Gaining membership of Art Center, Filling in color

Blocking in color of 24"x36" canvas

When I got home from work, I was thrilled to find out that I had been accepted by the McGuffey art center in Charlottesville VA, as an associate artist in their group. I have worked very hard for this since a stranger strongly suggested that I seek membership. Many apply, and few are accepted. This will give me opportunity to gain exhibition exposure to a more serious art market. For days I have been depressed because I was sure that after all the work, they would reject me. If you wish to find out more about them, their web site is http://wwwmcguffeyartcenter.com

I got some more color filled in on my current work. This stage of a large work is tedious, and not very rewarding. I am laying down base colors, mostly just flat, and not a very close match to what they will end up as. The color is very thin, mixed with mineral spirits (terpoid) There will be a number of layers of paint layer over this, working from this that we call lean, toward fat on the top. The reason for working this way is because the paint thinned with mineral spirits dries relatively quickly, and is less flexible. The fat layers thinned with oils and alkyd mediums harden more slowly. (The alkyd I work with is liquin, a winser & newton. It remains fat, but sets up within a day) If lean is applied in large quantities over fat paint, the top surface will eventually crack. I don't always enjoy painting through these middle stages because I find little reward in the immediate results. I have to keep my mind focused on what I know from experience, the finished painting will be like.  I mostly work thin like this rather than slathering on gobs of paint with a knife because the paint is very expensive, and this way I can get the best results with the least paint.