J. L. David’s Cupid and Psyche
Jacques-Louis David is one of my favorite artists. David’s reputation was cemented for me the first time I visited the Louvre. David made a career revitalizing well-known stories and allegories. From the beginning of his career, David transformed shopworn subjects into works of startling originality. In David’s masterful hands, familiar themes, such as the Death of Socrates,
Photography
I’m a Nikon fanboy. My Nikon D750 is the best piece of gear that I’ve ever owned. Of course, good consumer that I am, I’m lusting after the Z 7 ii that Nikon announced last week. I’m not a pro photographer–far from it. Actually, I have a confession to make. When I was starting out,
In the kitchen
For the most part, I’ve stopped showing the early stages of my paintings. One thing that I’ve learned after running this site for 8 years is that readers assume that I only post finished work–the opposite of what I actually do. But one of the reasons for this blog is pedagogical. I like sharing information
This and that
I ‘finished’ Trooper Escort several months ago. I often struggle with what ‘finished’ means in practice. These days, I put ‘finished’ paintings aside before signing them. This gives me time to cool off and be more objective. So I took up the painting this morning and, sure enough, felt compelled to add a few touches.
New series–4th Street
The two series that have preoccupied me over the past several years are still moving along. One of them, Playhouse Square, I started deliberately. After launching the series, I continued to take photographs in the target area for some time. The other series, Along Main Street, just happened. Many paintings in both series are finished,
Turpentine diaries 7/6/19
After several days of drawing, I spent the last 5-6 days working on The Lens (unfinished painting on the easel). I started with the over-painting today before running out of gas. My main palette, the rectangular one on the white cart, contains my colors and mixtures: cool and warm grays, and values of burnt sienna.
Turpentine diaries 6/23/19
Today I had several more sessions on Directions. I posted a video of me working on some of the small, background figures.
Turpentine diaries 5/5/19
I had 2 more sessions with Troopers. That’s 7 sessions. Am I half-way through (12 sessions is par for me for paintings of this size)? I think so, yeah. I used some of my homemade drying oil in today’s session. I recorded a video review of Rublev’s sun-thickened oil in which I compared it to