Saturday, August 1, 2009

Oil studies: a little background

To answer one of the comments (by Holly) a while ago... I spent on average about 3 hours on my oil studies (hoping I'll get faster some time soon). I still don't have a big stack of them yet, since my first 57 were done on canvas sheets or canvas paper (see below). Since then I tried different panels (1/8" thick) that I hang around the studio.

I have a shelf around my studio at 6' height. It is wide enough to hold paintings but too narrow for the cats. I put small nails (10 so far) at the bottom of it to hang my small oil studies. I put tape on the back of each panel sticking out about an inch and I hang it with a paper clip. I can hang three panels per nail that way, so 30 panels at a time. I use the top of the shelf for everything else.

This is my easel setup with paintings hanging from the shelf and some framing tests on top of it.

My first 57 oil studies (6" x 6" and 6" x 8") were painted on 6" x 9" canvas sheets or canvas paper. This allowed me to not worry about making mistakes on more expensive support. Once dry they're very easy to pile up and store. Maybe I'll cut and mount my favorites on board or acid free foam core.

2 comments:

BJ said...

It is great to hear about the background of your studies, and to see the pictures of your studio. I hope you do mount some of your favorites.

Virginia Floyd said...

You are so disciplined. I just realized you posted Oil Study # 108. That's a lot of studies!