Everyone knows how to start a painting, right? You take up your brush and begin–what’s the problem? Joking aside, if you want to create a sketch or study, that IS exactly how you start. That approach is fine until you want to create something more ambitious. If you intend to create a piece that’s large,…
Category: Tips and Studies
Main Street, Paintings, Shop Talk, Studio Corner, Tips and Studies
‘Liberty Avenue’ again
by
•Art students frequently struggle over how to start a painting. Once started poorly, a painting is hard to correct. I’ve shared the starting stages of several of my paintings for art students struggling with starting a painting. I expected my previous post about the progress of my new painting, Liberty Avenue, to be the final…
How to, materials, Shop Talk, Tips and Studies, Uncategorized
Painting flesh
by
•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 uncanny valley. The uncanny valley refers to the mechanisms people have for recognizing other humans. It turns out that these complicated mechanisms are difficult to…
How to, materials, Shop Talk, Tips and Studies
Leaded oil completed
by
•materials, Thumbs-Up-Down, Tips and Studies
Old Holland, I want to forgive you
by
•I explain why I banished Old Holland from my palette in this post. Even though I rate Old Holland’s oil paint the best in my Oil Paint Reference, their prices are so absurdly high that I refuse to use them. Besides, there is plenty of reasonably-priced vendors out there, such as RGH and Blue Ridge.…
Artists, How to, materials, Tips and Studies, Turpentine diaries, Uncategorized
Smooth is best
by
•Rereading what I wrote about preparing a canvas, I realized that I didn’t emphasize the main goal enough. Yes, it’s important to protect the canvas, but the real goal is to make a great surface. The best surface is smooth. How smooth? If you’ve done lithography, then you know how wonderful litho stones are for…
materials, Paintings, Tips and Studies, Turpentine diaries
Ragged easel
by
•Main Street, materials, Paintings, Shop Talk, Tips and Studies, Turpentine diaries, Uncategorized, Vermilion, OH
Arguing with a painting
by
•I’ve had a long argument with this as-yet-untitled painting. The argument started as soon as I completed the original design. I spent time taking things out of the design after it was supposed to be finished. I work hard on designs and only start painting with the drawing is finished. But it’s a large painting,…