Monday, March 8, 2010

Yoga pose XII final... trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, sort of!

In retrospect, this primarily vertical design seemed to fit better in a vertical format (20 X 24) although this one falls in the "peculiar" category like the preceding one (Yoga pose X)... sending people to look for missing body parts!

The Liquitex super heavy gel was so smooth that I mistook it for regular gel at first... thus realizing too late that I was no Van Gogh! After this "happy" accident, I have no problems leaving brush marks it seems, proving once again that the quality of materials used can make a difference!

While I'm at it, I think I'm going to try an archival removable oil base varnish for this one ( I've been using permanent varnishes, which are a challenge to use on highly textured surfaces).

I took the opportunity over the weekend to store my remaining paintings (from 2007 to 2010) in the revamped studio closet...

This exercise made me think of the techniques that I used over the last 3 years and how they evolved (a manner of speaking!). In a matter of 2 1/2 years, my painted surfaces went from transparent and smooth to opaque and textured. In a way, I went from barely using any paint to almost sculpting with paint. Despite the fact that I willed this progression, my heart is still on the side of transparency! From now on, I would like to think about expressing my feelings about a subject the best I can (while remaining true to my natural inclination) and not solely think about technique. If I opt for a specific approach, it should be by choice and not by limitation...

Note to self: "Damn, I'd like to paint like Marlene Dumas with touches of Jenny Saville... thinking about their superlative techniques of course... as their highly charged subject matters are not for the faint at heart!"

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