You know when your paint surface gets too slick and oil starts to bead? There are several remedies. Rubbing an onion over the surface works but has issues–obviously. A better method is to use denatured alcohol. A light application over the surface cures this problem instantly. Make sure to not overdo it. Too much alcohol…
RGH Oils is a small manufacturer that promotes its wide-range of lead-based whites. I think that is smart. There is an opportunity here for small suppliers to fill the gap left as the larger companies cut production–and raise prices to lurid heights. After using the paints from my first order (shipped instantly, by the way),…
I finished this painting three days ago. Keith in Front of a White Chair, is fairly large (for me) oil painting measuring 36″ x 48.” It’s kissing cousin to this painting, which is also 36″ x 48.” One thing i always do is I try to get the drawing right. That isn’t as straightforward as it…
More recent work. The church is from a drawing I made in Colorado. I am using a mastic-based medium in this painting. In the past I used a jelly-type medium (Maroger), but stopped long ago. This medium isn’t jelly-like in the least even though it uses mastic. It’s an OK medium but not nearly as…
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…
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…
Here is a batch of some recent work. The large painting–‘The Conversation’–is 66″ high. It’s not far from being finished (knock wood). The smaller paintings are Betty Jane paintings, that is, paintings of people aboard my boat–The Betty Jane. They are also examples of paintings on canvas board. Treated properly, canvas board can be as…
We are in the midst of a surging revival of interest in historical painting methods. More is written on the topic each day. Many authors point to received experts (Eastlake and Doerner to name just two—my own threadbare copies are much-thumbed) and claim to have rediscovered or reinvented long-lost methods. The pursuit of the ‘lost…