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Cave Drawings and Remedial Painting

Now that I have discovered acrylic paint and cheap canvases, there's no stopping me in my attempts to figure this stuff out. I went to Pat Cattan's over the weekend—it's a craft store with an art supply section where I found brushes and paints and canvas boards for anywhere from $2 to 59¢ depending on the size. I bought small canvases so I wouldn't be overwhelmed with large projects.

My first small project was to trace an existing art piece and transfer it to my canvas and get to painting. I chose a cave drawing circa 13,500 B.C., figuring if those people could paint, so could I. This is an ancient cave painting of a standing bison found in Spain:

And below is my version of it. Kind of looks like a wart hog, doesn't it? I was working from an image printed in an art history book which looked slightly different than the one above. That's my excuse.

This cute little canvas is about 2 x 2 inches. I've got more. Wanna see? Here is a rooster to go with my rooster/chicken collection that lives above the cupboards in my kitchen:

And here is a 4 x 6 of a field with a barn. From this project, I learned that it's better if you cover the canvas with paint than if you allow the texture to show through. At the time, I liked the sparse covering, but now I think I don't.

So now comes the task of finding subjects to paint on my tiny canvases. Any ideas?

Comments

dive said…
Wow! I can't believe how TINY those are, Robyn!
I love them! I suppose if you're going to get back into painting you may as well start at the beginning, and 20,000 years ago in the Lascaux Caves is about as "beginning" as you're going to get.
Wonderful! More, please.
Anonymous said…
How about a french horn and piano combo? :)
PF
They're charming, Robyn. I'd like to get some of those canvasses. The only small ones i've had are box canvasses.

Copying old masters is a good exercise and can produce lovely effects for around the home. When you sign though - and do always sign your work - put After Van Gogh won't you! We don't want a lawsuit arriving in Ohio. he he.

I've painted a lot of miniatures but not for years. I'll try to get pics from my parents (they have the ones i did for them; i sold the rest) and will post them. You can get in your shop i am sure, Robyn, ivory paper. Cut up the size you want, paint in tiny brushes from the shop also, with acrylic, yes and wow. They are lovely. Framed, they produce such comments! I want to do some more now....
Mrs. G. said…
I really love the rooster. It has a folk art feel that I like. I envy all your creativity.
Karen Jensen said…
I love the rooster! I would suggest you look at folk art texts--I think you have a talent for it.
Utsav said…
Let it first be said that I don't know the first thing about painting. I used to fail in art class in school. But I do know a good painting when I see one, even if the techniques are Greek to me. And these look like great fun, Robyn. I love the cave painting the most. Has that bit of earthiness I always love. Great!
Gina said…
How about busts?

Not THOSE kinds of busts, but famous or not so famous ones?