Busy Hands::Happy Hands

Even when I am on vacation I am itching to paint. A funny thing happens to me if I go more than a few days without putting a brush to canvas...I start dreaming about babies! Once I'm painting again, the dreams cease. (side story: these dreams were nightly in the year or two before I started art lessons and stopped once I began painting regularly. Feel free to analyze that 😊)

​This trip I decided to try a new-to-me product that would make traveling with oil paint a bit easier. These are called water-miscible oils; true oil pigments that contain a modified oil binder that can be thinned with water rather than solvent. Normally I used only small amounts of Gamblin Gamsol odorless mineral spirits for the initial wash of paint onto the canvas and for cleaning brushes. I've tried going without it, but struggled with sticky paint and messy cleanup. My routine when traveling, since airlines do not allow flammable materials on planes, has been to hit up an art store upon arrival and buying a small bottle of mineral spirits, which can be a hassle in a foreign country. Many artists have switched to alternatives, such as watercolor, acrylic, gauche, and water-miscible oils. After much research I decided to try the latter and read that Royal Talens Cobra paints were well liked for their buttery consistency. I would agree now that I've used them! They were so easy to work with and cleaning was a breeze...warm water and dish soap. They have very rich chroma and are so juicy that medium (to increase fluidity) was not needed. The best part was that I could use a bit of water to wash on a thin first layer of paint; an important step in the "lean to fat" oil ratio rule.

I would love to say that I painted plein air, but it wasn't in the cards for me this trip. What I did was use photos and color notes to inform the paintings I created in our condo. There was a perfect little nook for me to set up easel and palette and have my fun without being a nuisance. And, yes, my dreams of babies stopped when my painting resumed!
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very nice social distancing on the beach!

sunsets were great, but nothing can beat this amazing sunrise, with the full moon sliding behind the fog bank

first responder accommodations, Mexico-style

Thanks for reading my blog!!