I’ve posted about this before–working on two paintings with the same theme simultaneously. These are two paintings of my son Keith in the studio standing in front of a painting of himself. I hope you can tell that these paintings aren’t finished. I recently had a session with the lower one and it’s almost finished.…
I had my first drawing session for a new painting this morning. The Photographer is 32″ x 48″ and like The Explainer the subject is a single figure, although this time the figure is outdoors.
Winsor Newton has become my choice for mid-range oil paint, supplanting RGH. While not Old Holland, W & N’s quality is consistently high, and I prefer some of their colors over all competing brands, such as madder lake and cadmium scarlet. I like RGH’s cold-pressed, lead-based whites but their tubes are cheap and prone to break and leak. This is a serious problem for large-size tubes.
I finished The Explainer this morning. This woman was explaining a painting to her companions who listened to her with rapt attention. I didn’t pay attention to what she said but she was in earnest. The Explainer is 30″ x 48.” According to my studio journal, this morning’s session was the twelfth, not counting the drawing…
I’ve had two more session with this painting since I last posted an update. That makes seven sessions, not counting the drawing sessions. The sky is done.
My studio journal is filled with hundreds of recipes and formulas for painting mediums. I’ve tried nearly all of them and recorded the results. My shelves are chockablock with oils, varnishes, and other ingredients. . As a teenage apprentice, I spent a lot of time grinding oil paint for my teacher. I like everything about the craft of oil painting, but I do not grind my own paints. It takes too much time and some of the ingredients are poisonous, such as lead and other heavy metals. I stick to the commercially available brands, which–thankfully–are numerous. I’ve used most brands and many are excellent. I will be updating my oil paint brand table in the next few days.
My new shed arrived two days ago. The Amish builders erected the 10′ x 12′ building in 2.5 hours. They arrived at 6:30 AM (after driving 2 hours!). The shed enables me to convert the garage into a studio annex. Its high ceiling will allow me to work on large paintings without accident. When a large painting fell from my old, rickety easel and got a hole punched in it earlier this summer, I knew I had to do something about my cramped studio. I converted a garage into a studio when we lived in Indian Mills, New Jersey. The new space along with my new easel will ease my work situation and provide more storage space. We are going to paint the shed today.
Cleveland’s exhibition, housed in two small rooms off the atrium, is small put potent. Durer is one of the towering figures in Western art. His drawing prowess is unrivaled–some few have matched him but none have surpassed him. As the forty or so odd prints in this exhibition make clear, his mastery of the printmaking arts is absolute…
This unfinished painting is titled The Picnic. Today’s session was the fourth, not including the drawing sessions. The painting is 40″ x 56″. The ground is neutral burnt sienna, which can be seen on the building in the upper-right. Recently, I’ve moved to neutral gray grounds.
I’m going to the Cleveland Museum of Art later today to visit the Durer exhibition for the 3rd time. The small exhibit contains three-dozen prints–engravings and woodcuts, and a single etching. I love prints and printmaking so this is a wonderful exhibit for me.
This painting has occupied me for the past three days. The 42″ x 56″ oil is from an a batch I started this spring. The red gown provides a satisfying challenge. As usual, drawing is the key. The light was poor this morning. Normally, when that is the case, I draw until the light improves.…
This is a painting I’ve been working on for several days. The 44″ x 60″ oil titled The News is part of a new series that all share the same size. I’ve been stretching canvases and working on drawings for some time now. The News is the first of the series that I’ve actually applied paint…
The widget that displays random images from the gallery on the front page is broken. After I applied the last upgrade, the widget stopped working. I am still waiting for the widget creator to provide a fix. If a fix isn’t available soon, I’ll rollback the widget to the prior version.
I took a break from my drawing marathon to finish this small (20″ x 24″) oil titled Laughing Keith.
Whenever someone asks me what is the most important thing about art, my answer is unequivocal: DRAWING!
Many artists don’t like this answer. It’s easy to attack straw men when it comes to drawing, or any other aspect of art. But the main reason this answer is unpopular is that drawing is hard. Drawing is like sports. It takes practice to develop muscles and it’s easy to get out of shape. But it’s paramount. Drawing is where you meet yourself and discover who you are and where you find your voice.