Breaking news ... OIL!

Today was a banner day! For the first time ever, I painted with oil. Can I tell you? It was amazing! Not all of the paint in the painting you see above was applied by my hand, many of the strokes were made by Thomas Kitts, who has honored me by taking me on as his student. But, plenty of what you see is my effort, my color mixing, my brushstrokes, my fledgling steps at learning something new. I am so excited, I can hardly see straight.

You can see the still life set up here and my panel ready for my first marks. Thomas painted beside me, demonstrating on his painting and on mine, guiding and explaining all the way. It was great! You can see my easel to the right and some values laid in to the sketch. I had some drawing problems, which frustrated me, but the paint was a joy.

As homework for the next couple of weeks, I will be in my own studio, painting some still life set ups, trying to apply what I learned today and making it my own. I'm sure I will have a bucket full of questions to ask Thomas when he returns from his trip to California where he will paint in the 12th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational.

I have wanted to learn to paint in oil for a long time, but have postponed it for various reasons (excuses). One advantage to travel is that it helps me put my goals into sharp relief. I knew, after spending four months on the boat, that I definitely wanted to learn how to paint in oil. I am happy to report that I have started!