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,…
Category: How to
Drawing is always the solution
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…
Sinking in (canvases)
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…
Good paper for large drawings
Arches make good paper. My roll of hot-pressed watercolor paper is very good for large-format drawing too. My roll of 356gsm is 51 inches wide by 10 yards long. My 30" x 40" drawing like…
Old Holland painting medium
No, I haven't lifted my boycott against Old Holland. But a comment on this related post sent me looking at my dwindling stock of Old Holland supplies--things I bought pre-boycott. This photo shows my bottle…
Starting a painting
Everyone knows how to start a painting, right? You take up your brush and begin--what's the problem? Joking aside, if you want to create a sketch or study, that IS exactly how you start. That…
Premixing tones
Artists spend a lot of time thinking about their palettes; how many colors, which colors, how big, and so forth. My palette is too large to hold in my hand so I keep it on…
Another one underway
As I've done several times, I intend to document the birth of a painting. The last time, I shared just the early stages of a painting. That's my plan this time too. 2-3 posts that…