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 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
In the studio 3/20/16
I made progress on Euclid Avenue I this morning. Progress on the 48″ x 60″ painting has been slow at times. This canvas is from a stock of ‘professional grade’ canvases I bought some time back. The surfaces on these ‘professional grade’ canvases are very poor–execrable. I’ve had to spend a lot of time correcting them and still the
In the studio 3/13/16
I’ve been working on paintings that take a lot of time recently, such as the lower one in this photo. The drawing in the bottom painting was done with pencil and then fixed with ink. Everything was drawn several times. The drawing in the top painting was done directly with OMS-thinned paint over a neutral
In the studio 3/6/16
The Break is 40″ x 50″. I stretched a lot of 40″ x 50″ canvases last year and The Break is one of them. Some of the background is done, but the painting still has a long way to go. My medium dries very quickly, as I’ve written before. Its only limitation is that its fast
In the studio 2/28/16
With over 30 figures in its 44″ x 60″ space, Picnic wants to careen into confusion. Which I do not want, so we argue. The central figure, by turning her back to us, adds her voice to the argument. That’s alright. I’m not off-put by rambunctious offspring and I am patient. I’ve always been suspicious of accidents, accidents of light
In the studio 2/21/16
Several busy days in the studio. I worked on 10-12 paintings over the past few days, including Sunday Parade. Sunday Parade is finally locked into a good place (even though I still haven’t settled on its name). It felt like I was pushing it uphill for a long time. I’m on the downward side now. Artists
In the studio 2/14/16
On the Square is part of my Playhouse Square series–a series of paintings with subjects taken from Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. At 4′ by 5′, On the Square is at the outer limit for an easel painting. Any larger and you need a heavy-duty easel (or two) or a mural-style one. I don’t own one of those. When I