I Can’t Even Draw A Straight Line

People admiring art sometimes tell the artist, “Wow, you’re good, I can’t even draw a straight line.”

Here are my straight lines. Left hand; right hand.

There are no straight lines in nature. Humans make straight line usually with the help of a ruler or some sort of straight edge. In my previous blog you can see my preliminary drawing where I used a ruler to draw in the building. I do not use mechanical aids when I paint.

I could use a mahl stick which many artists use to keep their hand off the surface of the painting while doing fine work. Or I could tape it off like the artists did in the 1960s when Pop Art became the vogue and crisp, straight lines were part of the style.

I want my lines to show my hand, to look painterly. I don’t want a mechanical look even on mechanical objects. This is not a photograph. This is paint on canvas or board after all.

So if you can’t draw a straight line, maybe you can push some paint around.

It takes a few layers sometimes. I’m not done yet. Still moving paint.

Cat at Old House, starting to add color.

Adding more layers; do I want branches in the upper left corner?

More decisions to make. I’ll keep painting ’til I’m happy.