How to–grounds
Most artists do not know how to prepare grounds for oil painting. I know this is true because none of my teachers were able to prepare acceptable grounds, and none of the commercially-prepared canvases that…
Category: Turpentine diaries
RGH vs Utrecht
A reader asks wether I prefer Utrecht flake white or RGH's. To answer the question directly: I prefer Utrecht (barely). Utrecht covers better and has more body. To demonstrate this, I share a simple side-by-side…
Retouch varnish
When you work on an oil painting over an extended period, colors sometimes become dull. The upper paint layers merge with an earlier layers. This process is called sinking in. If the problem isn't corrected,…
Glowing lights
I have several themes in mind for today's post. One theme is about varnish--intermediate varnish. An intermediate varnish is used to seal the surface and prevent subsequent paint layers from sinking into the earlier layers.…
Those who live in glass houses…
...or use glass palettes. I get a lot of questions about my homemade palette. I've been using this palette for several years and by now it's pretty beat-up. In fact, I attempted to replace it…
Painting in the time of pandemic
We painters are lucky. We already self-isolate when we paint, so when the pandemic s**t hits the fan, we can continue painting and just carry-on as usual. Last week I ordered some oils from RGH,…