Category: Studio Corner

Liberty Avenue progress

I’ve had 4-5 sessions with my new painting titled Liberty Avenue. The painting is still in the early stages: the boat has left the slip and is in the channel but it hasn’t made to the sea. Once at sea, the voyage can take some time–depending on the headwinds. Some parts, such as the right-most…

White Balloon 3rd session

By my 3rd session with the painting titled White Balloon, I finally have the entire surface covered with paint. One issue large paintings present (White Balloon is 40″ x 54″) that is not encountered on small canvases is coordination. It’s too easy to work out the details in an area only to discover the area…

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 painting session. You can better see the painting’s bones in this photo. It’s going to take time to put flesh…

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 is still a baby and has a long way to go before it grows up. On the left-hand canvas, I…

Sable brushes

Sable brushes are the best. There’s no debate about this. Sure, there are some use cases where the benefits of sable are irrelevant. The fine control provided by sables is lost on large-format oil paintings, for example. So on large paintings, why go to the expense? And–oh boy!–sable brushes are expensive. I paid $60+ over…

Commercial canvas

I spend a lot of time preparing canvases–stretching, priming, and grounding. The process works well for me but it’s time-consuming. I would gladly buy commercially-prepared canvas but my experience with it has been bad. In the past, I’ve paid premium prices for inferior products. The art supply market is filled with hucksters and amateurs. Knowing…