Tag: painting

  • Taking the ‘gris’ out of ‘grisaille’

    Taking the ‘gris’ out of ‘grisaille’

    The last month and a half has been busy with non-visual art things like guests and cleaning and music gigs, but I did manage to start another painting. This one is on an old panel that I painted over with a titanium white/cad yellow mixture, and like the other fiddle painting, I started with a…

  • ‘Real’ colors at last

    ‘Real’ colors at last

    I’m always slow to abandon the freedom of under-painting and commit to working on the layers people will consciously look at, but I have to take the plunge eventually. With this painting I had some extra motivation: I was starting a second painting, and before I used the crazy yellow/purple underpainting scheme a second time, I…

  • “Fat over lean” (It’s not cooking advice)

    “Fat over lean” (It’s not cooking advice)

    [vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]There are a bewildering array of products for mixing your mediums and cleaning brushes, even when you’re only looking at one type of painting. Each oil has distinct properties, every paint manufacturer has their own trademarked medium, and everyone has a favorite combination they swear by. When it comes down to it, though, every…

  • Nancy’s Fiddle: Adding some excitement

    Nancy’s Fiddle: Adding some excitement

    I started this painting in January, did one more session to correct some mistakes, and then abandoned it for a few months. I let it lie partly because I was busy, and partly because it lacked a certain something. Life’s too short to work on a painting that bores you, unless you’re being well paid.…

  • Bright red columbine

    Bright red columbine

    This is from last night, and took about 45 minutes, complete with mistakes. No sketch first, which contributed to the ‘mistakes’ part. It’s all mixes of golden acrylics’ cad red (hue – I think the pigment is napthol) and titanium white, on one of the brown panels I prepped this weekend. It’s supposed to be…

  • Paintings start out ugly

    Paintings start out ugly

    It’s been over eight years since I last used oil paints. Yesterday, after a year in my new studio, I finally got brave enough to get them back out. I like to paint on panel, rather than canvas, and I usually make my own. It’s cheap, but it adds a significant delay to starting any…

  • New painting sketches

    New painting sketches

    I’ve been in my studio for almost a year, but have yet to break out the oil paints. Now I’m one step closer. The sketch is based on a photo I took a few months ago.

  • Revisiting Old Art

    Revisiting Old Art

    Friends of mine in Portland own my second-ever oil painting, a still life I started as a university and revisited and finished a few years later because they wanted it and I was mortified to think of displaying it as-is (or as-was, I suppose). When I finished the painting, I painted the edges of the canvas black… except…