A lot needs to happen before the first brushstroke. In this video, I share some of the preliminary steps to making a large painting. My subscribers helped me select the teapot which will be the centerpiece of the composition. Next, I show the panel I’ll be using for the painting (I did say I would […]
“Yellow Teapot, Porcelain Cup” • Oil on Panel • 5×5 inches I can’t usually find much to say about the day to day activities of making paintings in the studio. I know it’s something inherently interesting, and people always want to learn more about it. But to me, it’s just what I do every day, […]
The shadowbox sitting to the right of my easel Most of these paintings are made with the use of a shadowbox – a piece of studio equipment that is as important to creating them paintings as is the easel. It’s a wooden box of my own construction, 2 feet on each side, with an open […]
Friends sometimes ask me what I listen to in the studio while I’m painting. Sometimes they’ll even ask me for a recommendation. The answer, of course, is “Whatever works best for you”. But, for long periods of intense focus on detail-oriented work, I have found that some things work better than others. Since this […]
It’s Not Just The Vision Quick – which of your five senses do paintings appeal to? It’s an easy answer, right? After all, it’s called visual art for a reason. While sight might be the most obvious answer, it’s hardly the only sense that paintings can appeal to. In fact, some artists have […]
While painting a particular passage today, I noticed that the reflection of a cast shadow in a piece of silver was substantially darker than the shadow itself. I could see that the cast shadow was being illuminated by the reflection onto the stone of a strong highlight immediately behind it. I also knew that there […]
Keeping it Beautiful at Every Step Sometimes a minor shortcoming can illustrate a larger point. The image above is the completed underpainting for this week’s project. One thing you might notice is that the tones get cooler and bluer towards the bottom. As I got to the end of the working day, I ran out […]