Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.  I'll let you know what I'm working on, thinking about, and, from time to time, show you some of my process in getting a work to completion.  And maybe a recipe or two along the way.

So for this first post I want to show you a painting that I did over the weekend.  It's of pomogranates, which I hope you can tell. 

While in France, a friend of mine showed me a way to layer in colour quickly.  I spend a good amount of time glazing my paintings, especially my still lifes, so they have a luminous quality to them.  I usually use safflower oil to glaze with.  It's non-toxic, doesn't yellow, and is lovely and fluid.  But glazing takes time.  Each layer needs to dry before the next layer can be applied.    For the Pomogranate painting I used Windsor and Newton's Liquin to glaze with.  It dries super fast, keeps the colours pure and rich, and also doesn't yellow with time.  This was also painted on watercolour paper instead of linen or canvas.  I've painted on paper before.  It absorbs the oil from the paint quite fast and can not be fixed quite as easily as on a traditional surface.  But there are many instances where the old masters used paper and it is a convenient way to experiment while staying archival.  This piece is 6" x 12".  

To see more of my still life paintings  click on the link.