It’s been a little slower during these summer months. While I’ve enjoyed the breather, I’ve found that after a few weeks, I get rather restless to the point that it affects my sleep. You know that feeling when you can’t sleep because you feel you haven’t made the most of your day and you’re twitching? Yea, that kind. I get this itch to go create something, immerse myself completely, and exhaust those muscles before I can rest.

So on Saturday, after running our grocery errands, I decided to break out my oil paints again. It’s been long enough that I had to pour hot water over the lids and use a wrench to pry them open (which I’m a bit ashamed to admit). But it brought back so many good memories.

I started oil painting some years ago, when I found an art studio near my Seattle apartment. I took some lessons from the owner, who was a practicing artist herself. We became friends over time and ended up spending snowed-in mornings when work was cancelled simply painting together over coffee. Those were some of my favorite memories living in Seattle.

As I’ve mostly painted people, portraits, and still life, I thought I’d try some landscapes. I’ve tended to paint classically and tried a more relaxed style this time around. Here is the underpainting:

One of the reasons I love oil painting is that it takes a very long time to dry, which means you can continue building layers upon layers of color, resulting in rich tones and textures. In terms of approach, it’s the opposite of water colors. With oils, you want to start dark to light.

As a remnant from my lessons, I often start with primary colors and slowly mix the colors I need. I’ve rarely ever used a tube of black, as I’ve found it can come out flat. In reality, black is made of so many different colors.

Here is the finished piece (11”x14”). I’ll wait around a week for it to try before brushing on some picture varnish. I’m excited to look for some canvas frames and figure out where to hang this in the house. I have a 16”x20” canvas left. If I can motivate myself to finish this next one, I can let myself buy some more. Here’s to a summer filled with painting!