Not Spring

A few sunny days last week tricked me into thinking Spring was coming to NE Ohio. Today’s snow proves that hope was false. My son’s golf outing yesterday was cut short by a snow squall and high winds. There is more snow in the forecast. Yes, this is a color photo of the lake from…

Good paper for large drawings

Arches make good paper. My roll of hot-pressed watercolor paper is very good for large-format drawing too. My roll of 356gsm is 51 inches wide by 10 yards long. My 30″ x 40″ drawing like the one in the photo barely puts a dent in my paper roll. For smaller drawings, I stick to the…

Canvas prep

I always want a supply of large canvases available to me. I’ve learned that the only canvases that satisfy my perfectionist side are the canvases I make myself. I’ve tried many commercial canvases and none have ever satisfied me. So I make my own. The six canvases are all in the 40″ x 54″ range,…

YouTube art instruction

If you are looking for art instruction videos, YouTube is loaded with them. That’s the good news–videos for every taste and interest. The bad news is that the quality is–to put it charitably–spotty. You get what you pay for. Of course, you know this, so why am I taking the time to discuss something so…

Studio corner

This is a photo of my new painting room. It has a lot of north-facing windows so it’s great in that regard, but the ceiling is a little low as I think you can tell from the photo. It hasn’t been cold enough this winter to start a fire in the fireplace. The large painting…

New drawing

Normally, a new drawing isn’t important enough for me to write about, but the drawing I completed today is noteworthy for its large size–30″ x 36.” “Three Sisters” is from a large roll of Canson paper. This paper is new to me and I tried different mediums some of which, charcoal for example, are ill-suited…

Drawing on canvas board

Whenever I have time, I prepare new canvases, consequently, I have a large stock of canvases and boards for painting. I prepare canvas boards by sanding the supplied surface and applying additional layers. I like smooth surfaces for painting and find that my canvas boards serve well for drawing. These surfaces also provide a large-format…

A lot of paint

While reconfiguring my studio shop, I emptied the contents of my paint cabinet onto my work table. My son saw the table and exclaimed, “Wow, that’s a lot of paint!” I hadn’t noticed what he was talking about but when I looked at the table, I had to agree. That is a lot of paint.…

What I have been up to

Not only haven’t I posted much lately, I haven’t painted either. But I have been busy. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks drawing and completing painting designs. Normally, when I finish the design for a new painting, I can’t wait to pick up the brushes and pitch in. As an exercise, I’ve been pushing…