Merry Christmas 2024
Sharing Christmas porn is an annual tradition here at Turpentine HQ. Every year, we promise to economize and tone down gift-giving. But, as you can see, we failed again. In our defense, our four children compete to outdo one another with their generosity. Read moreRobert SmithWe have much to be thankful for this year. The
Red River Gorge
We visited the Red River Gorge in Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest in October. It’s beautiful there, especially in the fall. Read moreIn the Studio Oct. 14 2012In addition to camping, fishing, and swimming opportunities, the Forest around the Gorge is crisscrossed by 200 hiking trails, like the one in my photo. Read moreIn the Studio—10/28/12
My fav…raw umber
Next to lead white, raw umber is my most-used color. Because it’s fast drying, it’s ideal for every use case, whether I’m making a quick sketch or preparing the underpainting on a large painting. Additionally, its high transparency means it can produce the widest range of tones. Raw umber has always been on my palette,
Rebuilding my computer
My beat-up homemade computer is 15 years old. Future-proofing my computer by building it myself worked but not as well as I’d hoped. The new motherboard with current technologies, for example, also requires a new CPU and memory. I’ve upgraded it many times since I built it. This is its fourth motherboard. The white case
Design process
I’ve been drawing a lot lately. I made this small study while preparing a large (for me) new painting for my Amusement Park series. I’d planned to make an oil sketch but decided to heighten the lead drawing with white chalk and call it finished. So, it’s a lead drawing on a toned canvas, 20″
Activity spurts
During a recent activity spurt, I put the drawings on 7 new paintings and 4 large drawings. This photo shows two of the paintings. The drawing on the smaller canvas, “Painted Pony,” is done and ready for me to start painting. The larger canvas is 54″ x 42″ and the drawing will take longer. I
Adobe vs Affinity Photo
Adobe got into trouble earlier this year after they updated their terms of service and users discovered that Adobe claimed the right to use user-created content to train their AI. Adobe defended its action by pointing out that it had already implemented a similar policy on its stock photo service. Adobe’s self-own is true. It
Loaded again
I know what you’re thinking but, no, not that kind of loaded. I get excited when I prepare my palette for another painting session. Seeing the waiting colors is inviting. I coat the glass palette with oil before applying the colors and mixed tones. This makes cleanup easier. In this photo, I propped the palette