This is the first time I’ve shown Break. Break is 40″ x 50″ and I’ve had four painting sessions. Break is another of my Playhouse Square series. The painting in the background, Euclid Avenue II, is another painting in the series. The painting on the right-side is Taking Note, which is close to being done.
The past two weeks I’ve concentrated on some technical issues and feel I’ve made progress. One issue is how best to transfer drawings for painting. The main impetus is watercolor. I want to do some complicated designs in watercolor and, as anyone familiar with watercolor knows, watercolor paper doesn’t handle corrections well. So I am working out the best way to transfer complicated designs to a target surface.
I am making a small, complicated, watercolor-size (20″ x 24″) design which I am transferring to canvas. If it works, I will try the process on a large canvas, say 40″ x 50″. The problem with the process with large canvases is that it requires large rolls of drawing paper. Good paper that size is expensive, and because the drawing is ruined during transfer, expensive paper is a waste, but cheap paper isn’t fun to draw on.
The other problem I am working on is identifying the best fixing varnish, that is, varnish used to prevent oil paint from sinking in. The varnish must be super-fast drying and not too glossy. I’ve had some success lately.