Wonderful sun-thickened oil
I’ve written about my everyday-medium plenty of times. I frequently modify my medium for certain situations. Sometimes, for example, I add a little Venice turpentine to the regular turpentine I use in my medium. I add a very small amount of the sticky Venice turpentine to the medium. Other times, I add a small amount of sun-thickened
Turpentine diaries 10/22/17
To some, my studio might look like a jumbled mess, but to me, it looks ordered and purposeful. I have three easels. I use the third one, the one not shown, for drawings. I expanded my palette from my habitual dozen colors to what you see now on my home-made palette. Just because I no longer count
Best deal in flake white
RGH has the best deal for the all-important flake white. Their cremnitz white extra fine is $46.25 for a 250 ml jar. By comparison, a 237 ml jar of Williamsburg’s flake white is $57. Old Holland, which I don’t buy because of their lurid prices, costs $172 for 225 ml tube. That’s after heavy discounts. The
Turpentine diaries 7/16/17
I decided to work on my backlog of unfinished studies and small paintings. I worked on all of the paintings in the photo today, the bottom-left one last. One small study, not shown, has a problem and I’m trying to decide how to resolve it. Before I work on a painting, I always wipe it with
Studio journal 5/7/17
I worked on these two paintings today before my daughter and I went to the marina to work on The Betty Jane. The left-hand painting, The Delegate, is sailing along, to use a nautical allusion. Two days ago, I lightly varnished it with my special varnish. Now, the surface is really sweet and the colors no longer
Studio journal 4/30/17
The unfinished Women in Sandals is part of the Playhouse Square series. Women in Sandals is 44″ x 60.” Here is a painting tip: If you are struggling to get light in a painting, strengthen the darks. You might be surprised at how making the darks darker makes muddy lights shine brightly.
Studio journal 4/15/17
I spent the last two days hammering the armor on the middle-lower painting. (Painters will know what I mean.) It’s not done but it’s getting there. The small painting is for me. It’s a painting of my son John and I’ll never sell it. It’s not finished either but I managed a good session with it
Draw this
Cezanne, I think, told a young artist that the best way to learn was to draw and paint the stove in his studio. I think this is excellent advice. If you can draw the mundane, you can draw anything. There’s a catch, of course. What the hell is mundane? No one has answered that question, as