Slurpy Paint and Five Brushes

Returning--oil painting in progress

Here is an unfinished painting. I am posting it because I had so much fun painting the sky! Most books and articles on painting don't talk about the kinesthetic aspects of painting, but it is the fun part! And the surface appearance is a huge part of the total energy of the artwork. (Yes, they do emit an energy... )

As you can see, there was some painting done before I got to the sky, but I'll save that for a future post.

Now, for the sky! I pre-mixed all the colors from the dark blue-gray to the bright orange, and added enough Liquin to give the paint a slurpy consistency. Then, using soft, rounded, flat brushes (sable filberts) with a different brush for each color, I started with the darkest color using a light touch. These clouds swoosh across the sky, so I used swooshing motions with the brush.

Above is a close-up. I felt like a conductor leading a sympthony, using a whole handful of brushes and letting the strokes swoosh like the motion of the wind--not doing too much blending, because it would muddy the paint. But keeping it light and smooth, so the glow underneath would show through. Just enjoying the feeling of each stroke as the brush glided across the surface. Yeah, slurpy!


Now, back to painting... That water is going to be difficult!