness and try to set down your observations directly.
Cover the canvas in one sitting and work at this until you can find nothing else to add. Paint what you see and feel. Paint strongly and unhesitatingly, for it’s best not to lose the first impression. One must have only one master: nature. One must always ask her counsel.