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 approach is fine until you want to create something more ambitious. If you intend to create a piece that’s large,…
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 a cart next to the easel. The palette has to be big enough to contain my color assortment and premixed…
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 detail the painting’s early progress. All budding artists are interested in how artists start paintings. Here is Liberty Avenue after…
I applied the second and last oil ground to this new 44″ x 60″ canvas. I made the tone by adding a little burnt umber and burnt sienna to the Williamsburg lead-oil ground. I applied the ground with a scrapper as usual. After letting it cure for a few weeks, I’ll prepare a drawing for…
I never use a palette knife on my palette. To mix a tone, I plunge my brush into the paints and use the brush to mix what I need. For example, on this nearly-fresh palette, I dipped my brush into the cobalt blue–the second blue from the bottom right–and used my brush to mix it…
Artists find painting people and portraits difficult. Even artists who can paint complicated landscapes without too much difficulty stumble when they attempt people. Why? Part of the answer is the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley refers to the mechanisms people have for recognizing other humans. It turns out that these complicated mechanisms are difficult to…
I began my latest batch of leaded linseed oil on July 27, 2021–38 days ago. I protected the oil from debris with a cover. I gently rocked the tray periodically to prevent surface skin. When I checked the oil today, it was thick and sluggish which means it’s ready to decant and store. Forgetting to…
OK, the title of this post is a bit of misdirection. I mean to say ‘get the lead in.’ Quick-drying oil is very important for oil painting. Not only do quick-drying oils enable artists to finish paintings quickly, drying oils improve the way paint handles. It gives artists more control over the paint–an altogether good…