A few weeks ago I got my butt back into the studio and started painting. It must have been the right decision because the resulting painting came out super easy and smooth. Sometimes…just sometimes, that happens!
This will be the first of two paintings. This one is called Sun and the other will be called Moon. It is 24″ x 24″ oil on linen. Stay tuned more!
Interested in my art or a print of my art? Check out my Etsy site! https://www.etsy.com/shop/Krislyndillard
Krislyn Dillard 
Reblogged this on All This Bleeding and commented:
I can only dream of producing something half as vibrant. Every time I try to use oils it turns into a mess. I struggle with a medium that takes so long to dry!
Oil is a challenging medium. I recommend practice w/gouache paint and using small layers. Thank you for your kind comments!
Interesting suggestion – I’ll have to try that. Working in layers generally is something I’m still getting used to… part of me has this strong drive to get it all done in one sitting. Which obviously is usually not really feasible for most serious paintings. XD But nevertheless I find it hard to put any art piece – painting, drawing, anything – down for the moment and then return to it later for some reason. I’m slowly forcing myself to learn some discipline, but it’s especially hard with oil since it’s so slow to dry. Where do you put your oils while they dry? How do you keep dust and such from settling on them in the process? That’s been a huge problem for me, too, with oils.
The painting stays on the easel. If you have a dust problem you could tilt the easel more perpendicular to the floor while it dries and you can also add a drying medium to speed the process. Just remember the old saying ‘lean on fat’ with your media to prevent cracking. And also, the only true way to know what works for you is to try it out.
Patience can be helped with my other blog! 😉 http://yogastrong.wordpress.com/
Good luck!
Ahh, That might be part of my problem. I’m living in very cramped space right now so I don’t own an easel… I just sort of sit on my bed with the surface in front of me, lying down on the bed. Sounds like I better find some safe places to lean them upright while they dry. (Have you ever tried using a fan to make them dry faster? Didn’t work, but made some neat effects blowing the thinner paint around.) Thanks so much for your advice! I appreciate it. 🙂 Most of my “art time” over the course of my life has been invested in drawing and I feel like I know basically nothing about painting, so even comment exchanges like this help a lot.