Bob Ross can suck it!

So, I have been trying to pick up oil painting for some time now. There is something about the smell of linseed oil, or is it my masochistic tendencies, that keeps pulling me towards oils. Oil painting makes no sense where Katie and I live right now. We have little to no room for even our day-to-day items let alone my tarps, easels, turpentine, brushes, sketches, canvases, lack of natural lighting.....I'm sure you get the point.

Anyway, there is something about the process of layering oils that pulls me in. This is far from watercolors, which tend to be a one-shot deal. If I mess up at oils, I just wait a week or so and paint over it. Therein lies my problem: I can never finish a painting. I just get frustrated enough to set it aside and start another, or 4 or 5. By now I am guessing you have understood my love/hate relationship with oil painting. Where Bob Ross finds joy in painting happy little trees, I get pissed when this little tree has taken five attempts and still looks like a damn lollipop.

Well, in a desperate move to try and drum up a little motivation, I have decided to post a few of my paintings here. That way everyone can keep asking how my paintings are going, and I won't be able to ignore them any longer.

Unfinished Works:

Canal somewhere in Holland...

You can see here that the boat on the left is a large black hole at this point and is quite distorted. Also, the bridge in the background is a little lumpy on the left-hand side. Then there are those great trees I was talking about, ehh. On a positive note, I do like the general color of the painting with the setting sun warming up the image.

Harbor in Holland

This painting has a similar color palette as the previous one, as when I became frustrated with one I could switch to the other. The row houses on the right are pretty sad, something that frustrates me to no end especially since I went to school for six years to design such things. The trees fading off to the horizon are also a giant mess and need a lot of work.

I don't really have much to say about this one. It was started with the leftover paint from the previous two.

Finished works:

Ganesh

This painting was inspired from a stock photo found on the internet. I love the colors, but the lighting is pretty flat. I am a sucker for texture, so I did lay the paint on a little thick here.

Because I tend to obsess about the smallest detail, I have forced myself to only use a palate knife while painting. This affords me some added texture while minimizing how long I can focus on one area—in theory at least.

Kiss

This one I painted for Katie as one of our first presents. NOTE: I have altered the photo slightly here. See, the painting was taking a little longer than I thought it would and Katie's birthday was approaching. In all my haste, and the poor light of my basement room at the time, I gave Katie's right hand six fingers instead of the more human five. The funny things is that it took us almost two years to notice the issue. I am still embarrassed by this and Katie will not let me physically alter the painting. I guess the abstract nature helps it a little bit, as most people don't see two people kissing rather a hummingbird in flight (one of our friends did).


Well here is a blown-up version. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but that sure looks like Katie having the time of her life while kissing me. No?