How To: Varnish a Painting

Varnishing a painting protects the surface, and makes its surface consistent and glossy, like the top surface of a freshly finished painting. A coat of varnish can be taken off and replaced without destroying the top coat of the painting,

Making shell gold

I have been making Leaf Gold into Shell Gold. That requires grinding it up on honey. If you want to see just how thin gold leaf is, take a look: Pretty, ain’t it? A casual movement of the hand that

Dragons: Day 5 – the dragon

This day was spread out over a couple of painting sessions, to allow the paint to dry, but the underpainting took no more than a couple of hours, so I’m calling it a single day. I knew the dragon in

Electronic Critique: Methodist Chapel

I finished the Methodist Chapel painting while I was outside, and it was great, and I really enjoyed the process. Then I took it home and dried it, and a bad thing happened; I saw what it actually looked like.

Open Air Painting: Methodist Chapel

Today’s painting was created on location. (This is often known as ‘plein air’ painting. If you invent Impressionism, you get to set the language of the lexicon.) I set up at the top of Victoria Avenue. (People not in Cambridge:

Still Life, Roses and Reflections: Day 9a

Day 10 was a half day, so filed under 9a, not 10. I did other things in the studio as well, after three or four hours of work on this. I am now on the top layer, which means I’m

Still Life, Roses and Reflections: Day 9

Today’s painting was the hardest so far, for two reasons. I had to paint ellipses with complex parts, and my shoulder really hurts. Precision in painting comes at a cost of sometimes maintaining stress positions, and lately I’ve been getting