Playing around with little 3.5″x5″ pages in my Pentalic journal. There’s everything from lifting color to painting from a photo to a few cluttered-but-energetic plein air sketches. While painting an old bluebird house by a pond, a fawn trotted right by me. I was holding so still, it took awhile for the fawn to realize I was a human, not a post or tree. And away it ran!
This one reminds me of an old-fashioned postcard.
I painted this little blue lock-and-dam house in casein from a photo I took. I’m finding that painting in lighter washes is helpful when it comes to blending, but my white highlights are very heavy. Also, using a ruler would certainly be advisable with all of those straight lines. There’s a healthy dose of artistic interpretations in the architectural details.
Still trying to figure out how casein works, I decided to plunge in and paint a few Bob Ross landscapes. I’m trying to figure out how to achieve some realistic landscapes, and right now, they are blocky with few soft edges. I’m using the James Gurney six-pack of Richeson casein: titanium white, ivory black, Venetian red, yellow ochre, cobalt blue, and raw umber. Trying to mix green has been a struggle. Cobalt blue is cheerful and bright, and yellow ochre is brownish and dull. There are numerous shades of green in there, especially when adding in white and raw umber, but it’s challenging.
Also, I purchased some synthetic brushes (Simply Simmons) to use only with casein as I’ve read it can be super hard on brushes. You can see how I’m attempting to use a fan brush, something new for me–yikes! Something I’m really pleased with is the old-fashioned, matte look casein has when it dries. It’s so unique.
