I have wanted for quite some time now to try oil painting. I have struggled painting with acrylic paints and felt I could possibly be a better painter using oil paints--but have stayed away from oils due to the odor and the respiratory irritation that oils can cause.
In May 2004 I decided to give Genesis Heat-Set Oils a try. Genesis oils are not at all like "traditional" oil paints. They have no odor whatsoever. You can put your nose right in the jar and you will not smell anything. Their lack of odor is not the only incredible thing about these paints.
These paints do not dry until you dry them with a special heating tool or in your home oven. The "open time" is endless. These paints will remain open and workable till you dry them. These paints will therefore not dry in your brush! You do not even have to clean your brushes if you do not wish to. The paint never dries until you dry it!
You may view some lovely work by two fabulous ladies named Ann Kingslan and her daughter Mary Kingslan Gibilisco at the following link. You may also purchase the paints from these ladies.
I had been trying for 5 years to do a rose with acrylic paints and no matter how hard I tried--I had no success. This is my very first sucessful realistic-looking rose and it was painted with Genesis Heat-Set Oils!
A little background:
I learned a great deal from painting this rose--including how to draw with my brush!
This rose design was featured in a painting magazine. I thought it was gorgeous and I decided I wanted to give this rose a try, so I did so on a practice board. I wanted to make sure I understood all the directions and knew exactly what I was doing before I painted this rose on a candle jar.
All was ok during my practice run--except I had to reshape a few petals and I felt the rose needed some leaves added to it. I am not a designer--I wish I was--but at the present I am not. The reshaped petals came out fine--the leaves were another story! I was not totally thrilled with the leaves as they came out--they are rather blah and have no personality.
I figured since it was my first attempt to add leaves to a design, there was no where to go but "UP"..so I let well enough alone.
After varnishing the jar, I added some raffia tied in a bow around the neck of the jar and gave the jar to my neighbor for a Christmas 2004 gift. She was thrilled and has the jar on display in her dining room! Each time I go to her house and see that jar, I feel so proud!
So..if you have NOT yet tried Genesis Heat Set Oils--tell me why? Trust me, if you try them--you will love them!
The picture above and to the side both feature a wooden iron that serves as a recipe holder. This design was originally done in acrylic paints. I converted the colors to Genesis Oils and painted the design as a gift for my neighbor.
The top picture features the front view of the iron with the coffee pot/floral design painted on it. The side picture features a side view of the iron painted with a checkerboard design.
This adorable little project was designed by a very special designer friend of mine named Mary Jo Tuttle. You can see more of Mary Jo's work on her website and at the Artist's Club website. The links are as follows:
This is my very first ever canvas painting done in Genesis Heat-Set Oils! There is a close up of the flowers to the right of the larger picture. I am very proud of this painting. This design was presented through an on-line painting class. I had a very hard time with this project and I nearly gave up and threw the whole thing away. Rather than doing that, I stuck with it and 5 1/2 months later, this is my finished project.
This painting will be framed and hang in my studio and I know that as I look back on this project in the years to come, I will reflect back on what I learned from this project and I will most certainly notice as well what could be improved upon if I were to do this project over. That's all part of the learning process and does not take away from how proud I am that I stuck with it and completed this project!
I do apologize for the lack of quality in regards to these pictures. No matter what I did, I could not get a good, clear picture. My camera is getting rather old and that may very well be the problem. Guess it's time to shop for a new one! <huge grin>
