In the studio 7/31/16
Playhouse Square Trip is, as the name implies, part of the Playhouse Square series. The design is based on several photos I took during one of my photo sessions at the Square. As readers know, I’ve been working on the series for a year or thereabout. The Square is heavily frequented by office workers, visitors, and theatergoers
In the studio 7/24/16
I’ve nearly finished the underpainting of Man Pushing a Baby Carriage. I showed the initial drawing for this painting in a recent post. By underpainting, I mean the first sessions during which I start modeling the dark tones and apply local colors. I use the neutral ground for lights, as on the shoulders of
Visiting the Republican National Convention
Living in NE Ohio, I had to the visit the RNC. I spent two hours yesterday in downtown Cleveland. I took a lot of photos but I was still surprised when I got home and discovered that I’d taken 1300 photos! I’m always taking photos for use in my paintings, of course, and I was
In the studio 7/17/16
The painting, Girl in Purple Boots II, is on the easel. In the background is the recently started Women in Sandals. Girl in Purple Boots II is based on several–three–photos that were taken at an intersection in mid-town Manhattan . It’s 44″ x 60″. Women in Sandals is also 44″ x 60″. I spent more time drawing
Starting a painting
After completing the cartoon for this painting, I transferred it to a canvas, as you can see in the photo. A cartoon, I remind you, is a drawing used as a template for a painting. Cartoons are made to the exact dimension of the target surface. Typically, they are used for large paintings and murals but are often
Preparing canvases
I spent most of the day drawing, getting two new paintings ready. This afternoon I started stretching canvases. I plan to stretch 6. I’m a crackerjack canvas stretcher, I’ve done it so often, but even I can learn new tricks. I used to put the staples on the stretcher edge but I’ve started putting the
In the studio 7/7/16
I finished the drawing for 3 Women in Sandals quickly. It took three days to finish the underpainting. 3 Women in Sandals is 44″ x 60,” a format I use a lot. I couldn’t decide on a name for the painting even after working on it several days. My working name for it, 16-5-1, was the
In the studio 7/6/16
I’ve stretched and gessoed a large number of canvases this week. Soon, my store of stretchers will be exhausted. I’m concentrating on several dimensions: 36″ x 48″, 40″ x 50″, and 44″ x 60″. I have 6-10 paintings in each of those dimensions in various states of finish. We celebrated my wife’s birthday yesterday–porterhouse steaks,