I wrote before about the drying linseed oil I prepared. I decided to continue my investigations by preparing some drying walnut oil, the results of which you can see in the accompanying photograph. The walnut oil is clearer than the linseed oil and has the same excellent handling qualities. How did I prepare it? I…
Small paintings (this painting is 30″ x 40″) always take longer than I expect. Starting, I intend to keep it simple, but I’m always discovering more things to explore or problems to solve. I’m only successful with finishing studies quickly when I restrict myself to monochrome. Who knows when this painting will be done. I…
Keep Talking is scudding along; still unfinished, obviously, but it’s moving closer. In this photo, Keep Talking, which is 36″ x 48″, shares the easel with a canvas I recently prepared. You can see the grid on the paper fixed to the canvas. When the drawing is finished, I’ll transfer it to the canvas with…
I am happy with my painting medium, as I’ve written before, but I also like to kick the tires of new offerings. I wrote about my use of Grove’s Cole’s medium several times, noting how that the more I used it, the less I liked it. Eventually, I put it aside, storing it in the…
For today’s session with Lunch Alone, in addition to my usual medium, I used ‘flavored’ turpentine for my solvent: turpentine with some homemade drying oil, plus drops of Courtrai siccative. Readers of my blog know I post a lot about mediums and other arcane elements of art making. If you want to start experimenting with mediums,…
I am keeping everything simple and direct with The Woman in the Red Pants. Overworking can be death to a painting. On the other hand, I have a horror of the blast, fire, shoot, throw, and fling army of ala prima painters who’ve taken over the Art World, at least the ‘figurative’ part of it. …
How do you know when a painting is finished?Many artists have trouble determining when a painting is finished. It can be excruciatingly painful to let a painting go, especially after you worked on it for a long time. If like me, you focus on problems as you work, it can be easy to fixate on…
I used my homemade drying oil in recent sessions with Down on Prospect Avenue. I substitute the oil for black oil in my medium recipe. Large paintings (Down on Prospect Avenue is 44″ x 60″) have issues that smaller ones don’t have. Matching tones previously used, to name just one. Anyway, it’s getting there. It’s…