Oil Compass

I went to AC Moore recently armed with a 50% coupon.  It was one of those shopping days where everything I wanted was on sale, so finding something to use my coupon on proved to be tricky.  I wandered around for quite a while, weighing different options in my head.  Finally, I decided to get a box of oil paint to play with.  I’ve never worked with oils before, and I was curious how they would work and if I would like them.

This canvas I painted with purple acrylic first.  I used watered down paint and a lot of water splatters to create the texture I wanted.  I love the look that I get when I use watered down acrylics- I suppose that’s why I use it so much.  I added my paper strip and compass, colored with walnut ink next.

I have to confess, I honestly had no idea what would happen when I started using the oils.  I tried using water with them, just to see what would happen.  The answer is- not much. Oil and water don’t really mix.  (I know, my basic scientific knowledge is off the charts.)  But now I know exactly what happens when you try to do that. (FYI- the water just beads up on top of the oil.)  That counts for something, right?  I improvised as I went along, adding color, thickness, and layers to what I was building.  I didn’t start out trying to create a circle with rays, but somehow that’s what I ended up with.

I feel a little like I did in my first encaustic class- oil is so different from anything else I’ve tried, and I’m going to need some time and more pieces under my belt before I am comfortable using it. I do like the consistency and how you can make the layers of paint build on top of each other.  I’ll have to experiment with that.

It is nice to know my coupon was well used.  :)