Alter-ego: The Snake Charmer

Here is the first assignment from my oil painting class. Our task was to define an alter-ego for ourselves, and to paint our likeness on this fantasy identity. I decided that my alter-ego would be an exotic snake charmer, hiding from the dessert sun in her lavish arabian, or maybe Egyptian palace. My alter-ego would [...]

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Stock Pig

This is what we call a stock image. It’s a vague, metaphorical piece that could be applied to a number of projects. Painted with oil, this cheerful piggy bank is perfect for an add for savings accounts, or an article on financial growth. It could also be a an image to stand for the economic [...]

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Oil Paint Practice Piece: Glazes.

I have another practice painting to post! This is the same self portrait of myself that I did monochromatically, but this time, I am using colored glazes to build up the painting. I started on a white gessoed board, and put in the darks with a thin layer of fairly dry raw umber, kind of [...]

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Learning Oils

I have taken some photos of my practice oil paintings for your entertainment. Before this class, I knew nothing at all about oil paint. And I am still very clueless, but at least not totally hopeless. We have been learning how to use the paint by doing a whole bunch of simple portraits. First we [...]

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First Oil Painting

Once again, as part of my science and art class (which is now finished btw) we spent some time becoming familiar with different kinds of paint. This tiny little piece is my very first time working with oil paint! This panel is only 4″x4″ and has been gesso’d and sanded by hand. Oil paint is [...]

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