Ever since I retired two years ago I’ve made art my job, but it has always been a constant pleasure. It’s just no longer a hobby. I spend a lot of time visiting galleries, surfing the web, visiting artists web sights and blogs and, of course, writing my own blog. My goal is to help the progression of art through awareness.

I’ve experimented with and enjoy painting and drawing with all the mediums available. At the moment I am not set up to use some of the mediums but I’m sure I will be in time.

I enjoy working with pen and ink, graphite pencil, colored pencil, watercolor, and for the past year, acrylic paints. I find acrylics really easy to use and incredibly versatile. They can be used to produce so many effects from the style of watercolor to the authentic look of an oil painting. I especially like the way they allow you to add layers of paint and texture in a way that would be impossible with watercolors, yet dry at about the same amount of time.

As usual, when I decide to paint with a different medium than that which I am accustomed, I go to the local art store or check Amazon on the internet for a “how to” book. When I decided to attempt acrylic paints I bought a set called The Acrylic Painter’s Collection from Amazon. The painting I chose to do my first acrylic attempt was one called Street Scene by Tom Swimm. Below (left) is a photograph of the small 3X4 painting and the 12×16 (right) that I painted using Swimm’s instruction.

When the painting was finished, I felt I had a handle on the technique of acrylic paints and did not use any of the other works in the small set of books. I do still refer to them from time to time. I prefer painting my own compositions.