I prepared today’s medium and took yesterday’s palette out of the butcher’s tray where I store it. (The rectangular palette is my workaday palette; I only use the traditional oval one to mix certain tones.) I use my workaday palette 2- or sometimes 3-days running before cleaning it. Even stored in the covered tray the colors…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
I’ve written before about my oil medium. I wasn’t exaggerating when I wrote that my medium, one I’ve used for years, is the result of many, many trials. I haven’t used every possible medium, of course, but I’ve tried a lot of them. No one can try all possible combinations. Recently, I revisited one of my…
The Girl in the Purple Boots is 40″ x 50.” I enjoy the size so much, I prepared 6 additional canvases of the same size. One is in the drawing stage and another is in the early painting stage. The Girl in the Purple Boots is composed from three photos taken in Manhattan. It’s not part of…
This small painting (20″ x 24″) is on a canvas board I prepared with traditional gesso (just whiting and glue). I like traditional gesso a lot. It’s smooth and slightly absorbent. Unfortunately, it’s too fragile for canvas and easily cracks. But it’s great on firm surfaces. Canvas board, while not as firm as wood, is firm…