Rabid Sharks
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Prison Blog

In which Possum recounts his experiences as an offender in the system.

Possum Bones is autistic. He has identified as a dirty kid in the past, and he’s attended multiple rainbow gatherings. He has several years left to serve in the Washington Correctional system.

He has been making art since he could sit up. He communicates better in writing than speech. If you are interested in the experience of an autistic person doing prison time, check out his Prison Blog. If you are a fan of comic art, underground/outsider music, Lovecraft, Clarke Ashton Smith, Murakami, Cixui Liu, etc.

More casein ...

... for reference this is the Richeson " Siva " casein.

Okay. Painted for about an hour with casein. Didn't want to sketch, so I pulled up an old drawing of a cartoon drow woman guarding a doorway. So, further notes on casein.

This stuff really seems to shine in layers. If I put down two transparent layers of gouache, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I usually get a thicker transparent layer. That's why I usually use gouache at a thick consistency. This stuff, two transparent layers equals one opaque layer. So, I love that.
It takes slightly longer to dry than gouache. I like to paint continuously with as few breaks as I can. Not a big deal, I just keep painting while its wet - maybe that's why it seems like it blends more readily than gouache. I'm refraining to say it blends better, and using the phrase " More readily" because , since I'm used to blending gouache, its a little funny how this stuff blends. Takes some getting used to - but also, its awesome. So. I spend about 10 or 20 minutes just making tertiaries since I only have cerulean, cad red deep, Naples yellow , and white. I couldn't make purple ( Always my problem with beginner sets ) so I mixed the cerulean casein with some magenta watercolor. Seems like that works fine. Later I needed a dark color so I added some cheap watercolor black to it ( I had to use black because I wanted to use the smallest amount of the transparent watercolor , so no mixing perylene and green for a better black , was the logic ) .

I can touch the surface of what I've painted, and even spray an atomizer at it with no real fears. Its not proof , but it seems more resistant.
The paper I was painting on is cheap 140lb hot press.

I'd have to say I really like this stuff and would like more, although I realize I have a problem when it comes to this kind of thing ( as in, I always want to try new art supplies ... I guess its just as bad as being content to never experiment ) . I'm gonna keep working with these primaries first though.

For negatives, I think this paint , the binder, it probably prevents the pigment from reflecting as much light. Its got a kind of dull look. That could be because of the primaries I've used , though. Also, it seems every tube is prop 65 CL . So, its fairly toxic, but I don't know why.

Elisa Carlson