Here’s a photo of some recent work. The winter scene is from a terrific storm some years ago in Trenton/Princeton, NJ. Now that the weather is warming, I can bring myself to take up a winter subject.
Behind the winter subject is the beginnings of a new painting. I’ve finished just a small portion of the drawing, which I’ve fixed with India ink, meaning I’ve traced over the pencil drawing in order to preserve it.
Once the entire drawing is fixed, the canvas will be covered with neutral gray ground (thin wash of black, white, and raw umber). The rag-applied ground will be thinned with copal varnish, turp, and siccitive–fast drying. The ground will obliterate the pencil drawing, which is why I preserve it with ink.
For those interested in technical details: the cotton canvas was covered with three layers of acrylic gesso, over which one coat of oil-based primer was applied.
The painting at the bottom is of my brother Timmy and his then-wife.