Category: Shop Talk

Update to Oil Paint Brands

I’ve updated the Oil Paint Brands material to reflect the recent quality decline of several brands: LeFranc, Rembrandt, and Daniel Smith. All three have fallen from the ‘mid-range, good value’ category to student grade. Avoid except for sketches or grounds. One consequence is that Windsor-Newton has tightened its grip on the all-important mid-range category. The others…

Tips for Using a Grid

I frequently use a grid to enlarge designs for paintings. It’s my preferred method for transferring designs from one medium into another (except watercolors). What do I use to create a grid? Good question. The grid should be visible enough to see—doh!—and not  easily rub away, but not so visible that it appears in the…

Transferring Designs to Canvas

I routinely transfer designs as I rework subjects in various mediums. There are several standard methods for transferring designs to a target surface. One long-used method was to prepare a cartoon to the exact dimensions of the target wall or canvas. Once the design was fixed, it would be transferred by one of the following methods: Covering…

Turpentine Tip

Put some Venice turpentine  into your everyday turpentine (10:1 turpentine to Venice turpentine). You could substitute larch turpentine or Canada balsam for Venice turpentine, both of which are easy to obtain. The admixture of Venice turpentine firms the turpentine without overpowering it. I sometimes use the mix to thin paints, and as an additive in…

Spray Varnish

Varnish is a sore subject. I’ve nearly spoiled some of my own paintings with poor varnish, and I’ve had so-called ‘professionals’ ruin paintings (one frame shop owner in Trenton, NJ left brush hairs in the varnish coat then obliterated the painting’s surface trying to get them off—grrr). Any artist that draws with smudge-able material, such…

Love Everything About It

I love everything about art making.   This has always been the case for me, but when I was young I was more impatient.  I also had an elevated view about the role of artistes.  As a consequence, I was sometimes careless with my equipment.  Brushes could remain brush-down in turpentine for days–horror!–until I got around…

White Paint–in Praise of Lead

The most important color–by far–is white.  White oil paint comes in three flavors: Zinc white (zinc oxide, PW4, usually called Chinese White when used in watercolors).  Although known from ancient times, its common usage is relatively modern, dating from the 18th century when it was developed as a replacement for lead white, which was long known to be…

Oil Paint Brand Ratings

I’ve used oils paints from almost every producer known to man, or at least those known in the US.  This photo shows my two paint cabinets.  The one on the left has tubes of blue, green, yellow, and earth red.  The top-drawer, for example, contains only yellows.  The barely-visible cabinet on the right contains reds, whites,…