excitement from the studio

I am really, really excited about this guy. I painted the canvas with one layer of latex, and three layers of primer (thoroughly sanding between each, of course) before I left on Friday. I didn't go to the studio on Monday, because I had a handful of things to do around town, ending with work at 6:30. So I came in swinging on Tuesday. I feel like caring about the prep of the surface changed my normal attitude towards the early stages of the painting. The other thing that got me really excited about doing this is the mini art swap I just finished with the painters. I learned a lot from them. I will post pictures of them as soon as I know all the painters have received them (so I don't ruin any surprises). I understand now that I really need to plan out the structure of my abstraction before the color fields develop. I think my new large brushes are helping too. I really love layering and dragging the brush. I feel that the way I went about making decisions for this painting was much more mature than my past recent works. I did however, give into the oil. I shouldn't have used oil on it. I regret it. But for some reason, I have this weird idea in my head that I need to add oil to it. Even though I really, really, really didn't need to. I loved what the surface was doing. I loved how fast it was trying and the way I was able to work more and more paint into it so quickly. But I added oil. I like the oil stick. I'll use that again. The next two canvases I have prepped, as of right now, will not get any oil. Any way, enjoy. (I'm pumped.)

Pink and red latex base.

Before I left for my self-awarded 3-day.

I'm sorry this is the first picture I took...there were a lot of steps before it got here.

I love the subtle color changes.

oil stick, oil paint, acrylic

I added oil paint, and I regret it (upper brown blob).

prepping for more paintings tomorrow.

The biggest, most expensive [art] brush I've ever bought.