I’ve been busy this summer with my new Nikon Z8 camera. Since getting the camera in April I’ve taken thousands of photographs. Earlier this month I revisited Cedar Point, a NE Ohio amusement park known for its extreme rollercoasters. I bought a season pass to the park for the third straight year. I took this…
I think James Tissot (1836–1902) is a much better artist than I once believed. I had lumped him with Sargent and other late-19th-century artists who I consider superficial and fashionable. He’s much better than Sargent. Having said that, this etching, The Hammock (1880), is a little too saccharine for me. The etching on the front…
I love it when I visit a museum and discover a new painting. I found this painting, The Proposal, by James Tissot (1836 – 1902) during my last visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Large museums like Cleveland’s display only a portion of their collection, which means frequent visitors like me can still discover…
The question is, “How do I fix my stuck painting?” The answer is always drawing. When one of my paintings stalls, drawing is the cure. My most successful paintings started with studies where I clarified the ideas that inspired the painting. I get in trouble when I cut corners to save time. This study is…
Readers know about my obsession with The Great White–flake (lead) white paint. This all-important color is getting harder to find because some manufacturers stopped making it due to misguided health concerns and regulations. I’ve discussed the merits of lead white several times on this blog so I won’t repeat myself here. (Those wondering why I…
I always try to be as efficient as possible with my paintings. But I’m also cheap. The combination of efficiency and cheapness has frequently caused me headaches. Instead of saving time and money, I’ve wasted both in my often wrong-footed efforts to save money. I prefer smooth painting surfaces but instead of buying the ultra-smooth…
I kept studio journals from the outset of my career. At first, I tracked my sales in the journal. Then I started tracking my supplies–the number and size of stretched canvases I had on hand, and other such things. Eventually, I started to use the journals as a daily record of the paintings on which…
I finished this large study for a painting I plan. Studies like this help me clarify my thoughts. When making a study, I almost always filter out elements–hardly ever add new ones. That’s what happened this time too. You probably can’t tell from this photo but I’ve removed several background figures as I worked on…