To infinity and beyond!

Feedback from Ariel Clearwater

I have always loved expressing myself creatively, whether in drawing, painting or crafting. When I graduated high school and had to make a choice of what to take for post secondary I was lost.
In my first year I took some Art History classes with the most amazing women instructors. It was because of them that I majored in Art History.
After university I continued working in restaurants because of how lucrative it can be. In this time I started painting intermittently, maybe a few times a month. This continued until I moved to a larger place and was able to commit a room to painting and painting alone.

I started working in oils and tried to paint at least once a week. I pared down my restaurant work schedule but still didn’t have enough time to fully flesh out my ideas and then work on them for days in a row, which I need because when I’m in it I’m really in it.
The few paintings I have completed have been received by the people that have seen them with praise. This led me to thinking that I might have something that people would want, the first time I thought like that.
I decided that I was going to quit my job and dedicate 2 – 3 months to full time painting to see if I could sustain it and produce works that I can sell. I replaced my student quality oils with professional paints and am working my two weeks notice at my job. One week till my new life begins!
I would have also purchased a membership to this site (its been on my wishlist for a while) but my budget needs to be strict in order to make this work.

I think Vermeer is an old master with contemporary technique. I recently watched Tim's Vermeer on Netflix and was amazed by the discoveries that were made. So I would probably name Vermeer or Rubens as the 'contemporary old master' one for his use of technology and the other for the abstraction that is present in his loose brush work and flowing lines. I don't know what contemporary I would call an old master.

I have a lot of favourite artists that are non-contemporary. William Bouguereau is one of them. His images are magical! His use of light and depiction of the female form absolutely amaze me. Manet is another one of my favourite artists. I find his controlled looseness in his paintings stunning, which is the same reason that I love Whistler as well. If only my brush could be so loose and controlled at the same time!

My main challenge is finding time. But I just quit my day job to paint full time for a couple months so that shouldn't be an issue anymore.

I need more instruction on how to best layer my oil paintings and more instruction in glazing.
I am looking for instruction in oil painting. I have been painting in oils for the last year and want to educate myself more on techniques and methods. I have had some success on my own but need professional instruction. I have watched all the free videos on the site and am saving up for a full membership because I know I will benefit from it.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my story!