Allegro, Day 2

The second day of painting on the Allegro was slightly shorter than the first, but as I had folded the sketching time into the first, I can still face my conscience. At the end of the day I had done

Allegro, Day 1

This commission started, as they often do, with sketches and squinting at the canvas. I painted a purple background, made of the blue and red I used for the sail with titanium white, which is a workhorse white; it’s nothing

Still Life, Roses and Reflections: Day 6

Day six of the painting was dedicated to the bottle, which has several reflections in it. The left-hand side reflects the brass, including the watch, and the right-hand side reflects the coffee pot. There are also shadows cast by the

A Look At: Kyle Thomas, Delft Bottle

Or, what I bought on my holidays At Christmas, I bought myself an art work by Kyle Thomas, an American artist. He has a loose style of painting, and I wanted to see this one up close. I felt I

How To: Deal with Sunken Oil Paintings

When an oil painting is finished, it’s not finished; an artist still has to do a few things. The first challenge is that some paintings ‘sink’, losing their freshly painted look. Areas can go dull, as the oil retreats from

Still Life, Roses and Reflections: Day 5

Today’s painting was an attempt to finish the leaves, after a morning spent on a commission project. I had about five hours left in the afternoon, so I used those, adding the green leaves, smoothing out a few painting errors

A Look At: My Studio

Oil painting is slow, and takes up room, and after an attempt to do it in my kitchen was vetoed, I had to find a studio. I joined a set of artists working out of a near-derelict building, on a