Drawing for Painters

While in California recently, I had the pleasure of attending a Drawing for Painter's workshop taught by Fred Hope in Laguna Beach. Shown here are a couple of studies I made there. Fred made a compelling case for drawing as a powerful means for becoming a better painter. To be sure, I've found the more I draw, the more likely my brushwork is to be fresh and spontaneous. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and recommend it!

 

Drawing Workshop & Lots of Snow!

Yesterday's "Drawing for Pleasure and Expression" workshop at the Oxford Art Alliance was humming along with such focused dedication on the part of the students until . . . 

the snow arrived in full force and blanketed the streets! Despite the abrupt snowy ending, it was such a joy to share a day of drawing. I never cease to marvel at how the elements of art are, simultaneously, so simple and so complex. And, that despite our personal point in the journey, art meets us right where we are and beckons us onward!

Easy Lightweight Painting Supports for Travel and Workshops

"In this video, I'm going to demonstrate the way I set up my linen or canvas for painting. Not only is it easy and economical, but it's also a perfect lightweight solution for traveling and attending workshops or classes. And, the super nice thing about this approach is that you get a whole lot less paint on your hands and clothes. . ." and so starts the third video in a series about supports for oil and acrylic painting. The series includes how to seal panels, how to gesso, how to easily set up lightweight supports, how to make a wet painting carrier, how to glue linen or canvas to panels, and, finally, how to frame your paintings. These videos will be especially useful to painters starting out. Feel free to share them with your painting friends and students!

Radish Bygone

Even as I was painting a few quick studies of radishes for a larger painting, I was surprised by how quickly the radish leaves wilted. Then, I got distracted by rebuilding my website and came back to my setup a few days later to paint more studies. But it was too late--the radish had shriveled up like a prune! I didn't expect that!

Video: Sealing Panels for Oil and Acrylic Painting

Before gessoing and painting on hardboard or wood panels, they need to be sealed. Sealing, also called 'sizing', prevents the gessoed surface from discoloring caused by naturally-occurring acids in the wood. Sealing panels is really easy to do. This video (3:48 minutes) shows exactly how to seal panels successfully.

In the video, I mentioned two sealing solutions:
Golden Multi-Purpose Acrylic Polymer GAC-100 - 16 oz Cylinder and Gamblin's PVA: Poly Vinyl Acetate Size: 32 oz

Click here to watch the video!

Once your panels are sealed, the next step is to apply gesso.  Stay tuned! Next in my bi-weekly oil painting technique videos, I'll be uploading a video about how to gesso panels and canvas. Let me know if you have any questions about the process.

Evaluating Local Color With an Objective Eye

Funny I should be talking about eyes and accurate seeing having just spent the last day dealing with an eye emergency. On a regular basis, I appreciate the miracle of sight; but, oh how much dearer the miracle of the visual world becomes when facing the possibility of it being compromised! All is fine, so accurately painting color and doing so with lovely expressive brushwork can still be a lifelong challenge!

In my latest video, Monet's painting The Magpie, and Zurburan's Still Life with Lemons, Oranges, and Roses (shown here) are used to compare the local color we associate with an object and the actual colors these masters used to paint these objects realistically. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXo2UnG2K8Q 

Save Your Holiday Cookie Cans!

Holiday cookie cans make THE perfect airtight storage cans for the rags used in oil painting! I put a fresh plastic bag in before each painting session to make it easy to clean up and seal the can up tight when I'm done painting. Each week right before trash pick-up, out the bagged up rags go. So, eat up the cookies (save a few for Santa, of course!) and hijack that can straight to your studio!