One of the great things about painting is that, if you don’t like something, you can just paint over it! I did a painting in an abstract class a few months ago. It was really horrible. It was a lot of brown and the composition didn’t make any sense to me. I was hoping that I would re-visit it and make it work but it’s just been stashed in a closet. Viola! Now (after I finish painting those red edges) I’ve got a new, blank canvas. I have an idea about what I want to go on this canvas, but you’ll just have to check back and see.
Yes, that’s a GALLON of Gesso. Gesso is awesome for the purpose described above, as a surface primer and to create a texture on the surface to be covered (or not) later with paint. This canvas has a 1.25″ edge. I prefer to use the deep edge canvases because they still look okay if you don’t put them in a frame. The brush I’m using is a Creative Mark Mural 50, which is a flat 1 – 15/16″. Big, flat brushes are fun to work with because they are quick at filling up a space with paint and they force you to be loose with your movements.
On a fun note, I also love to watch movies about art and artists. I rented The Forger the other night and really liked it. It stars Josh Hutcherson, who was in The Hunger Games and Alfred Molina, who is in a lot of great movies – including another great art movie Frida. Anyway, The Forger, had a good story and touched on some of the struggles artists have making a living. It also provided some good insight on how art can be used to communicate emotion that is very difficult to express.
