Musician’s Portraits in Oil

Oil paints are “wet”, as oil is the base into which color pigments are mixed. They can take up to six months to dry thoroughly. An artist who likes to take their time often prefers painting in oils (as opposed to acrylics, which are water based and dry much more quickly).

Mary loved to work in oils because she could ruminate on her progress, her process was maleable. She often took several months to finish a painting. Because the medium dried so slowly, she was able to tweak details to her satisfaction. Sometimes she would have to wait for the paint to dry and then razor it off, and then redo until she was happy with the result. You might think a work is never fully completed, but at some point, Mary was able to let her paintings go – considering them complete.

She always wanted to improve on reality, a practice many artists embrace. In the end, her portraits of children are some of her best, as the purity and perfection of youth shine through them.