First Blog Post

This is my first post on my first blog, making me not exactly at the forefront of the blogging world.  My hope is that blogging will help me capture the experience of learning how to make art and, hopefully, will track both improvement and growth.

This blog is mostly for me, but I did make it public.

One of the many things to capture and document is the journey from an idea to a finished painting. Since I have no past experience, my drawing skills are a hindrance to the process. Using tracing paper removes this barrier, but I really want to be able to draw what I paint. For paintings based upon a picture, my current work around is to divide up both the picture and my surface in a grid pattern and try to draw the picture onto the painting surface.

Today's picture:

The process is very, very slow, but it helps me truly see what is in front of me. I use a pencil to measure the different angles on the picture. Frequently, I am astounded. My eyes lie. My pencil helps me see.

Drawing in process:

I am happy with this drawing so far. The surface is a spiral notebook with heavy paper.  I taped the edges of the paper and painted the paper with black gesso.