Made myself get on with the acrylic monochrome work, for the ‘Alice Adrift’ project. Not feeling at all energetic to start with, but booted myself into action with REM’s ‘Orange Crush’ – it’s such an upbeat song, a quick blast usually does the trick, and it did today.
Acrylics behave so differently from oils. Fascinating, but sometimes maddening! I worked on three A0 pieces, two of which had already been started (and in fact I believed them finished, at the time…). But how do I use acrylics? – I’ve no idea. Of course, the not-knowing is exciting and sparky, as I have to remind myself periodically. Take oil paint: beginner painters often believe there’s a formula out there somewhere about how to use it. I’m with James Elkins on this one: I really don’t believe the formula exists (apart from basic rules such as protecting the canvas from the oil if you want it to last). Look carefully at most great painters’ work – many of the so-called rules of oil painting are being broken again and again. This reinvention aspect of painting is part of what I find so compelling.
