On Saturday, me and my friend Girl Power spent forty-five minutes shoveling my car and driveway out from under a pile of days-old snow. When I was finished my arms were so tired that I didn’t even feel like I could hold a paintbrush. My husband would roll his eyes if I told him that–he knows what a weakling I am! He shoveled everything else and didn’t even bat an eyelash! I, on the other hand, am pretty sure that one of my fingers got a little frostbitten…or at least frost-nibbled.
So, I am a little behind on this painting. This morning I covered the canvas with a quick coat of burnt sienna. I used acrylic paint because it dries fast.
If you already know the reason for the burnt sienna paint, you can skip this paragraph. If you don’t know why I did this, keep reading if you care to know. The reason is because my next step is to capture the values (lights and darks) of the image using black and white paint. If I paint black and white paint on a white canvas, it is really tough to accurately perceive the values I’m painting with, because the canvas is already so light. If I use a mid-tone like burnt sienna, my canvas is neither dark nor light, so I can get a better idea of the correct values.
I hope to get back on track soon. One of my many goals this year is to complete paintings in a shorter amount of time. I’ll keep you posted, but I must warn you that more snow is on the way tonight. Let’s hope I’ve learned my lesson about shoveling right away, and not waiting for days. On the other hand, maybe I’ll just send Girl Power out on her own.
