The Culture that has been here all the time

I have found hundreds of watercolor and pastel paintings, and I didn't even think I had that many. Looks like I did well with skies and landscapes, and there was a learning curve when it came to painting people. The long gap from then up until now indicates I must reawaken some of the skills I had, even as I am determined to learn and apply new technical knowledge in artwork.

It would be fun to team up with a woman who was herself an artist, and we could critique and encourage each other.

My late wife was very self-critical. She refused to sing and was reluctant to try any arts and crafts despite all my encouragement.

Old hands require more concentration and drawing aids. The aids were OK with some (if not many) of the old masters, so I will use what I need to keep working on my art.

Famous Masters used it too:

The most important thing an artist can do? Keep working.

PS: to catalog all my work will take a long time, and I will need a helper.

I took a deep breath and went to town. I needed to stop by H&R Block, so I visited the community art gallery that was on the way and plugged into the community of art people.  Then the local pet store next door and I loved the Terrier puppies (I was shocked how much it cost to buy a puppy; I always adopt anyway).  Ice boat painting,

Yes, broke my isolation.

My mind always seems to be full of ideas, so I must consider which one would be a good one to post and achieve either a personal point or a general, useful point.

Exploring unfamiliar things stimulates and engages my mind. Sometimes it also inspires learning a new skill. Playing guitar led to electric guitar, steel guitar, keyboards, banjo, mandolin, and even writing songs. Oh, yes, harmonica too. Collecting Victorian novels, engaging in philosophy, and expanding my horticulture knowledge are some examples.

In the past four months, I collected my artwork and materials and became reacquainted with what I knew and what I wanted to learn.

I have used pastels, colored pencils, oil paints, acrylic paints, and watercolor paints. I engage extensively in watercolor and acrylic. I added gouache and casein paints to the mix. The learning curve reveals pluses and minuses as always. So, I have returned to focus on watercolor with mixed mediums. I invested in professional-grade colors and brushes that are currently highly regarded.

Like playing guitar, cutting the lawn, and now painting, all this activity is good for me as aging challenges my abilities. Use it or lose it, but using it keeps you healthier in more ways than one. My forte is thinking through a project, planning it, testing it, and executing it. This works well for me, probably my liberal arts education shining through. Tests of Windsor Newton oil paints.

Rust belt tribute in Oils and mixed media. Not For sale

I may have been quiet and even absent, but I have been working hard on resuming my artwork. Though I made my living with science and technology and some music, I always had art in my life. I have sold paintings, been in exhibitions, and gifted some of my work. Having been more of an avocation, my records of where my artwork is are sparse. I have reenergized my artistic side.

I gathered as many of my paintings as I could from storage, reviewed what I had studied, and revised my intentions. I have now included figure paintings and have a major Titian study underway (in his style and colors of his time). One project is close to being done (7 paintings): a tribute to past industrial America titled "The Rust Belt."

Upon review and watching YouTube artists, I discovered the Casein¹ medium. Somehow, I had not tried using it in the past. I am now equiped to work with the colors.

^{1 Casein artist paint is a fast-drying, aqueous, and highly durable medium that uses a milk-based protein binder. It is considered one of the oldest painting media, with a history dating back to ancient Egyptian times, and is revered for its ability to produce a matte, velvety finish. [1, 2, 3, 4]}

^{My dog also likes it when I practice guitar and sing}

I did this drawing with colored pencils.

One blog reader commented that caring for my wife for years inflicted trauma upon me. All through my care, my counselors and doctors warned that caring most likely would harm me. I didn't want to believe them or just ignored them; anyway, I gave care for my late wife with little regard for "me".

Seeing doctors one by one since she passed the tally of negative effects is beginning to form a picture. With my stubborn attitude and modern healthcare, I will heal and go on living. That is my mindset.

Humanity, past, present, and future, has reacted this way and must; it is in our genes.

I will love once more. It may not look like my love in the past, but it will be deep, and I will commit and care.

I have plenty of artwork plans, and I will keep playing my guitar and singing old songs (my cat loves it; he snuggles behind me as I play and sing, and my dog relaxes). That is a form of love I need.

Second Nude Painting: mixed media.   NOT FOR SALE.

watercolor painting of mine.

Not entirely the first, but the first in this type of pose in the past, very partial poses only. Oh, I forgot to sign it. Watercolor and watercolor pencil.

I got into QoR watercolors for two reasons: 1) I can't locate my good watercolors, and 2) The hype around CoR (from Blick/Golden) sold me. Not the most expensive, but definitely not inexpensive. Using gouache and watercolor pencils with watercolors is new to me. I was predominantly a landscape artist and did some surreal work as well, mostly in acrylics and then oils; now I am putting all my efforts into figure and face work, especially nude work. I am not afraid to make mistakes and admit it: I trashed my first full nude from her back because I made some awful painting mistakes and ruined it.

Moving on. I am so happy that Pixabay.com has pre-approved models with release forms on file, so my lack of having a muse and live models is not a complete hindrance.

Sometimes, when I paint a woman, I vicariously fall in love with her.

PS I will also do other subjects, landscape, flowers, even surreal art when the mood strikes me.