Yesterday was a bit of a disaster. Due to external factors I was nowhere near the right mindset to do any art. Much as I wanted to.
To compensate for my poor mood I decided to watch a YouTube tutorial on painting with acrylics. I reasoned that if I wasn't going to do any art I may as well keep educating myself in some way, shape or form. The video proved really useful as it turns out. Here it is:
Watching her work I confirmed that my student acrylics are past their best. They have lost much of their fluidity. No wonder I can't blend with them! I also realised I don't use enough water. Imagine not using enough water when painting!? That's what overthinking will do for you. It became obvious watching that you add water until your paint is the consistency you want. She also mixed her paint with he paintbrush, then cleaned off the brush before scooping up some of the new colour and painting with it. Why hadn't I thought of that? I was obsessing about unmixed colour stuck on the brush ruining the painting. Why didn't I just clean the brush????
She also kept a rag to take the excess water off her brush before using it. It probably also helped remove the remaining colour before using a new colour. This rang a bell. Slowly as I watched her work I felt I remembered using these techniques too.
My main takeaway from watching this was to just play with the paint. Follow your instincts. It isn't going to blow up if you get it wrong. No one will come and take your canvas away if you make a mess. Try things. See what works. Discard what doesn't. If one of your paints is unworkable just bin it. Its your paint after all.
At the very end of the day I did manage a couple of sketches from my imagination while waiting in the car. Anatomically they aren't great, but I can already see how my nude studies are going to bene fit me. At least I put pencil to paper. Oh! And I bought myself a proper mixing pallet. :)
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