“Flight” is my most recently completed acrylic painting. I am usually an oil painter; I enjoy the ease of blending and the slowness of the medium, it’s so easy to get lost in little details. Despite this, most of the paintings I have completed within the last year have been acrylic. I found myself frustrated with a great deal of these paintings. Slowly but surely, I began to realize that it was the way with which I was using the acrylic paint. I had been trying to paint as if it were oil, which was leading to muddy colors and overall blandness. This piece really showcases what I learned about the acrylic medium through time. I decided to lean into the roughness and painterly quality of the work, rather than trying to blend and shape every form. I let the color create the form, rather than modeling. I learned a great deal through this piece, and, as I write this, I find that what I have learned about the acrylic medium has taught me a great deal about oil painting, color, and shape as well. The skill of using color to create form has helped strengthen my ability to model and create form with shadow, something that has helped me a great deal with the current oil series I am working on. Reflecting on this piece is slightly painful, as well. It was inspired by someone I loved very much, and seeing the brightness and joy within the piece brings me back to a happier time. I am hoping to get to times like those again, where I can feel the joy in my work and life all at once.
