This past weekend, I went to a DABSMYLA gallery show. DABSMYLA is a wife & husband artist team from Australia who do these beautifully precise and colorful paintings. I mean precise. They don’t use stencils or tape off anything. It truly is free handed painting that looks like it was printed on the panel. Check out their stuff here. So inspiring.
With that being said, since then I’ve tried to see how precise I can make my lines. As you can see from previous stuff, I’ve been all about thick paint and blurring lines, etc. So trying to be super precise with clean lines has been a good exercise for me.
Things I’ve learned:
- I could use a hell of a lot more practice in this area. I tend to get excited when I paint so that makes me more likely to rush. I’ve also been very “go with the flow of it” and trying to get that under control was interesting. Not that being free-flowy is bad. I love it. But for this exercise, I wanted to slow myself down and exhibit more control.
- Getting precise lines, especially curved lines (thanks a lot, Circles & Dots), is a very “shortening the legs of a table” scenario. The circles turn out bigger than originally drawn as I keep moving outward to get it smoother.
- Canvas has texture. I don’t know if you knew that. Turns out the pieces in DABSMYLA’s show were all done on panels. Wood, I’m assuming but smooth surface nonetheless. This is my first excuse. I was working on canvas!
- Second excuse: I inherited my brushes from the Education department at the theatre I used to work at. So used brushes. Not nice new ones. Used ones with wacky bristles that do their own thing. At the gallery, I asked DABSMYLA how many brushes they went through per 60 x 78 piece. They said around two. I didn’t get more info because I didn’t want to be that weirdo that questions ears off. But follow ups in my head were: two each person? two of each size or kind? were they brand new to begin with? Tell me! I like to know these nerdy details!
In conclusion, I may need to buy new brushes. And try a smooth surface. But in the meantime, I’ll keep at it with the canvas and the nutty bristles. Enjoy today’s painting.
