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How lucky am I? I have been given a ton of oil paints. I have never used oils. After a little  googling and a few to questions to my cousin, who kindly donated them, I have plunged in.

My first thought is this is a task to be done in a well ventilated area. Oil paints and its associated thinners, medias and concoctions stink.

Secondly, try not to paint your hands, face, knees just try to get something on the canvas.

Thirdly, you have to be patient. Oil takes a long time to dry. I think I need to have about six projects on the go at once.

What to paint is not always easy to decide. An idea may come while in the grocery store or while driving down a road. However, sometimes experimenting is the order of the day, for instance using Yopo paper. I had a great time dolloping all sorts of colours onto the yopo paper, which is like a plastic sheet. Then squash two sheets together, a quick twist and pull apart to reveal a fantastic array of colours. Then more fun. Look at the swirls and let your imagination flow. Refine what you see in the image with a few adjustments, additions, splashing, dabbing or anything you want to do. In my case my creation had to be equine. The result, a fiery and colourful image. I love it. Look hard and discover!