One day in the park at Playhouse Square, I saw a young lady sitting alone and eating her lunch. As usual, I was taking photos and I wanted to take some of her but I didn’t want her to freeze as people sometimes do when they see a camera. So I asked if she would…
I feel like Sisyphus. The batch of paintings that are working me over are all in mid-flight. I keep rolling the rock uphill but I haven’t reached or even seen the crest of the hill. Not only that, I’ve fallen backward with some of them–bah. The Press is 40″ x 50.” Studio corner with The Offensive in the…
After flavoring my medium with additions for several days, today I used my normal medium. I worked on this painting during both of today’s sessions. When the painting surface is right, as with this painting, my normal medium is unbeatable. What is a good surface? I like smooth surfaces. ‘Smooth’ means the canvas weave is…
Today’s session with Booth at the Fair is my 5th. By contrast, yesterday’s sessions with On the Square was the 20th and final one. I have a long way to go with this painting. It’s 44″ x 60″ but it feels larger, perhaps it’s the amount of detail or the eleven figures that make it…
I finished On the Square then put down my brush and took a walk. Sometimes I have to get out of the studio to cure “studio blindness,” during which I lose my objectivity and focus instead on some narrow aspect of the painting. After a 45-minute walk, I returned to the studio and the painting…
I finished Spring during my morning session. I added a tiny little bit of sun-thickened oil to my usual medium. A small amount of this oil dramatically affects the paint. Sun-thickened oil, unlike stand oil (which I don’t like), maintains good handling qualities even when the paint is thinned to a gouache-like consistency. Before starting, I applied…
Terrible photo but it’s dark and I’m tired so it will have to do. Man With a Baby Carriage is in the final stage–the fun stage. If the drawing is strong, it will take you to finish line. Drawing, like writing, can fill up with useless details that don’t advance the project when you’re tired. …
The unfinished painting The Press is 40″ x 50.” I’ve used RGH’s walnut-ground flake white for a couple of weeks and I like it more and more. It keeps its body even when thinned to the constancy of gouache, such as the white shirts in the painting. I plan to write about preparing canvases soon.…