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I need so much practice, my goodness, I feel so behind in my painting skillz.
These streaks of momentum happen, and I love them, then I get so heavy inside and I just can't muster the energy to do anything.
Being in the figure painting class is good, I love being back in the class/studio environment with other painters. There is some truly excellent work happening, and I love seeing all of it. Being in that kind of environment where everyone is working is important because you soak it up. College was like that too, we learned just as much from simply being around each other as we did from assignments and critiques.
So I need to practice with others and I need to practice in my studio. One month this year I might do dailies, but I'm not quite ready yet.
One of my reasons for doing the figure class, aside from the practice and environment, is to work larger and more slowly than I have been doing. I have been working fast and small, and I need some balance to that. So I'm working 18x24 over a month on one painting now. There is an odd balance between quality/quantity. Practicing as much as possible is really important but at the same time too much quantity for too long also gets stale, and slowing down is important.
I have not figured out how to balance this yet.
And i dont paint enough.
But on the other hand, I want to be able to knock out a killer alla prima portrait in 2-3 hours... and right now I can't. And there is no way around it except by doing it- a lot.
I have also decided to really standardize my palette for a while.
For my figure class I'm using some cadmiums- my Williamsburgs because that's what I have... but they are stupid-expensive so I went down to Jerrys and got some Lukas 1862s which are good quality with a much better price.. And they dry faster as well. So I won't mind using them in larger quantities.
I like to reserve my Williamsburgs for special occasion paintings, so to speak. (Also Williamsburgs can really take 2 weeks to dry, sometimes longer.)
Here is my current standard palette, which I will be using for plein air as well.
Titanium white
Lemon yellow
Cadmium yellow medium
Cadmium orange
Cadmium red light
Permanent Alizarin
Burnt Sienna
Ivory black
Ultramarine
Cobalt blue
Optional viridian only if needed for special case.
I might miss yellow ochre, we are kind of besties...
Cobalt turquoise (PG 50) is my favorite pigment in the whole world and I love it so much I might still bring it plein airing. I don't think I can give it up.
However I want to get out of old patterns (and palettes) and just not worry about color choices for a while. This is a very standard full-range palette which will work for both portrait and landscape.
And I am fighting with the painting on my easel, meaning it is total crap, and I should stop looking at amazing paintings because that is really demoralizing.
It is that time of year when everything is difficult. Hang in there girl things will brighten. Like your painting. You are pretty hard on yourself. I have been reading Tommy Kanes blog. He is doing a sketch class in the Bronx. Talks about people being packed in and how unnerving it is. I hope you have more room at your class. Can't imagine cramming into a space for a class with oils. I love the tuquoise too.
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