Loaded again
I know what you’re thinking but, no, not that kind of loaded. I get excited when I prepare my palette for another painting session. Seeing the waiting colors is inviting. I coat the glass palette with oil before applying the colors and mixed tones. This makes cleanup easier. In this photo, I propped the palette
Camera woes
For many years, I have exclusively used photos from my Nikon cameras in my designs. The Nikon D750 remains a great camera. I got mine not long after it was introduced in 2014, I am just now selling it on eBay. As much as I loved my D750, I knew I would eventually move into
My summer vacation
What is a vacation summary without photographs? Originally, the seven of us planned to tour Virginia and North Carolina with a stop in Washington. No sooner had we started than Hurricane Debby plopped squarely in our path. With some scrambling, we managed to miss the storm and have a great time. One of our first
Delicious copal jelly
I haven’t been a fan of gelling paint mediums since my early interest in maroger, a gelling medium made from mastic. But I like to experiment with mediums, sometimes to my harm. My go-to for paint varnishes and related materials is James Groves. I’ve praised nearly every product from James that I’ve tried. Indeed, his
Drawing is always the solution
The question is, “How do I fix my stuck painting?” The answer is always drawing. When one of my paintings stalls, drawing is the cure. My most successful paintings started with studies where I clarified the ideas that inspired the painting. I get in trouble when I cut corners to save time. This study is
RGH vs Harding
Readers know about my obsession with The Great White–flake (lead) white paint. This all-important color is getting harder to find because some manufacturers stopped making it due to misguided health concerns and regulations. I’ve discussed the merits of lead white several times on this blog so I won’t repeat myself here. (Those wondering why I
A lot of mediums
I kept studio journals from the outset of my career. At first, I tracked my sales in the journal. Then I started tracking my supplies–the number and size of stretched canvases I had on hand, and other such things. Eventually, I started to use the journals as a daily record of the paintings on which
Drawing study
I finished this large study for a painting I plan. Studies like this help me clarify my thoughts. When making a study, I almost always filter out elements–hardly ever add new ones. That’s what happened this time too. You probably can’t tell from this photo but I’ve removed several background figures as I worked on