This old thing made me feel like a real artist!.
One of the first paintings done on the old easel.
Pictured directly above is one of the first paintings I created on the easel (top photo) that was given to me as a teenager. It was a gift for my parent’s anniversary and they loved it. It felt like a major accomplishment and I was really proud of it then. My Dad still has it hanging in his living room.
Funny, but looking at it now I cringe just a little as the mistakes are glaringly obvious. I must remind myself that I was just learning and this was the largest painting I had done up until then. It was painted on a warped canvas board after having just begun using acrylic paints. (Oils were what I had started with a year or so before then.) Using the easel made a huge difference for me as the canvas board, which was all I could afford at the time, was thin and not all that stable compared to a quality stretched canvas. This piece presented a new challenge because it was the first time I had used 2 reference photos and put them together. The left side was painted using one of the photos and the right with the second photo. The easel really helped me to see the painting as it progressed with each brushstroke.
I remember how hard my brain had to work to get this scene to look somewhat believable but it sure felt great to paint like a ‘real’ artist!
What a special story!