Category: Shop Talk

Another one underway

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…

Liberty Avenue

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…

Preparing a big painting

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…

Naphtha

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…

Painting flesh

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…

New paint order from Blue Ridge

The more I use Blue Ridge oils, the more I like them. I continue to use their flake white, of course, but I’m enjoying their entire lineup. My recent small order contains colors I use all the time, cerulean blue and permanent crimson, and others I’m testing–terra rosa and cobalt teal. Earth colors like terra…