I am fortunate to live by a pond which has geese and ducks in them. My association with them is limited to watching and feeding and yes, stepping in their poop but now I want to be able to reveal the personality of these geese. I thought by doing a whole bunch of geese all at once, I could either hide in the sheer number of images, so that the bad strokes are not obvious, or I could revel in the opportunity of telling a collective story. Let me call this attempt "stir frying".
I recruited a 14x20 inch frame fiber board backing for this project. If my attempt failed, then unto garbage it shalt return.
The pigments I used for my Chinese brush painting did not take to this fiber board at all. It just sat and pooled. How annoying.
I had a bright idea. I mixed white gesso with these pigments...............now I am doing fresco. Michael Angelo would be turning in his grave.
I had to thin down this concoction with water for my Chinese brush to work. I crinched at the idea that this would ruin my brushes. Oh well it's only money.
I can't say too much about the painting. It is very different for me. The cynical side of me would say that these fowls look like hybrids of geese and duck; perhaps in my mind they're the same now. But I do feel the motion and energy in my brush strokes. I know I enjoyed the process tremendously. I was a kid again, having found a new toy to play with. Besides, it was very therapeutic to step into the unknown and emerge unscathed. Copious amounts of warm water and mild soap hopefully saved my brushes.
Ah yes, stir fried geese.
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