Still on the Easel

I am frustrated... for some reason I seem to spend far more time working on a painting than is reasonable, and I still am not satisfied with the results. This one is still on the easel, and it is close to being done, but I think I need to leave it alone for a while to work out some of the things which are frustrating me. The painting will have its face turned to the wall for a week or so, and then I will come back to see it again. In the meantime, I am going for a bike ride to work out the tension that I'm feeling in between my shoulders.

Working on this...

Autumn Fence

18" x 24"

oil on canvas (not yet finished)

This is the painting which is currently on my easel. I LOVE old wooden fences, and this one is not far from my home, along a side road that I happened to travel down one day last fall. I am surrounded by such beauty... I can hardly go anywhere but that I see a painting waiting for me to do!

I do like how I can blend in oils, but painting with oils is quite a messy process for me. Somehow, I am hoping as I continue to work in them, I will end up using less paint - so that it is all on the canvas, not half on me! But I am persevering, and it is getting somewhat better. I absolutely cannot tell you how much the brilliance of the color in oil paints has captured my passion to paint. Any subject is fair game with this medium!

I still have quite a lot to do on this painting... the trees, the bushes in the front, and then detail on the boards. But, I am planning on finishing this one up in a few days, and then it is on to a watercolor commission. Switching back to watercolor will be a challenge I am sure... totally different technique. It will keep me on my toes, so to speak!