Sharing The Love . . .

Hello my friends!  

What I love about being an artist  is the community of like minded creatives that I have come to know as well as learn from on this journey.  Kelly Berkey is one of those people.  I met Kelly early on at the beginning of my art journey.  She was and still is lovely, supportive, and encouraging.  I have enjoyed watching her soar as an artist.  I am excited to share the news that Kelly is hosting her very first online workshop!  

If you would like to learn to paint portrait in oils then this is for you!  The workshop begins on January 24th (which just happens to be Kelly's birthday!) It is super affordable at only $55 but if you sign up before January 25th then its only $45.  Check out the video above! 

And then be sure to click HERE for all the details on "Love's Memory Portrait Painting Workshop"!!

xo

Dipping Into Oil . . .

In the spring I had the great opportunity to take an oil painting class with an artist in her studio. There were only 3 of us and it was just 5 sessions. I met her through a friend and was curious about what it would be like to paint with oil. I had only been painting since February in acrylic so I really had no idea what I was doing and some days still don't!

This painting is a work in progress that I did in that class. It is at her studio still and hopefully I will get to finish it sometime in the future. As you can see it is a still life. Not my favorite thing to paint as you all know.

I have to say that using the oil paint was harder than I thought. I had a hard time blending it because it is so very wet and blendable! I don't know if I would have the patience for the long drying time. The complete opposite of acrylic. I kept muddying it all up. But the colors are so much richer than acrylic and the look of oil on canvas is so very different. I did not like having to use the turp. I paint in my house and I think that would just be too hard having to use something toxic like that.

There definitely pros and cons to both but if I ever did want to try it again I would explore using water based oil. As for right now I am having fun with acrylic and mixed media for sure!

And of course there is sketching! Stay tuned . . . I will be posting my sketch for this weeks challenge with Kelly tomorrow! She inspired this post today. Check out her vlog where she chats all about what she is doing to progress herself as an artist and a few of the resources she is using along her journey! Click here!