Reflections of Painting 3 Final Project-PAINT

I would like to make some kind of review about my experience on the Level 3 Advanced painting course. I think a small series of notes tackling one aspect that has been meaningful or significant would be the best way to tackle this.

In this series of painting I decided to use oil paint, a medium I had used in the past but had been exploring acrylic lately. I had forgotten how much I liked the smell and feel of oils, and I do think they have a richer quality than acrylic. Of course they take longer to dry and I am a bit clumsy so tend to get paint on my clothes.......

I chose oil for this series because I felt I could use a bit of a 'lift' and the subconscious feeling that oil is 'proper' painting (this seems a bit silly, especially as I stick everything bar the kitchen sink on my work).

I really enjoyed using the oils, having more time to manipulate the paint helped me to relax into the painting, to enjoy the feel of spreading/applying the paint and to enjoy the medium on quite a physical level. I think these experiences have translated into my work which is looser and more intuitive than previously. I think this has allowed the work to be more personal. A good move!

I also chose to invest in some artists quality paints. These really make the job easier. With these paints there is more pigment which makes the colours richer and more intense. I had previously resorted to inserting spots of oil pastel colour in my work to get a really intense colour but with a better quality of paint this wasn't necessary.

I had treated myself to some new brushes, including some that were larger than I had been used to using. When I was working on larger canvases I decided to use these larger brushes. I felt that this would help maintain some of the integrity of the sketches that I was trying to scale up. With a larger brush I was more confident in applying larger areas of solid colour. I really like the impact that these areas brought to the painting and used them even in some smaller work.