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Mountain Bear
I have long quit stalking deviantart for new artists. My message box for new devs reach 300 even if I check out a lot of them everyday. I used to think that looking at new material would help me out with my taste and would help me with ideas. But lately I've been experiencing a never ending frustration, that I can't execute things as well as I used to. I can't paint with the same patience I had before. My understanding of depth light and shadow is all just a mess.
So I'll be holing myself up for a while. Mass copying from magazines, figure drawing books, and photo refs for the time being. And photography if I can manage. Speaking of which, I haven't gone around developing my rolls yet. Must do so this week.
I keep thinking that I want to take painting classes. Oil and acrylic mostly. I've asked some friends before about it and they suggested practicing with watercolor to get a hang of gradation. However I realized that I wanted to learn the prep work involved with the canvas from complete scratch, priming, under painting techniques etc. How to assess that a canvas painting is raw or the paint layer is too thin. I remember reading a book written by a Japanese painter and he discussed how to execute different textures with oils and varnish.
There's still a lot to learn. And right now I feel stressed since the direction that I am seemingly aiming for is very classical/ romantic in nature. And I feel quite old and significantly lacking of skill with the way I am. I just can't go around looking and studying new styles without establishing the basic things I should know and I should be good at right now.
Maybe because I realize I'm turning 21 without ever painting a firmly established background before and that I have zero sense of perspective and chiaroscuro. It's a self-imposed exile to the mountains for me.
So I'll be holing myself up for a while. Mass copying from magazines, figure drawing books, and photo refs for the time being. And photography if I can manage. Speaking of which, I haven't gone around developing my rolls yet. Must do so this week.
I keep thinking that I want to take painting classes. Oil and acrylic mostly. I've asked some friends before about it and they suggested practicing with watercolor to get a hang of gradation. However I realized that I wanted to learn the prep work involved with the canvas from complete scratch, priming, under painting techniques etc. How to assess that a canvas painting is raw or the paint layer is too thin. I remember reading a book written by a Japanese painter and he discussed how to execute different textures with oils and varnish.
There's still a lot to learn. And right now I feel stressed since the direction that I am seemingly aiming for is very classical/ romantic in nature. And I feel quite old and significantly lacking of skill with the way I am. I just can't go around looking and studying new styles without establishing the basic things I should know and I should be good at right now.
Maybe because I realize I'm turning 21 without ever painting a firmly established background before and that I have zero sense of perspective and chiaroscuro. It's a self-imposed exile to the mountains for me.