in the beginning (week I)

Hello, everyone.. I don't really know what to write here, but that's fine, I guess. I'm trying out oil painting for this project, hence the blog URL. Sandro Botticelli(e). He's an oil painter (great job). I'm a fan of his work.

You know who I'm not a fan of? Jackson Pollock, but that's a conversation for another day. Art is subjective, unless it's Pollock art. In that case, it's always bad and if you think otherwise, you're wrong. 

I'm planning on doing a lot of stuff for this project. I get to try out things like this:

"The Return of Judith to Bethulia"

- Impasto 

- Mediums

- Gesso (maybe)

- Paint thinner

- Other stuff

Doesn't that sound fun? I've always liked art, I guess, but I wouldn't consider myself an 'artist'. At least I'm excited to pursue this, right? I've done watercolors, gouache, acrylics and graphite and stuff, but oil paint is a whole new world. It takes 4,000 years to dry, but that's where drying medium comes in (I did some research). I enjoy the ~aesthetic~ of oil painting and how it looks in the end. I'm a fan of colorful stuff, and oil painting is a champion of bright, vibrant colors. Oils blend nicely, but it's also a huge pain to clean up, because you can't use water. I've oil painted for a week (a month ago), and that's about the only time I've actually done it. Even then, I barely skimmed the surface of the true potential of oil paint. Most of that time was spent cleaning up and preparing, anyways, so that's fun. At least this time I have an academic motivation, so I don't feel like I'm completely wasting my time. I hope to get better at oil painting and give myself some sort of redeemable factor. Maybe I can~express myself~ better with a new medium.

Artistic expression is my lifestyle

Hopefully I won't be a major disappointment to myself and everyone who believed in me. I swear I was planning on doing something cool and useful, like coding or baking, but I didn't have the extreme interest needed to pursue them for several weeks. Will I be proud of myself by the end of this? No, of course not. Will I be a better person? Nope, not at all. 

I'm glad we have a positive attitude. 

Oh, also, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Amanda Siskind for giving me three Winsor and Newton canvases. They're great, and I love 'em.

Watercolor, because I don't do anything else.

Planning:
Really, I hope to work on landscapes. Maybe some surrealist-type things, like landscapes, but cooler. Like... incorporating different elements into earthly settings, like aliens. Or space! Maybe, after all of this, I can finally call myself a creative guy. The first week will be me researching more (ex: where to find things, how to use them, etc), and the second week will be devoted to experimenting (ex: impasto, technique, etc.). After that, the next few weeks will be me working on... ten or so different paintings. It's important that I have multiple things to work on, because oil paint does take a while to dry (from the personal experiences). 

If you enjoy pain and suffering, check out my introduction/summary presentation. Click on the rainy watercolor painting that should be somewhere around here. 

My family (mom's side) is pretty artsy. They did a lot of still life and art courses in high school, and from what I've seen, the stuff they made was pretty nice stuff. Getting out to Michael's or whatever art store shouldn't be too hard, and a phone interview with a family member should be accessible. When in doubt, I could consult an art teacher or a worker at an arts and crafts store.

As of now, I have an inexpensive set of oil paints that come in a pretty cool variety of colors. I also posses a nice assortment of canvases. I'm going to focus on texture mediums and things along those lines. 

A poor attempt at drawing Julia

Closing:
Maybe this will give me a new sense of self awareness, or something. Whatever. Uh, maybe I could work on colors, too. I'm pretty bad at using ~cool and unique~ colors. Color theory seems cool, and I'll have to check it out (good lord, how many times am I going to say 'color'). Maybe I'll try portraiture as an extra ~bonus~ thing, if I have the time and I don't hate myself that much. Portraits have always been a weakness. Crap, maybe I should've done that as my main focus. This is what I get for quickly basing my entire project off of a poor joke (Sandro Botticellie). 

Well, hope for good times and cool breezes. 

Thanks, everyone.