My 10-year-old Dell XPS laptop finally died. With its core i7, it was pretty hot back in 2013. I replaced its Windows OS with Linux some years ago and it was still performing acceptably. There were issues, of course. I prefer lightweight devices these days but the XPS is on the beefy side, which means…
I take back all the nice things I said about titanium white. I was never a fan of titanium white but after trying some of Michael Hading’s versions of the color, warm white and unbleached white, I decided to give it another chance. My preferred white, flake white, is orders of magnitude more expensive than…
I keep my oils in two cabinets. Here is the red drawer. I hate running out of things while I work–it’s a mania. Painting is like taking a journey and I don’t want the journey to end prematurely. That’s one reason I have a lot of paint. I also test and review brands, brands that…
The Germany-based art supplier Kremer was the best source for hard-to-find items not long ago. Now? It’s impossible to complete orders online, not difficult–impossible. I recently attempted to place an online order with Kremer’s U.S. location. The order contained two items that Kremer flagged with special handling requirements. One of the items is black oil…
My brush graveyard is getting too big. I throw out most of my worn-out brushes. I’ve also been known to snap in two misbehaving brushes. Those I also throw out. But my favorites I inter into the graveyard after distinguished service. I started pruning the graveyard to make room. Having a lot of brushes extends…
I screwed up my website while I was improving it yesterday. The site was down for 24 hours due to a series of foul-ups. I expected the site to be down for a short time after implementing the changes, so it took some time before I realized something was wrong. Things should be back to normal now.
I tested my new 35mm F1.8 prime lens today with my Nikon z7 camera. This prime lens joins two others in my collection–50mm F1.8, and 85mm F1.8. The latter two are exceptionally sharp and are the best lenses that I’ve owned. It’s too early to tell if the 35mm is as good as its siblings.…
Last week I put the finishing touches on this painting, The Fair. The Fair is part of the series I started last year called ‘Amusement Park.’ I have several other paintings underway in the series with a lot more coming, and I mean a lot more!
At the end of the eighteenth century, art flowed along several currents. History painting, the primary current, was in its heyday and remained the undisputed champion until ‘history’ intruded into contemporary events with the French Revolution. This current continued into the middle of the nineteenth century with Delacroix. Another important current used myth to launch…
Reminds me a little of winter, eh? It’s actually warmer today than it was on Christmas Eve when we lost power with the wind chill at -29 f. The fireplace kept the frigid air at bay during the 3-hour outage. Photo from the deck on Christmas. Merry Christmas from my family to yours!
Oil paint can be profitably judged for either its covering strength or transparency. This comports with some well known bits of studio wisdom: “fat over lean,” and “thick lights, thin darks.” Covering colors, often called ‘body’ colors, hide everything beneath them. Transparent colors modify what is beneath them while leaving them visible. In watercolors, transparent…
Sometimes I post my poetry here on my blog. I still have the painting mentioned in this poem, which is I am showing here. The Poet’s Wife The poet’s tiny wife suffered from the cold. I gave her my fiancé’s Chinese jacket, It fit her but could not obscure her homeliness— none of the owner’s…
In the past, I used enough Michael Harding paint to add it to my oil paint reference. My initial rating was “good.” Later, I tried their titanium white and was surprised to discover that it is the best titanium white I’ve ever used. I am not a fan of titanium white but the Harding unbleached…
When I started my oil paint brand reference, I excluded ‘student grade’ brands. The distinction between student grade and other brands was based on price. Everyone understands that you get what you pay for but art supplies is one product area where the old adage is not reliable. Art supply manufacturers include some of the…
I knew a writer who wanted to transition from the technical documents that he wrote to pay his bills to fiction. His vision inspired a whole universe; not one novel but a series. He spent what little free time he had as a single dad and technical writer working on his project. I admired his…