Learning To Love The Painting Process

When I was younger I never honestly appreciated art, especially oil painting. However, now, I have fallen in love with the history of oil painting, and the different processes there can be to create many different final products. I love the textures, patterns, the swooshiness of the paint, mixing colors, and the process of seeing the brush strokes. I am a self-taught oil painter, I've always wanted to take professional classes, although I constantly discover myself doing independent studies where the paint leads me to learning something new itself. I find the more I paint, the more I learn. That's one of my favorite things about painting (and just creating in general) is that there is always something to learn--how humbling! To keep painting, is to consistently learn! Some of my favorite oil painters that have inspired me are Mary Cassatt, Vincent Van Gogh, and--a more modern oil painter--Charmaine Olivia .

Speaking of art, last Summer I had the privilege to be apart of an Artworks Cincinnati team. Our team worked on the "Annie 'Little Sure Shot' Oakley" mural, and it turned out phenomenal!

Our mural manager, Nicole Trimble , led an amazing team along with Lizzy DuQuette, who was our teaching artist. Our leaders, along with Leah, DJ, Aaron, Sophie, and Hannah,who were the apprentices, created a mural that's painted to last. The scaffolding was scary at first, because it was so many stories high, but we eventually got used to it... 

The end result was so satisfying, and not only did I learn so much from my artistic coworkers, but it made my passion for painting ignite once again! Recently, I've been practicing working with oil paints, using it as a thicker medium, not using as much linseed oil blended in with the paint. I am very impatient when it comes to the drying process. I honestly feel like the only way my paintings turn out to be anything at all, is if I work fast. The pictures below show the recent process I took to painting a portrait using oils. 

-Courtney