July 15, 2010

Back to Acrylics

A visit to several galleries in Carmel leaves me pining to do oils again. Watercolors could scarcely be found in the Monterey area! "Watercolorists are popular on the East coast, not here," sniffed one gallery owner. But, realistically, I cannot do oils in our tiny living space, so I'm going to try acrylics once again. I've been watching some how-to videos online. It seems that acrylic painting is backwards from watercolor painting. Instead of painting from light to dark, acrylic painters seem to go from dark to light. That is, they paint the shadow colors first, let them dry, and then superimpose the lighter colors. And (thank you, Internet!) a water tray should keep the paints from drying out so fast. It doesn't look all that difficult. Then, with a nice coat of varnish, I should have a painting that resembles an oil.

We took some beautiful photos along the coast, so I have lots of inspiration. Watch for a painting of Gibson Beach in Pt. Lobos Reserve soon...if my webmaster ever gets around to updating my website!