Methods of Portraiture

I recently persuaded a friend to sit for me for several days while I tried out painting techniques. She was writing, which meant she had her eyes down, but she was still enough that I could get a good likeness

Painting in light on 3D shapes

If you are having trouble with painting, one way to do things is to isolate the problem so that you have a very very simple piece of work, and can get your brush strokes right. Here we have a sphere,

Thinning paint and painting layers

This is an expansion to a couple of Twitter posts I made as @DianaProbst. Oil paints can be put on in layers, but because they are slow-drying, there are some rules that have to be obeyed for a painting that

Commission: Girl with Sword

These are snapshots from my latest commission. Clink on any thumbnail for a closer look at that stage of the process.

Highlights of Cambridge: Show over!

I have now had a few days to recover from putting on an art show, so here are my thoughts. 1) Well, that wasn’t so bad. 2) Monetary calculation. 3) Wait, that is almost minimum wage. 4) Push the boat

Painting with Heat

This is not about wax encaustic, glass fusing, or wood burning. Rather, it is about the heat of any particular element. Around the colour wheel, there are cooler and warmer colours. This may not be immediately apparent, and it is

Painting with Charcoal

Hello and welcome to another episode of Diana Lectures about Art, with a special guest, this chamois leather. No, really. It’s got battle honours. I just said in this post on colour that if you are going to paint with