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Cathy McFarland

Under and Over

Today I finished my underpainting assignment. I did not have any varnish, which is what the tutor used, and had to work with watered down paint which did not work as well. Half the time I found myself wiping paint off or blending in when I didn't mean to.


I was quite surprised by the end result. I can see how this would be a great technique (used correctly), for things like landscapes. Having given it a go I realised I have done similar things in the past. Doing a drawing and adding all the shading with a pencil, then going over it either with coloured pencils or watercolour paint. I am sure I have never done this with acrylics before. My oil painting course uses underpainting too. It will be interesting to see how this works with a slow drying medium.


Working on this piece I also broke out one of my desktop easels. Bending over a flat board is murder on my neck. Especially as I can lose myself for two to three hours doing this. The desktop easel was much more comfortable and I found I preferred painting this way. The only downside is the limited space on my desk once I have everything setup!


Another positive from today is I have noticed an every growing confidence in my use of my paints. Silly little things like how I apply them to the pallet, knowing how much to apply, confidence in mixing them. Looking at my used pallet I can see how much more relaxed I have become. This is then feeding through into my painting. I find I veer off the course a little, being more willing to do my own thing and follow my instincts a bit. This could be ill-advised rebellion, but I prefer to see it as growing confidence and a preference to try and work things out by myself. I feel I'll progress more if I at least try to figure it out by myself first. Let's see how that works out when I move on to pallet knife painting!

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