St. Charles’ good book
Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters by Sir Charles Eastlake is the best resource–by far–for information about painting methods and materials. Just like the title…
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…
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…
Study: Making ‘The Call’ Part 3
The under-painting is now finished. The next update will occur after the under-painting is thoroughly dry and a substantial amount of modeling and local color have been added. Read moreCleveland…
Old painting medium revisited
I’ve written before about my oil medium. I wasn’t exaggerating when I wrote that my medium, one I’ve used for years, is the result of many, many trials. I haven’t used…
Painting flesh
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…
Amusement park series
I visited Lake Erie’s preeminent amusement park, Cedar Point, five times this summer. I am using the thousands of photos that I took from these visits as reference material for…
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…