Wet Paint: New Hershey's Kiss Painting Today

I think that this will be painting #1 today ... I hope to start another as soon as I post this and consume some of the split pea soup I made yesterday. Painting comes easily in the midst of a major mid-Atlantic snowstorm. No potential distractions -- other than that soup.

This, my second painting of a Hershey's Kiss, reminds me of a pageant queen ready to put on her sash. Interesting to imagine her in a swimsuit contest.

I painted this on gessobord (that's how Ampersand spells it) made by Ampersand.

I'm conducting a materials experiment. The materials really affect both the painting experience and the end results. I was noticing a big difference between my two recent street scenes of New York and my portrait commission. The "Rainy Day in NYC" painting, my portrait commission and the Hershey's Kiss painting were all done on different materials (Raymar panel, Angel super-smooth lead-primed linen, and Ampersand gessoboard, respectively)  -- all of which are very smooth surfaces. In all three cases, it is difficult to get the paint to adhere (it slides off) for the first pass of the painting. The paint needs to set up a bit. The surface isn't absorbing the paint ... it sits on top. Another result is that all of your paintstrokes show -- which can be good or bad. If I don't like that effect for the entire painting, I knock down some of the strokes -- something that can be done with a soft brush and soft touch after the paint has set a bit.

My "Birds of a Feather" painting of the NYC street was created on Senso linen canvas -- a material I find attractive to look at and to paint on. It is absorbent and has a medium tooth -- making it enjoyable to paint on from beginning to end. Because of its absorbency though, I often need to go back to a painting later (after it's dry to the touch) to restate edges, highlights and darks. (You can purchase Senso linen canvases through Jerry's Artarama or  ASW Express.)

Next painting up I believe will be another street scene, though I also have another intriguing painting that I started last week of a market/snack shop that I might work on. Plus, a restaurant painting dancing around in my head. We shall see.

"Give Me A Kiss", oil on gessobord, 7"h x 5"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435