Tag: art supplies

James Groves, art supply manufacturer and artist

I use several products manufactured by James Groves.  Jim specializes in historical painting mediums and ingredients.  I’ve tried almost all of his products and they are unfailingly excellent–world class.  I use his 19th Century Copal Oil varnish and Siccatif Courtrai every day.  Both ingredients are staples in my practice.  By itself, the copal varnish is too…

Old painting medium revisited

I’ve written before about my oil medium. I wasn’t exaggerating when I wrote that my medium, one I’ve used for years, is the result of many, many trials.  I haven’t used every possible medium, of course, but I’ve tried a lot of them. No one can try all possible combinations.  Recently, I revisited one of my…

In the studio 6/14/15

I had two more painting sessions on Washington Square.  I finally got the pigeons in there (can you see all 7 of them*?).  Washington Square has a hole in the middle which is supposedly a no-no.  Cleveland has a painting by Poussin with the same empty center, and it’s very effective. It took me awhile to…

Bad easel

I whined about my previously-praised easel earlier this month. I’ve had the Utrecht-branded easel less than a year, and I complained about having to replace one of its casters. The way the casters are attached is poorly implemented; once one detaches, it’s impossible to reattach.   While I was replacing the caster, the support brace split. #@!**@#!!! I glued…

Bad, Bad, Bad (ingredients)

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my hot button issues is premium-priced art supplies that are actually inferior, or, as is often the case, pure crap. So don’t get me started. Recently I opened a bottle of black oil from Williamsburg. Although the bottle had been purchased some time back, to my disgust,…