APRIL ART

This past month, I completed three paintings! That's right. I did art. I rounded up Michaels coupons, got new oil paints, brushes, a palette, and canvas, and I got to work. 

I've enjoyed oil painting for a long time (the paintings I would consider myself proud of that date the farthest back are from when I was 15) and have recently decided to get back to it. Now that that stupid exam's done and everything. Painting is something that makes me feel good about myself and reminds me that there are things I am talented at that have nothing to do with intellectual pursuits (though I could argue that painting is an intellectual endeavor...), so I relish any chances to do it.

For one thing, one of my good friends got married (!!) and as a gift, I planned on painting her a portrait of her and her now-husband. Last I saw her she even hinted that, "We really like homemade gifts, and we know you're into giving those, so." But! I hadn't painted any portraits in a while. If ever, even. So to make sure that, after a long hiatus of painting nothing, I could pull off painting arguably one of the most complex likenesses out there, I decided to guinea pig it. I found an aesthetically similar picture of James and me to the one I want to paint of my friend and her hubby, and I decided to give it a trial run. That way, I wouldn't be painting a portrait with no recent practice–the thought made me apprehensive. But I went through with it because if I didn't like it or if it turned out less than stellar, I didn't have to give it to anyone, and if it did turn out great, I could give it to James as a gift.*

No suspense here, it turned out just fine. I'm glad I took pictures throughout the process (which in total took around 10 hours form sketching to polishing) so I could see it progress and become its final form! I will now share it here for my mom/grandma/boyfriend/future me to see.

I would like to acknowledge here the Bob Ross tabletop easel that made this job so much easier.

I am soulless.

Teeth are usually so difficult to depict convincingly but I was relieved they turned out great! Had to do my iconic smile justice ;) 

James saw this picture and said we look like anime characters with white hair.

What James looks like fresh after a shave.

Ta-dah!! As much of a fan of hyperrealism I am, I realize I cannot strive for hyperrealistic paintings but instead realistic paintings in my distinct style. Which I think shows through here. It's like an eclectic mix of being detail-oriented and too lazy to care. 

Still in a gift-giving/painting skills-practicing mood, I decided next to paint James' family dogs to give as a gift to his mom, since I'll be hosted at their house for a few weeks this summer. Also because I love love LOVE dogs and wanted to try my hand at painting them now that I felt accomplished about painting faces. I also prefer canvas panels to actual canvas because panels are easier to store and travel with (lol that's really all I care about isn't it), so after I got a pack of 5 from Michaels I had to think about what to do with them. With the doggies I used up two. And here is another step-by-step photo set.

Getting started on Chet the Cairns Terrier.

Bob Ross wasn't as necessary here, since the panel was small enough that I could lay it flat on the table and see everything just fine.

Chet is soulless.

Yay! I had so much fun with this. The wiry fur was a bit daunting to think about technique-wise but I think I captured it decently enough.

I knew Josey the mutt was going to be more difficult because of her pose and her bed but I decided to go for it anyway.

In comparison to Chet, Josey's colors were a bit harder to deal with because of her having mostly black fur. The overexposure of the reference photo also made her tan parts more faded than they should be.

One of my least favorite parts about oil painting (second maybe only to cleaning up) is laying down the base color. I prefer blending and adding details, so after I made it through painting the blackest parts I had fun with the pink belly and fur, the paws, and highlights!

  

I didn't even take progress pictures of the bed because I just wanted it to be over and done with. Also I put it off for two days. I think it looks good though.

Of all the stages of oil painting, from envisioning to choosing reference pictures (yes, because I sadly am not the artist who conjures up amazing original content from her own mind) to doing the actual painting and beyond, the actual worst part is cleaning up. The thing I hate about oils is how difficult they are to clean, especially when there's good sized clumps left on the palette. My dad pointed me to alcohol, which is a solvent and helps remove the oils from the brushes and the palette which was a miracle, but then the alcohol smells really strong. After I finished painting Josey today I somehow thought scraping a clump of yellow ochre off the palette and pushing it down into the drain hole was a good idea, and I ended up with a hand so stained it looked horrifyingly jaundiced. BUT it's okay now. I rubbed alcohol on it and washed with soap and ate honey mustard snacks so I could have an alternative explanation for the yellow hand and now my hand is back to normal.

Aaaaand my resolve and confidence in painting has been renewed! Can't wait to see what I end up doing next. Well, one thing will be the wedding present of course. Will update more on that later. But for now here's to finishing April with artistic achievements, hooray!

*BONUS CONTENT: 
I was so proud of my selfie-portrait of James and me that I considered keeping it for myself and not giving it as a gift. So I asked my Instagram followers what I should do, not so much because I really wanted them to decide for me but because I wanted to try out the Instagram poll feature. When it came to the first 10 who answered, it was an even split–5 to gift it, 5 to keep it. But then more and more people voted, and this was the result:

Out of 34 people who voted, 24 said I should give it to him, and 10 said I should keep it (shout out to those real homies–including James himself–who sympathized with me). I appreciated people's generous spirit and will officially be placing the painting in my carry-on on my next trip to see James.

Of course, whenever James and I end up living together, we'll have the painting with us so it'll be like having the best of both worlds. Let's hope that happens soon so I can have my painting back!!