Learning Curve

"The Weight of Winter - Jan. 20"
oil and cold wax on Arches oil paper,
mounted on board with collage
15.5 x 12"

Most of my art life when painting,  I have worked with acrylic paints.
I did use oils in college and was reminded of that as I was sorting through some old slides of my work.

[Slides!?  Remember those?
It has been a long time since I've documented my work with slides now that there is
digital means to do this and the cloud for storing them.]

But I have strayed from my original intent here...acrylic paint vs. oil paint.
I always liked acrylics because they dried fast and I could add another layer, then another layer, etc,
But the blending and richness of the oil paints especially with the cold wax in them
is very seductive and fun to work with.
I also see the relationship to encaustic painting in the way you can excavate the surface
revealing underneath layers when using oil paints.
But it dries so sloooowly.
I am learning I need to use many thin layers working up to the impasto kind of surfaces in some areas.
I like the tension between thin layers and heavily painted areas.
Just need to apply some patience (not a strong suit of mine).
And perhaps work on more than one piece at time which I often did when working with
the hot wax of encaustic painting.
It's all about the transfer of knowledge from one technique to the next.
This is my current learning curve.

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