Flake white is critical for oil painting. I buy flake white from RGH, Blue Ridge, and (occasionally) Utrecht. I discovered this past weekend that Utrecht doesn’t sell flake white any longer. This unwanted discovery kills the Utrecht brand for me. Their oil paint is decidedly on the low-end of professional brands. Except for their flake…
It is a sunny and windy day here in NE Ohio. It’s jacket weather, believe it or not. It’s a perfect day to take my new Nikon Z 7 for a spin. I went down to our beach. The waves pounded the shore all day long. Luckily the camera is waterproof! I got wet but…
This site was disrupted overnight. A lot of my readers are outside the US and they want to know what’s up.
I’ve transferred my domain registrar. The process is messy. To complete the transfer, I have to update several records. The catch is that I cannot update the records until the transfer is technically finished. Anyway, things should be back to normal.
Why did I transfer? My host was also my registrar. While their hosting service is still the same and they respond to my support tickets quickly, they haven’t updated their FAQs for some time–a bad sign. So I am also preparing to migrate my site to another host.
Migrating a WordPress site is a painful process and is something I don’t look forward to. I am currently administering a site for someone else that I developed with the static site generator Hugo. I am experimenting with WordPress to Hugo migrations.
My next YouTube video will be about the Dutch artist Jan van Goyen.
The book’s complete title is 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed. The book addresses the mysterious collapse of the Iron Age civilization. The author, Eric Cline, claims that recent findings prompted him to update his book that was originally published in 2014. I am reviewing the Audible version. If you’re asking “What is the Iron…
I love Nikon’s color science and my Nikon D750 has served me well–it’s one of the best pieces of gear I’ve ever owned. When Nikon introduced its full-frame, mirrorless camera the Z7 two years ago, I wanted one. The Z7’s 45mp is a significant upgrade to the D750’s 24mp. Initially, the Z7 was criticized for…
Jacques-Louis David is one of my favorite artists. David’s reputation was cemented for me the first time I visited the Louvre. David made a career revitalizing well-known stories and allegories. From the beginning of his career, David transformed shopworn subjects into works of startling originality. In David’s masterful hands, familiar themes, such as the Death of Socrates,…
Analysis of Dou’s ‘Portrait of a Woman’ in the Cleveland Museum of Art. ‘Painter’s paintings’ fascinate artists even though museum-goers pass without a second glance.
I’ve used my Kindle Oasis for several years and thought I’d share my impressions with you. Let’s start with the negatives. Cons Goodreads. Amazon embeds Goodreads in the Kindle. You cannot turn it off, even if you do not have or want a Goodreads account. I almost returned my Kindle when I discovered this ‘feature.’…
When I was starting, my budget restricted my paint choices to the cheapest brands. When I had some extra money (haha), I’d treat myself to a tube of Rembrandt paint. Rembrandt was decidedly low-end among the professional-grade oils, but a step up from my day-to-day paints. Rembrandt oils are still at the lower end of…
I have a Windows computer but I use my Linux laptop for most work and prefer it over Windows. I describe myself as a ‘normal ++’ user, not a power user. This post is for those of you who are thinking about Linux. Why use Linux? Linux is faster than Windows. Linux distributions are bloat…
I completed a new video about the great Flemish artist, David Teniers. I was inspired to create the video by my memory of the Cleveland art museum’s painting by Teniers. Because of Covid, I still haven’t resumed my weekly visits to art museums. I miss it.
I’ve written a lot about the small paint manufacturer RGH for several reasons. First, I always support the small suppliers who are inspired by a high view of the craft. Suppliers such as RGH and James Grove are rare. Importantly, they continue to produce the all-important lead-based paints. Also, I use their stuff in my…
May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been confined for 10 years. It’s time, on this important day, to bring Julian home. #BringJulianHome
RGH’s atelier series of refined painting oils is good stuff. I’ve used most of the pictured 4-oz jar and I’m very happy with the results. I just placed an order for a full pint. Good oil is critical for painting. RGH refines their oil by “historical methods.” I put that in scare quotes because one…
Yesterday, Taliban elements attacked Ghazni. Several defenders were killed and others captured. In a separate incident in Pul-e-Alam, 30 people were killed by explosions. What makes these attacks ominous is that they occurred on the day when US and NATO troops began their official withdrawal. When President Biden pushed back the complete withdrawal date from…