An artist is like a man sitting in a dark room holding a mirror. There in the dark, little can be seen. But if he opens the ‘Nature’ window, light floods the room and an impossibly beautiful vista opens before him. He can study the beauties through the window or study his own face in…
Shop Talk, Studio Corner, Tips and Studies, Uncategorized
Painting Mediums
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Painting mediums are a never-ending topic for discussion and debate among artists. Mediums profoundly affect how oil paint handles, and many preparations are complicated or dangerous, filled with ancient lore and alchemical processes. Oil by its nature is flowing and slow drying, qualities that during the early Renaissance led to the birth of large-format paintings…
Shop Talk, Tips and Studies, Uncategorized
Tip: Painting Flesh
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There is not a single best way to paint Caucasian flesh. Any orange-brown tone can serve as a base that can be made lighter and darker, and cooler and warmer as needed. As simple as this sounds, it’s maddeningly easy to misfire when painting portraits or figures. The eye scans portraits and notices false notes…
Artists, Cleveland, Galleries, Reviews, Uncategorized
Review: Joseph O’Sickey at Bonfoey Gallery
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Just now there is a lot of news and information about O’Sickey. The Canton Museum of Art is hosting an exhibition of his work through July 21, and the Bonfoey Gallery’s exhibition runs through the 13th. The Bonfoey exhibition–Travels: Provence and Maine–consists of an outstanding collection of large works that provide those or us unfamiliar…
Bio, Paintings, Shop Talk, Studio Corner, Uncategorized, Vermilion, OH
In the Studio 7/14/2013
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As usual, here is some current work. The small self-portrait at top was recently finished (it’s still wet). It’s a companion to a gouache I did earlier this year. The painting on the lower-right (tentatively titled ‘Down’) has a warm orange-brown ground. I favor this tone for my grounds although I have used others.
Artists, Cleveland, Galleries, Reviews
Stephen Pentak Responds to Review
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Stephen Pentak has responded by email to my review of his exhibition at the Bonfoey Gallery last fall. Because my readers might be interested in the exchange, Mr. Pentak has generously agreed to let me post the correspondence. I have appended the emails to the original review.
Bio, Paintings, Shop Talk, Studio Corner
Study: Making ‘The Call’ Part 3
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The under-painting is now finished. The next update will occur after the under-painting is thoroughly dry and a substantial amount of modeling and local color have been added. Part 2. Part 1. Part 4 Finished painting
Shop Talk, Tips and Studies
Oil Paint Brands Update 6/30/2013
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This is my second update to the Oil Paint Brands post (a compendium of information about oil paint producers). Blue Ridge has proved to be a reliable producer and they have supplanted Windsor Newton as my day-to-day paint. Their paint is excellent and I had a bad experience with WN. Recently I bought two 200…
Bio, Paintings, Studio Corner
In the Studio 6/30/2013
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One unfinished oil–Boat Hook–and two watercolors. “Boat Hook” is almost finished. The two watercolors are large (for watercolors). The bottom one (California coast) should be finished soon.
Art Museums, Bio, Cleveland, Uncategorized
“Why?” (do you visit the museum so often)
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A professional from Guadalajara visiting Cleveland for the first time was enthusing about the city’s many attractions, especially the art museum. “It’s magnificent–world class,” she exclaimed! “The Rubens, the Velasquez, the Goya…,” she rattled-off several more masterpieces she’d seen. “I know,” I nodded, “I visit the museum every week.” “Every week? But, WHY,” the astonished art lover…
Uncategorized
In the Studio 6/23/2013
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Not much to report this time as I’ve been under the weather. The small landscape is part of a Rockies-based series. I own a small property in Colorado but I don’t get out there often. If I moved away from the water, I would head for the mountains. The painting in the upper-right was finished…
Artists, Reviews, Uncategorized
Review: Bad Boy: My Life On and Off the Canvas by Eric Fischl
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The contemporary figurative artist Eric Fischl has written, with the aid of Michael Stone, his autobiography–Bad Boy: My Life On and Off the Canvas. Because Fischl’s work stands to the side of several currents in contemporary art, he has a (mild) reputation as a rebel. His lifestyle, according to this book, is one of pop-culture…
Bio, Paintings, Shop Talk, Studio Corner, Uncategorized, Vermilion, OH
In the Studio 6/16/2013
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Here are three paintings I’ve started. The drawings for the bottom two were recently finished. All three are in the under-painting stage. These deviate somewhat from the more strict under-painting demonstrated in the ‘The Call.’ In that painting, the under-painting is restricted to neutrals, whereas in these the local color (still well towards neutral, however)…
Artists, Cleveland, Galleries, Reviews, Uncategorized
Review: Virgie Ezelle Patton at William Busta Gallery
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The works in Virgie Ezelle Patton’s show at William Busta span the last two decades. That’s a lot of time to cover in a typical exhibition, but not enough time for a retrospective, especially for an artist born in 1928. All works on view were done after the artist reached 65. I mention this because…
Bio, Paintings, Shop Talk, Studio Corner, Uncategorized
Study: Making ‘The Call’ Part 2
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This is the first update for the study about making the painting titled The Call. In the first post, the drawing was finalized and a neutral ground applied to the canvas. The Call is 36″ x 48″. After the ground was thoroughly dry, I began the under-painting. I work the under-painting with middle-dark tones using…