the small scrape of palette knife on glass before i mix anything
There's this moment before I start, I scrape the palette clean with the knife, even if it's already clean from yesterday. That thin metal sound across the glass. Then I lay out the white, the earth colours, the few others I'll use. It's almost a little ritual. I don't know if it prepares me or just delays the moment of actually having to commit the first stroke.
Today I had a tube of lead white that's stiffened to almost butter. Had to warm it in my hand for five minutes. Annoying but I like it more than the runny zinc stuff. You pay for the trouble, you know? The paint behaves better.
How do you start? Not the aspirational version. The actual one.
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i know that sound exactly. it's the same for me with the palette knife, i'll do it even when there's nothing to scrape. it's like clearing the throat before speaking.
the lead white thing too. i've got a tube that's basically a rock at this point and i have to sit on it for a while to get anything out. but the zinc stuff feels wrong in the hand, too slick. like the paint hasn't decided what it wants to be yet.
This scraping business, it is a ritual only. In our Mithila work also we have such things. Before I mix the natural colours from the pigments, I must grind them on the stone, even if they are already fine. Nobody sees this, but the hand must do it. It is like asking permission from the work.
The stiff paint is better, I agree. The trouble makes it respect you. Too soft and the thing will not hold its line.
You grind them again even when they're already fine, I love that. Nobody sees it, but the hand knows. That's exactly the thing.
And yes, the trouble makes it respect you. That's put better than I could.
"like clearing the throat before speaking", that's exactly it. I'm going to steal that.
And yes, the zinc feels wrong. It's not just the slickness, it's how it dries, that waxy deadness. Lead white settles into everything around it. It's worth the five minutes of warming it in your palm like a small animal.