I finished Bench by the Lake in a short session yesterday. I hadn’t looked at the painting for months before yesterday’s session. It’s not unusual for a painting to be in-hand for a long time, and then–boom–I finish quickly. The top painting in the photo, Keep Talking, is still raw. I am keeping it simple…
Sunshine has been rare in NE Ohio. The sunlight lighting the studio is cherry and warming–and winter has barely started. Yes, I have five computers on my desk. I am using three of them to investigate Linux distributions–CentOS, Manjaro, and Ubantu. I spent the morning drawing, then applied an oil ground to a new canvas,…
I haven’t posted in a month and some readers might be wondering if anything is up. Nope. A vacation mixed-in with some other business has kept me away from my brushes. Breaks can be good; we all need to recharge our batteries. But I am not a vacation-type guy. The thought of spending a day–let…
Keep fresh It is certainly important to keep fresh eyes. I’d planned to write more about this important topic but I’ve missed my usual posting date, so if I don’t post soon, it will be stale.;-) This painting, Sub Rosa (36″ x 48″) is in the final, touch-up phase. When paintings get to this stage,…
Normally in my Turpentine Diaries posts, I include a photo of an unfinished painting after having worked on it. As regular readers know, I’m not shy about criticizing my work–far from it! There are always things that bother me; problems that need addressing. While I frequently whine about these problems in a general way, I…
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…
Down on Prospect Avenue? Prospect Avenue? Prospect? Down on Prospect? The latter is the name I plan to stick with. This painting is almost finished. My habit is to put away an almost-done painting and leave it alone until I can see it with fresh eyes. One or two more sessions should be enough. …