I’m painting again, in alkyds and oils, after years of messing around semi-successfully with acrylics, then getting heavily into printmaking.

It’s been at least 15 years since I last used oil-based paints–probably longer. The most recent alkyd painting I still have around dates to early 1995; it’s unfinished, but it’s not a terrible painting, and it wouldn’t be a stupid idea to complete it. So why did I put the oils away in favor of acrylics? Honestly, I can’t remember. When I moved here in 2004 I brought along all my neglected paints, stashed them in the basement, and they stayed there, untouched, until this June.

For some reason, I thought I’d be able to jump right back in, picking up where I left off. I have no idea how I managed to harbor this particular delusion, but there you have it. So I’ve been fumbling around, trying to remember how I used to do things, and making some embarrassingly clumsy starts.

I began by painting mostly on Arches oil paper, or Rives BFK sealed with shellac, because even decent paper is a fairly low-investment surface. Fuck it up, and you’re not out the time and money a stretched canvas represents. Make something worthwhile, and you can still mount and frame it. But in the past two weeks, as I’ve got it in my head to make pictures of certain subjects I care about, I’ve made the switch over to canvas. I’m still awkward and unsure, but I’m slowly starting to get my sea legs, and even if the pictures themselves don’t turn out great I’ve begun to feel the work I’m trying to do is worth the investment.