Month: August 2014

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Tom Hudson

My studio journal is filled with hundreds of recipes and formulas for painting mediums. I’ve tried nearly all of them and recorded the results. My shelves are chockablock with oils, varnishes, and other ingredients. . As a teenage apprentice, I spent a lot of time grinding oil paint for my teacher. I like everything about the craft of oil painting, but I do not grind my own paints. It takes too much time and some of the ingredients are poisonous, such as lead and other heavy metals.  I stick to the commercially available brands, which–thankfully–are numerous. I’ve used most brands and many are excellent. I will be updating my oil paint brand table in the next few days.

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Tom Hudson

My new shed arrived two days ago.  The Amish builders erected the 10′ x 12′ building in 2.5 hours. They arrived at 6:30 AM (after driving 2 hours!). The shed enables me to convert the garage into a studio annex.  Its high ceiling will allow me to work on large paintings without accident. When a large painting fell from my old, rickety easel and got a hole punched in it earlier this summer, I knew I had to do something about my cramped studio. I converted a garage into a studio when we lived in Indian Mills, New Jersey. The new space along with my new easel will ease my work situation and provide more storage space. We are going to paint the shed today.

In the studio 8/24/14

This unfinished painting is titled The Picnic. Today’s session was the fourth, not including the drawing sessions. The painting is 40″ x 56″. The ground is neutral burnt sienna, which can be seen on the building in the upper-right. Recently, I’ve moved to neutral gray grounds.

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Tom Hudson

I’m going to the Cleveland Museum of Art later today to visit the Durer exhibition for the 3rd time. The small exhibit contains three-dozen prints–engravings and woodcuts, and a single etching. I love prints and printmaking so this is a wonderful exhibit for me.

In the studio 8/17/14

This painting has occupied me for the past three days. The 42″ x 56″ oil is from an a batch I started this spring. The red gown provides a satisfying challenge. As usual, drawing is the key. The light was poor this morning. Normally, when that is the case, I draw until the light improves.…

In the studio 8/10/2014

This is a painting I’ve been working on for several days.  The 44″ x 60″ oil titled The News is part of a new series that all share the same size. I’ve been stretching canvases and working on drawings for some time now. The News is the first of the series that I’ve actually applied paint…