A New Start With Old Paint
Almost twenty years ago I packed up my oil paints and easel in a milk crate. I’ve thought about those paints countless times over the years but the anxiety of the failures that laid ahead stopped me every time. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago I got the paints out and resolved to finally do something, if at least, to throw them away because they were all dried out.
It turned out the paints are still usable (though a bit pasty). The first thing I did was assemble a palette of 10 colors and created a series of swatches to document the combinations and tacked them to the wall. Some years ago I saw an example of something similar in Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima.
After all this time I finally had a painting on my easel. It was small but felt good. So when I received an e-newsletter from Adventure of Painting that asked what I’m working on—I responded with a photo. To my great surprise, world-renowned artist Scott L. Christensen replied back!
Congrats, Josh! That's huge. Enjoy the journey and I'm glad to hear the easel has found you again. Keep up the great work.
All my best, Scott
As the weeks have passed I’d like to say I’ve painted every day but that’s just not true. I’ve been discouraged but his advice is something I’ve thought about a lot. “Enjoy the journey” is a great encouragement and a reminder to keep moving and keep making—regardless of outcomes. Thanks, Scott.