I wrote about my antipathy toward synthetic brushes. This photo illustrates the point I made in the linked post. The four synthetic brushes on the left are old and misshapen. In my experience, synthetics quickly lose their shape and become good for little other than effects or glazes. The best thing about them, by far, is their cheap price. But this…
What better time to work on a summer-themed painting than in the middle of winter. Keith and Jane Aboard the Betty Jane is going slowly because I’m taking my time with the water. There is a lot of Lake Erie in this 48″ x 60″ painting. When it’s finished, the water on the right-side will be…
Today’s was the fourth painting session on Girl in the Purple Boots II. I think it’s far enough along now that you can get a sense of what it is about. I’m in my second pass with the painting. The first pass is a rough-in with local color (each pass can take a number of sessions).…
Recently, I wrote about my experience with maroger–a mastic-based medium. Maroger was my standard medium for a period, although I haven’t used it in a number of years. I stopped using it because details are difficult and, because it is such a soft resin, paintings are prone to scratch or show other surface insults. My…
I spent most of my time recently working on new paintings that are still too raw to show. I am also working on a new cycle of pieces that are still in the drawing stage. I had to order a box of pencils. I also got some new sharpeners. I do not like the electric type.…
I’ve posted little this week. The flu sapped my energy and I preserved what little of it I had for painting and drawing. Most days, I got very little work done, and what I did exhausted me. But I am feeling better–knock wood. I had my first three painting sessions with Victory Park I during this…
I’ve been under the weather for several days and haven’t painted much. I’ve gotten ill the last several birthdays it seems. I did get a little painting done, but not much, like I said. During typical painting days, the more I work, the more energy I have. Painting is like exercise that way. This morning, after…
When the painting ground (surface) isn’t up to snuff paintings take longer. The ground for The Photographer is one of the poor ones. A small change in the preparation can have a major effect. I’ll not repeat the same experiment again. It’s taking a long time to get the surface right–sensitive and firm. I spent…
The ground on this painting, Three Women (VW Bug), is wonderful. It’s a traditional oil ground applied over acrylic gesso. A traditional oil ground is essentially white oil paint with the addition of chalk. The chalk makes the ground more covering and absorbent than oil paint alone, even when sanded. It’s really great to paint on. I…
Most of modern arts journalism is marketing. One infrequently encounters critical journalism these days. A recent article in Canadian journal The Walrus is pretty typical. The piece, A Portrait of the artist’s Studio, is about the photographer Joseph Hartman’s series of portraits of artists’–Canadian artists–studios. I was not familiar with any of the artists. The photos…
After drawing this morning, I worked on Picnic. In addition to the four main figures, there are 27 other figures, or parts of figures, in the background. I’m having fun with all those figures. I went back and forth several times about this painting. The central figure’s back to the viewer has the potential to take the painting in…
I am familiar with the great French author Stendhal’s novels–The Red and the Black, and The Charterhouse of Parma–having read them some years ago, but until I read an article in the online magazine The Point I’d never hear about Stendhal Syndrome. The Stendhal syndrome is a psychic disorder that causes dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when someone is exposed…
I thought I was going to finish The Woman in the Purple Boots a few days ago but wasn’t able to. After letting the last work dry thoroughly, I finished it today in a short session. I added a few touches to the right-most figure and the right-hand background. Most of today’s work was on…
It took awhile for Parade to get going. The ground is nonabsorbent and I fought it during the first several sessions. I still don’t like it but it’s starting to cook with gas now. Another thing that is challenging is the scale of the figures. They’re at that in-between scale; too small for full treatment,…
I’ve written before about the various methods used to transfer designs to canvas or other surfaces. There are three ways to do it: projector, grid, or cartoon. Typically, I use grids. Grids can handle any scale and I like working out final design elements on the canvas grid before picking up the brush. I can grid off a sketch and…