I was able to spend time with this painting yesterday, working all over it. Girl in the Lavender Dress is based on a mash-up of several photos. It’s part of the Playhouse Square. series. I also painted a small oil study yesterday. I am using RGH’s “extra fine” flake white. After two days, it handles well…
Goodbye, Old Holland, I’m done with you. In my Oil Paint Brand Reference, I rated the Old Holland (OH) brand as top; best in breed among high-end brands. Its dense pigmentation gives it unrivaled covering power and performance. Funny thing though, I noticed that lately there are no OH paints on my palette. Why? Price. Their…
I worked on these two paintings today before my daughter and I went to the marina to work on The Betty Jane. The left-hand painting, The Delegate, is sailing along, to use a nautical allusion. Two days ago, I lightly varnished it with my special varnish. Now, the surface is really sweet and the colors no longer…
The unfinished Women in Sandals is part of the Playhouse Square series. Women in Sandals is 44″ x 60.” Here is a painting tip: If you are struggling to get light in a painting, strengthen the darks. You might be surprised at how making the darks darker makes muddy lights shine brightly.
Even though the winter was mild, we are just now at the beginning of the boating season. The Betty Jane is the middle boat in this photo. It’s shrink-wrapped like its winter-storage neighbrors. Shrink wrapping protects the boats during winter storage and, as you can see, it’s commonly done in marinas along Lake Erie in…
Here is today’s activity. As usual, both paintings are unfinished. Both are part of the Playhouse Square series. Lately, I’ve been using Utrecht’s flake white. It performs decently and is decently priced too. I actually like it better than Winsor Newton’s flake white.
I worked on The Picnic and nothing else for the past few days. The Picnic has a painting surface that is difficult. This doesn’t happen often anymore but it’s annoying when it does happen. It slows everything down. Luckily, an intermediate varnish solved the problem and things are more to my liking and moving swiftly…
I spent the last two days hammering the armor on the middle-lower painting. (Painters will know what I mean.) It’s not done but it’s getting there. The small painting is for me. It’s a painting of my son John and I’ll never sell it. It’s not finished either but I managed a good session with it…
The Press, the middle painting, is giving me trouble–the ground is, I mean. It’s lifeless. It’s one of two things, so I’ll soon know the cause. It’s not too bad but it’s frustrating because things go so some much more smoothly when the ground is well behaved. The ground isn’t the only thing…
I worked on these four paintings today; finishing the two smaller ones. The finished paintings are part of a series about Colorado, which I started some time ago. The large painting is also part of a series started some time ago. It’s the last painting in that series. I wanted to make it look from…
As usual, here is a shot of recent stuff. I really like the surface on the new painting, Grand Army of the Republic Highway. The gray tone of the ground, which can be seen throughout the painting, is just right: not too dark or too light. The surface is nice and smooth, which a big…
The Candidate, on the easel, is 36″ x 48,” which a format I’ve used a lot recently. The design is based on photos I took during the RNC in Cleveland last summer. I use the stick, or pole, leaning against the painting as a maulstick. Even with my fast-drying medium I have to be…
The day ended much too soon. Some days, I can paint all day long and by the time I put down the brush, I feel refreshed and recharged. I worked on the two paintings in the photo and then on another one. When I was young, I would frequently continue painting far into the night. I…
After preparing my palette and getting a cup of tea, I was met by cheery sunlight when I reentered the studio. The morning had been gray and gloomy, so the unexpected light was uplifting. I couldn’t wait to get started. I am restretching the large painting in the background–The Offensive. I replaced the two…
See, I know I’m my own worst critic. Whenever I finish a painting, I put it away so I can’t look at it for several weeks. If I don’t put it away, I’ll find things that bug me every time I look at it. After a few weeks, I can look at my work with…