Hi Michele!
First, let me say that your work is absolutely beautiful - especially Ben and Samantha, Chloe, and Erika and Robbie! From the volume of work (all oils?) on your web-site, it looks as if you've been painting in oils for quite awhile now. I'm curious to know more of your experience with switching?
- what prompted the switch - customer demand?
- how did you go about learning how to handle the oils when you switched... did you take classes, just jump right in?
- how long did it take you to feel competent, confident enough to accept commissions once you switched to the oils? (and were you doing commissions in acrylics, or were the acrylics more just from when you were a student?)
I 'learned' to paint in oils, taking lessons from a local still-life/landscape artist at her studio starting when I was 9 and intermittently through high school. But as I read here on the Forum painters talking about technique, and all the variations of oils that are used as mediums, I think those early lessons were severely lacking. We just used the paints right out of the tubes - no medium at all! It was a little like pushing mud around on the canvas. So my memories of oil painting, (and those early paintings!) are less than impressive. But I hope if I learned proper technique, I'd have better luck with it now.
My husband is just mmmm... tolerating my decision to 'quit my day job' and paint... (college tuitions in the not-too-distant future!) and commissions coming in help to put his mind a little more at ease, I think. I'm concerned about how much down-time it would take for me to really learn to use oils effectively. And though I think this is a switch I will want to make at some point, I think timing will be key.
So, anyway,... I've digressed into rambling! Any insights on your experience transitioning to oils would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Terri