White Balloon 2nd session
Last time I wrote about getting my painting titled White Balloon ready--the preparatory drawing and the first painting session. I am carrying the painting forward with this update. Here is White Balloon after my second…
Category: materials
Get the lead out
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…
Death of a brush
Serves me right. After I bragged about how rugged the Old Holland sable oil brushes are, this brush died, as you can see. It lost too many fibers and lost its usefulness. It lasted longer…
Blue Ridge’s cremintz white
The brands I use most often for the all-import flake white are RGH, Blue Ridge, and Utrecht. I crossed Utrecht off the list after discovering that they've added zinc to their Flemish white. I don't…
New paintings
The painting on the floor, Arts Guild, is my newest painting. I've worked on it steadily this week. The underpainting is done and I started the first overpainting yesterday. It's 40" x 54." Arts Guild…
Old Holland, I want to forgive you
I explain why I banished Old Holland from my palette in this post. Even though I rate Old Holland's oil paint the best in my Oil Paint Reference, their prices are so absurdly high that…
Utrecht is dead to me
Flake white is critical for oil painting. I buy flake white from RGH, Blue Ridge, and (occasionally) Utrecht. I discovered this past weekend that Utrecht doesn't sell flake white any longer. This unwanted discovery kills…
What’s wrong with Rembrandt oils
When I was starting, my budget restricted my paint choices to the cheapest brands. When I had some extra money (haha), I'd treat myself to a tube of Rembrandt paint. Rembrandt was decidedly low-end among…