Last night I gessoed three 35.5 x 23.75 canvass and today I toned them with a nice even mixture of burnt umber and ultramarine blue. I am going to be using this toning technique in my upcoming classes so I figure I might as well get some practice in before class starts. I usually tone my canvass in acrylics because they dry so quick but this time I tried using oils. I like the idea of toning in oils because it forces me to commit to doing the rest of the painting in oil but the dry time is excruciating. I am inspired. I want to paint but instead I am sitting around twiddling my thumbs waiting for paint to dry. Boring and annoying.
My original inspiration for these paintings was the point at which the sky meets the earth during a sunset as I was driving up the Pacific Coast Highway. The way the orange of the sky and the blue contrasted each other was beautiful then also the way the orange near the horizon transitions into the light blue of the sky. So beautiful. Then the next day at about noon I was driving back down PCH and the same sky meeting the ocean looked so much different then it did 19 hours before. So I was inspired to create a series of the horizon at different points in the day.
My goal for these is for them to not be overly realistic but more abstract, simple, and relaxing. I want to remind the viewer of how vast and amazing the sky and the ocean are. Since I really learned how to use oils I haven't played with them. I have only done realistic pieces. I have played with acrylics plenty but oils not so much. This is going to be my chance to just play with oils and enjoy the medium.
I know I have said a lot and it is because of how excited I am to do these paintings. There not for school, not for a friend, and not a commission. They are for me and my enjoyment. I haven't painted large scale just for me in quite a long while.
I am glad to feel inspired again. I hope these paintings turn out as I intend them to and I will be sure to post them here when I finish. :)
