Paint Me an Angel
When icon brushes become too small (and they seem to be shrinking all the time), and egg tempera feels as impossible as trying to paint with thin air, a large, healthy quantity of messy oils feels like a trip to an exotic island. Or going back to childhood.
It doesn't matter how it turns out, there are no mistakes. The brushes are big and fat and chunky, the colors can and should be mixed all they want, the whole thing can overlap and be barely recognizable in the end -- it's all good! You don't have to have a drawing, not even a sketch. A vague idea of what you'd like to do is enough and, in any case, things will add themselves up as you go.
How to Paint an Angel of Color and Light:
- Dip a brush in luscious silky paint and start.
- Make some orange, add white to your yellows and blues, add blue to your reds and use everything in between.
- Make room for wings and halo.
- Skip the details, the hands, the nose, the lips, the shadows...
- Add more thick paint towards the end.
Then go back to your icon.