In the studio 5/27/16
These small still lifes are based on photos I took during a trip to Colorado with my son, Garth. I started both of them the same morning, the upper one first. The larger one is 24″ x 30″. The small format is unusual for me these days. I’ve stuck with large-size paintings for a long time
In the studio 5/15/16
I have a lot of small canvases ready to go. By small I mean in the 24′ x 30′ range. Recently, I started painting landscapes on three of them. You can see the beginning of one in the background sitting on the wastepaper basket. Yesterday I worked on the landscape seen out the window in Grandfather and had
In the studio 5/1/16
It’s raw and cold for a May day in NE Ohio. It feels more like March than May–rainy, gray, and windy. A woman asked me why I don’t spend more time teaching art on my website. Seeing my puzzlement, she added, “You write about technical subjects related to painting, but you don’t provide instruction on
In the studio 4/24/16
My work today on Spring was all blues: ultramarine blue-violet on the blouses of the outer-most figures; cerulean blue and black on the pants of the middle woman. Magnesium blue and Veronese green on the Bug. All cut with cool grays, of course. I love Old Holland paint; they’re my favorite, but they’ve priced themselves out of my
In the studio
After working on paintings with a lot of figures in them, working on The Photographer’s single figure is refreshing. I don’t actually know the woman in this painting, which is based on one of many photos I took at a local fair. Anyway, she struck me as a tough customer; all business, if you know
In the studio 4/3/16
I was busy today. I got into a groove and worked on several paintings. These two are the last ones that I worked on. When I finally put the brush down, I was mentally exhausted. Victory Park I is cobbled together from several photographs. I’m having fun painting the dog and painting GREEN. I worked
In the studio 3/27/16
Aboard the Betty Jane is another of the 48″ x 60″ canvases I recently wrote about. This painting is based on some photos taken during a fishing trip abroad my boat. The Betty Jane is still in dry dock; next week we start preparing her for the season. We have to scrape the bottom and apply
James Groves, art supply manufacturer and artist
I use several products manufactured by James Groves. Jim specializes in historical painting mediums and ingredients. I’ve tried almost all of his products and they are unfailingly excellent–world class. I use his 19th Century Copal Oil varnish and Siccatif Courtrai every day. Both ingredients are staples in my practice. By itself, the copal varnish is too