Girl with red flowers in her hair. Oil on wood.

Finally over this past weekend I got some serious painting done, and I have now finished my new work. I hope you enjoy it .This is yet another change of style, but I´m  pleased with the result. I wanted to capture a degree of vulnerability and unawareness in this painting, as if the girl did not know her image was being painted,  and she has been caught deep in thought.  I hope that this come across.

However, apart from the style, the biggest change for me was that this painting is not painted on canvas. I have still used oils but it is painted on wood, which is a new thing for me. The biggest surprise was how much the wood made the oil paint move around. With a canvas, the paint will stay more or less where it is when you add some more to the top. In contrast, the wood made the first layer of paint move if I tried to add to it……..which made painting fun, and also changed the finished look of the painting quite significantly. I really like the silky smooth finish that the wood has given areas of the painting, with only the paint itself adding any texture.

The other thing I have noticed is that the drying time has increased a lot. In fact the painting is still very wet now, and it was difficult to photograph it without the wet paint causing a glare. As it is the first time I have painted on wood, I will have to wait and see how long it will be before it is completely dry. I have the feeling it may take a long time, as the paint this morning feels more or less as wet as it was when I used it…

I will definitely be painting on wood again; I liked the lack of grip compared with a canvas, and the way it was possible to move the paint around. The differences aren´t so obvious in the picture I took, but I will take another photo once it is dry and you will be able to see the finish better.

Also, this means that I still have my one large canvas left. I will use it next, but I really must try to get to Málaga to buy some more. I don´t want to have to start using the smaller ones.

I have a few things that I have to do today, so it will be this afternoon or more likely tomorrow before I begin the next painting, and now I’m back to where I was the beginning of last week: I don´t have an idea of what to paint next….

Have a good day everyone,

Judy xxx