I’ve had 4-5 sessions with my new painting titled Liberty Avenue. The painting is still in the early stages: the boat has left the slip and is in the channel but it hasn’t made to the sea. Once at sea, the voyage can take some time–depending on the headwinds. Some parts, such as the right-most…
As I’ve done several times, I intend to document the birth of a painting. The last time, I shared just the early stages of a painting. That’s my plan this time too. 2-3 posts that detail the painting’s early progress. All budding artists are interested in how artists start paintings. Here is Liberty Avenue after…
When I finish the design for a new painting, I’m often tempted to leave it as a large drawing. At 44″ x 56,” the new painting, Liberty Avenue, would be a large drawing. If I actually turned this painting into a drawing, I would most likely finish it with chalk instead of just pencil. Art…
Part of a recent paint buy included a tube of Cranfield’s King’s blue deep, which I’d bought in order to review. The Cranfield brand is new to me and King’s blue is not a palette regular but I like to try new paint brands and colors. Cranfield is a British firm that originally produced printing…
Lately, my paintings are in the 40″ x 60″ range. For example, the painting in this photo, The Fair, is 44″ x 60.” My next big painting ups the scale. The grided canvas in the photo is 60″ x 72″ (5 x 6 feet). As usual, I’m working on the design and when it’s done…
I never use a palette knife on my palette. To mix a tone, I plunge my brush into the paints and use the brush to mix what I need. For example, on this nearly-fresh palette, I dipped my brush into the cobalt blue–the second blue from the bottom right–and used my brush to mix it…
I’ve written before about the difference between paint thinner and OMS (spoiler: they’re just different names for the same thing). I’ve also written about the turpentine that I routinely use. Why haven’t I written about Naphtha? I use Naphtha to clean etching plates but for painting, I use it less frequently than the other top…
Artists find painting people and portraits difficult. Even artists who can paint complicated landscapes without too much difficulty stumble when they attempt people. Why? Part of the answer is the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley refers to the mechanisms people have for recognizing other humans. It turns out that these complicated mechanisms are difficult to…