When I moved to Thailand in 2022, I decided to put my crochet hooks down and get back into pen and paper. I began to draw again; my preferred art as a child was fresh and new to me again. I have always loved bold, black ink, and began contrasting it with watercolor. This is what got me into painting, and I decided I wanted to take an official class.
Apparently, to no surprise at all, watercolor is very tricky– and you cant just sign up for the watercolor course at the Glassell School of Art unless you take Painting Fundamentals I. So that’s what I have been doing this semester every Tuesday night. We were given the option to choose between acrylics and oil; I chose oil, and I am so glad I did. The simple act of mixing the paint colors together on palette paper is so wonderfully cathartic and addictive… the oils glide so smoothly onto the canvas, and remain blendable for as long as you may need them to be. It’s really just a dream. Any time I may have attempted paint in the past, the acrylics would dry on the mat before I had the chance to lay down any vision. I love oils.
It is however still a massive learning curve– and I’ve been learning so much! I haven’t been doing any doodling or art beside this… just putting nose to the grindstone and sinking hour after hour into the tedious process of painting layers of oil, representations of random objects I may never have chosen to do a study of on my own.
These are the works I have done so far, and I am currently working on a perspective drawing of the inside of my bedroom which I actually think may turn out to be something I would hang (In the same bedroom, of course).
I love the class but I do look forward to having my schedule open to spend my creative energy on projects I really want to do. I can’t wait…
