Thursday, January 21, 2010

Look out, Vermeer, here I come.

I'm ready for my next form of therapy. On my lunch break, I bought a 30 x 48 inch 'gallery wrap' canvas upon which I plan to brush a masterpiece. Well, that's the plan. I'll be using a technique known as glazing, for which Johannes Vermeer was well known. Without boring you with too many details, glazing is a method by which colors are placed on a canvas in very thin layers using an oil-based medium. After a layer has dried, and another placed on top of it, the colors become not physically but optically mixed, thus creating a luminosity in the painting.

The key words there are 'after a layer has dried.' This project is meant to be a work of patience, above all else. My tendency to rush things is legendary, and I'm hoping to prove I can wait. A little.

This is why I'll be painting in my husband's heated 'shop' - the same place my cat resides. The wood stove keeps the place at an almost constant, arid 80 degrees. It's hard to say whether oils will dry faster in those conditions, but I'm betting on it.

And if not...well...I'll be patient. What's the hurry?

2 comments:

Urban Cynic said...

Well good luck to you - I have no patience either which is why I used to use acrylics! It's nice making stuff...

Simon Butler said...

You may want to consider having a look at the range of additives you can get for acrylic paints that simulate the various effects of oils without the pain – like having to wait a few weeks for it to dry, or cleaning in smelly solvents rather than water, for example.