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alcippeI worked on the red and green painting for three hours last night and had a horrible time. I had to keep wiping it down because I just couldn't get it right; I really like this painting and it would be so easy to fuck it up. It was just one of those nights where nothing I did was any good - NOTHING, and I was sobbing and cursing and there was thinner everywhere and I was surrounded by soiled paper towels and wads of masking tape and open cans of paint. I should have stopped after the first few attempts went south, but I couldn't let it go. Around midnight I wiped the canvas down one last time and gave up, feeling completely defeated.
And then I made a discovery that will revolutionize how I move forward with my work. Rather than build a bonfire of every painting I've ever done and declare myself a failed artist, and rather than call it quits and go to bed, I got a small glass of water and a #6 brush and started wetting down some of the areas on Glasser. I needed to move forward with something, anything, and I figured that I could do a quick experiment with glaze and then call it a night. Instead, what I discovered was a way to brighten the colors of my paintings - not by rubbing them with oil (which renders the paper transparent, but ultimately yellows the surface and accelerates decay) - but by removing the lint and pulp from the surface of my paintings without damaging the paint below.
This is the holy grail I've been searching for. A way to have a clean surface without the use of a resin or oil. I stayed up until 1:30am removing layers of pulp, and then got up early this morning to continue. It's slow going, but it's effective.
You can see the bright colors starting to show through in the areas where I have worked, primarily on the top and left:
Glasser,
20"x20"
paint, paper & asphalt on canvas
In other news, I saw a building being demolished on my way in to work. I wonder who lived in the pink room.
And then I made a discovery that will revolutionize how I move forward with my work. Rather than build a bonfire of every painting I've ever done and declare myself a failed artist, and rather than call it quits and go to bed, I got a small glass of water and a #6 brush and started wetting down some of the areas on Glasser. I needed to move forward with something, anything, and I figured that I could do a quick experiment with glaze and then call it a night. Instead, what I discovered was a way to brighten the colors of my paintings - not by rubbing them with oil (which renders the paper transparent, but ultimately yellows the surface and accelerates decay) - but by removing the lint and pulp from the surface of my paintings without damaging the paint below.
This is the holy grail I've been searching for. A way to have a clean surface without the use of a resin or oil. I stayed up until 1:30am removing layers of pulp, and then got up early this morning to continue. It's slow going, but it's effective.
You can see the bright colors starting to show through in the areas where I have worked, primarily on the top and left:
Glasser,
20"x20"
paint, paper & asphalt on canvas
In other news, I saw a building being demolished on my way in to work. I wonder who lived in the pink room.
