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| "Red Gate St. Augustine" (oil) |
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| "Red Gate St. Augustine (watercolor) |
Oil and water -- well known not to mix in a recipes, on our precious open waterways, and yes, when working with a painting. But I mix my mediums if only on completed pieces these days.
For 25 plus years I worked in watercolor. I like the medium and as finicky as it can be I have grown accustomed to the quirks. I love the immediacy and freshness of a watercolor painting. But, as with any relationship, things were getting a bit old, a little boring. They (who are "they"?) say artists shouldn't switch mediums when they are successful. I say bull pucky. And I succumbed to the seduction of oil paints.
I have a marvelous instructor who is guiding me through what seemed a trickier process than painting with watercolor. I love oil paint for the texture, viscosity, and bright, vivid colors. It has more body for me, enabling me to build, correct, and give my images a certain patina. But in many ways I want to work it like a watercolor, not overworking and letting the light places "sparkle" rather than dulling a painting.
I am reworking paintings I have done in watercolor with oil these days. Attached you will find a current effort. On the left is the recent oil of an entrance in St. Augustine, Florida. On the right is a watercolor image done some years ago of the same scene. I know which one I like better. How about you?
