home prepared supports

I had some raw linen which had been rolled up in my studio for a couple of years, and since I had some stretcher frames I thought I'd make use of them and stretch and prepare my own linen supports.  Easier said than done!!  Stretching and stapling is an art in itself.  At least I found a handy new use for my old AGO membership card...makes a good trowell!  First you cover the linen in a special size, then trowell on the oil ground, let it dry overnight. sand again, trowell again, let dry again and repeat...ugh. really i will NOT do this again!  I wonder what the surface will be like to paint on...hopefully  worth it!

here's an oil version of the Roman water stand demo that I painted previously in watercolour...I worked away on this today during the afternoon class in between one on one's with each person about their own painting projects.  We talked about edges today..how they can be employed to move the eye around the painting, describing surfaces and shapes. 


In the morning class we talked about the same things, but I demo'd a little bird painting instead.