Oil - The Queen of Mediums- 'Black Rock Sands'

Maybe it was time for me to feel immune to rushes of excitement over my art. After all, having explored many avenues in my painting shouldn't I relax; fall back on what I knew and paint mostly to amuse myself? How wrong could one be?

The other day I happened to pick up a copy of a magazine I once subscribed to. On the whim, I bought it, and I found something in there that immediately spurred my ‘muse’.

I had never realised just how much attention the ‘art trade’ pays to watercolour painting. By comparison, oil painting (which I consider to be the Queen of art media) was getting to be a 'poor relation'. I have nothing against watercolour. I love to use the medium, but I believe that for vibrancy, impact and sheer scale, oil painting takes pole position.

Surprisingly, it is the easier of the two to use. It does take longer to dry, but this means you can come back hours later and make corrections. If you make a big mistake, you can scrape off the colour and repaint. And when it comes to framing there is no need for glazing, which means you can frame the pictures much more speedily. (Incidentally, when I frame an oil, I like a frame which is that bit special. I like to use a large section moulding. Nothing ostentatious, but even for modest sized oils, a bold frame sets your work apart.)

As for the smell of turpentine, well today there are water based oils. We can also use low-odour thinners. I don't mind the old fashioned way, and the smell of genuine turpentine is one of the things about oil painting that fires up my inspiration. So I am going bold with my oils and freeing up my brush.

I’ve seen the light… and I am having go at painting it.

A Work in Progress:



Black Rock Sands, North Wales.