OMG! Oil Sticks!!!!

An abstract, impressionistic painting of the sunset

Sunrise. 8x6, oil on linen panel. 2016

This sketch was started using an oil stick to do the basic block in of the darks. Today was the first time I've tried using one and I was instantly addicted: I immediately started three other paintings.

What I've tried to do here is to make the painting about the light in the atmosphere. There isn't a careful painting of subject matter, and the identity of most of the things in the foreground has been left up to the viewer to determine. When I tried to do this as a close rendering of the scene, the result didn't have nearly as much impact; time and time again, I've found out that light in the sky is more effective when done as a simple smear of paint.

 


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