This is the first truly creative thing I’ve done in a while, because things have been kinda crazy lately. It’s been a rough December, with my husband on disability. But we survived it, and we love each other, and I got this image in my head one day of a heart with lots of colors and swirls and knew I had to create it. I’m not sure how much this actually looks like it, but this is my interpretation of the vision and I love how it came out.
My first foray into oil paints turned out to be pretty fun… until it came to clean up time. I don’t have turpentine to clean the brushes, which is what the paint box suggested, but I discovered I could clean the paint off my fingers (which ensued from the unsuccessful attempt to clean the brushes) with eye makeup remover. My brushes are still full of paint, but I don’t like them too much so I’m okay with them being ruined… Anyone have any suggestions on how to clean oil paint off brushes without turpentine? I’m too lazy to Google it.
A Desire to Get Creative 
Love it! Great energy.
Love your painting! For oil paint cleanup use mineral spirits or paint thinner from Blick Art Supply http://www.dickblick.com search on index B Brush Cleaners. Or in a pinch get paint thinner from your local hardware store. And get some disposable gloves to use with the cleaner so it doesn't absorb into your skin. If the paint is dried it may not come out but soak the brushes in an old coffee can and see what happens.They do make something called water miscible oils which are water based cleanup and Blick Arts has them too. They have everything! You should always clean paintbrushes immediately after use no matter if it's acrylic, watercolor, oil, or glue/gesso/etc. We all learn this the hard way – I ruined an expensive watercolor brush 🙂 And acrylics turn to cement pretty quickly. Keep separate brushes for each type of paint and use cheap ones for glue/medium and don't intermix. I got 2 small, cheap fishing tackle/tool boxes, 1 for watercolors and 1 for acrylics. Good luck!
Thanks for the compliments. And Mary, that's a big help. Thanks a lot! I think these brushes were cheap anyway – the bristles fall out while I'm painting. But I'll make sure to replace them with good brushes, and I'll take good care of them. 🙂
I love this! Love the colors in it and the energy – it's great!