Bad easel
I whined about my previously-praised easel earlier this month. I’ve had the Utrecht-branded easel less than a year, and I complained about having to replace one of its casters. The way the casters are attached is poorly implemented; once one detaches, it’s impossible to reattach. While I was replacing the caster, the support brace split. #@!**@#!!! I glued
RGH paints fail
I’ve whined before about the jars RGH uses for its paint. They’re useless–worse than useless. They don’t seal properly so unless you use the paint straightaway, it’s wasted. I lost one half of a 250ml jar this way. Even spraying water over the paint failed to preserve it. The jars nullify an otherwise brilliant strategy. RGH
Mountain Retreat
The beautiful painting Clouds Visiting a Mountain Retreat is currently on view at the Cleveland Art Museum. The museum regularly rotates its vast Asian collection, and new works (new to me) are frequently to be found. The cloud-swathed mountain dominates the landscape; the travellers in the lower-left are easily overlooked. It’s early morning or early
Purge
Winter time; bitter, bitter cold. More snow this morning. I’ve written before about the benefits of working on a lot of paintings simultaneously. Working this way allows paint layers to dry thoroughly. Painting over a layer too soon leads to bad problems (to use a technical term), such as cracking and sinking in. Working this way
In the studio 2/18/15
The under-painting is done on The Photographer. All color areas are close to their planned final tone. Having said that, no part of the painting is finished; with the figure being the least finished. I’m happy with the stool and the hat. This 36″ x 48″ painting is thematically close to the similarly-sized The Explainer, which was
In the studio 2/1/15
I had my first painting session with Taking Note yesterday. Yesterday’s session will be the first of 12 or so. I can’t remember how many drawing sessions I had before I started painting–4 or 5 sounds about right. Taking Note is 42″ x 60″ and it’s a refreshing change of pace to work on a
Oil brush update 1/30/15
I’ve bought brushes marketed as ‘Russian-made sables’ at different times and from different vendors. The actual manufacturer is obscure. Their only identifying marking is the distinctive logo, which you can see in the accompanying photo. In addition to the logo, the brushes have long, mahogany handles. They are excellent brushes for oil (I’ve never used
In the studio 1/25/2105
Main Street #1, or ‘The Antique Shop,’ is on the easel in this photograph. I had a couple of good, long sessions on it today. I’m having fun painting the bric-a-brac in the shop window. Vermilion is a lake-front town (biggest concentration of small-boat marinas on the Great Lakes) and many shops have a nautical