Gesso

My cradled birch panels finally arrived today! Yay! I had decided not to touch these until the weather warmed up enough for me to work on them in the garage, a space which I am slowly claiming as studio space. But as soon as I opened the box, I simply could not resist. We taped the sides off, and I applied a coat of buff on one of them, and tried out the yellow ochre on another. The buff is pretty much the same colour as the birch, which is a nice neutral base to work with. The yellow ochre looked more like Dijon mustard when first applied, with way more yellow than ochre, but it is calming down a bit as it dries so I am hopeful.

Oh I can't wait to get these babies covered in oils! I have been filling my sketchbook with ideas and am dreaming of colours...I am into red right now. Looks like Lonny will get to watch the kids for a few hours this weekend, here's hoping it's warm enough to set up in the garage.

Speaking of the garage, while rummaging for brushes I was startled by the sound of dirt being deposited all over the window. Splat, splat splat! The neighbour is having his roof power-washed and basically the entire side of our house in now covered with what was once on his roof. I went out to try and get the guy's attention but no luck with the noise. Grrrrrrrr.