"Unwrapped"

Oil on board

2' x 2'

I am not particularly fond of this piece. My impatience won out over my other feelings and so I ended up with a painting which I think could have been much better. Perhaps one day I may set brush to it again but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I think I am particularly disappointed in myself with this piece because a lot of work went into prepping the surface.

Typically I use purchased canvases but I decided to try my hand at hardboard instead. Canvas the size of the piece of hardboard used above would cost three times the size. So it worked out quite well price-wise. The downside of using hardboard is the prepping especially if one does not have a sander. Fortunately I was able to purchase a sander of decent cost as well and there was a certain level of satisfaction prepping the piece of board myself. 

To prevent the resins from the wood soaking through and yellowing the paint in the future it was necessary to sand and prime the surface with acrylic three times which I did. And I have to say it was fun, I love to experiment after all. I even liked the way the oil responded to the flatness of the board unlike the toothy canvas. Unfortunately I have run out of acrylic(must buy bigger container next time) and will have to make do with canvas for now. But I do hope to work with board again soon.