Thursday, December 31, 2015

263: Ideas for the New Year

Desert Blossom, 9" x 9", woodcut
IN the coming year I want to shake up this blog by exploring new ideas. Chief among them will be painting with thinner paint. The time has come to discover how to apply paint as thinly as possible while retaining the effect of scintillating color. Don't worry–I'm not giving up painting in impasto–I just feel the need to give more variety to the painting surface by having both thick and thin paint.

I also hope to review more DVDs that use thinner painting methods. There should be more to select from in this genre so if you know of any excellent DVDs please let me know which you would like me to review.

I also hope to do more technical videos including painting oils on a smaller scale as well as a video or two about printing woodcuts (since I will be printing a few for my woodcut show in April 2016).

I'm also very excited to review Lilly Oil Paint, an Austrian brand that was inspired by painting in thick impasto as related by this blog. The owner of the company, Walter Haas, invited me to a LinkedIn group about thick paint. In the course of our communication I offered to review his paints and he sent me a set of beautiful pigments. The paints are specially formulated for impasto and seem very promising.

I have another abstract show slated for July/August. I intend to paint an entirely new body of work. I've been experimenting with making acrylic skins and other interesting techniques–so I will include the occasional acrylic abstract entry.

As always, if you have any suggestions I hope you will add a comment.

Wishing you the very best New Year.

Brad Teare –December 2015


7 comments:

  1. Hi Brad:

    I'm sorry I haven't been by in a while. I took a p/t position helping a non-profit, and I do some IT consulting. It's not bringing in anything more than what is helpful to put a roof over the head and food on the table, but I am blessed and thankful for it.

    I just wanted to say thank you for what you do and for your friendship online. We've never met F2F. But I feel as if I have gotten to know you and to respect you for who you are, what you do as a painter, and what you share as a giver of shared knowledge.

    I hope 2016 provides a stark white master canvas that allows you to dream great designs for your life, your career as a painter, and that you paint that canvas with bold, colorful, rich, and THICK impasto strokes throughout the coming year.

    Blessings to you and your family.

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  2. Thank you so much, Bob! Your sentiments mean a lot to me.

    I'm glad you have work that provides for you and your family. I know God knows the desires of our hearts and respects the sacrifices we make in order to provide for our loved ones. Nothing is lost in the larger perspective and all things will work toward our good. I wish you the very best in 2016.

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  3. You are very kind, Brad!

    I really feel re-invigorated to give it more of a go. I do love the feeling of having created something out of nothing (a blank canvas), knowing my art helps bring others pleasure. FOr that alone, I have to continue. But I still hold to the dream of being able to perhaps sell more than I do. It's a very difficult thing with so many thousands and thousands of artists out there. But I have to keep trying! :)

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  4. Hi Brad,

    Painting thinly and on a smaller scale sounds very interesting. Looking forward to your experiments. In the past, I've used the palette knife to paint thinly with lots of medium. I wanted that freshness that only a palette knife gives.

    A few months back, I felt the need to experiment every day with a new idea - without investing a lot of time or effort.Instead of oil paints I've decided to use soft pastels (no mixing of colors) and do a FINISHED painting on a very small scale. I started with 6" x 8" and I'm now down to 4" x 5.5". The results are similar to an oil painting. It takes very little time to knock one out. This way, I do not hesitate to try new ideas whether they work out or not. And, If I really like one the miniature paintings I can make a larger version in oils.

    In the past, I've worked directly on the canvas. With this process, I have the feeling that one can cover a lot of ground much quicker and come out with some good paintings down the line.

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    Replies
    1. Excellent ideas. I really connect with the pastel idea. Might be a way to jot down basic ideas without exhausting the creative impulse. Thanks for the comment.

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Thanks for your comments!

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