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When words matter most

Back It Up, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $435.

My friend Clif Travers and I did a residency together at the Joseph A. Fiore Art Center. That was an opportunity to meet artist Lois Dodd, who came by one night for supper, along with painter David Dewey. I was rather starstruck, since I’m an unabashed fan of Dodd (and Dewey, for that matter).

Dodd proceeded to give a short, pithy and entirely constructive critique of one of my paintings. She made her point without in any way making me feel bad, and I walked away having new ideas and even more respect for her talent.

Compare that to a critique I’d had fifteen years earlier, by a pastelist and faculty member at a distinguished American university. “It looks like an immature Chagall,” she said. I went home and destroyed the painting by trying to make it more abstract.

(Sadly, I can’t find images of either work, although the corpses might be lying around here somewhere.)

Stuffed animal in a bowl, with Saran Wrap. 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $435.

When words matter most

I’ve regretted wrecking that painting ever since. As a much more experienced painter, I think her criticism was simply wrong. She was simply saying, with her New York fin de siècle myopia, that while dreams and memory were fine, she had no time for highly-representational painting.

The part of that story that embarrasses me is not what she said, but my response to it. I should have set it aside and tried again on a different canvas. But I rushed into revisions while not even realizing how angry I was.

I was an experienced painter at the time; what made me flare up so badly?

Possum, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 includes shipping in continental US.

Most artists are sensitive about their work; it’s deeply personal. Making it exposes our most private thoughts and feelings, which are in turn wrapped up in our identity and worldview.

Furthermore, we put a significant amount of time, energy, and dedication into our work. We can laugh when the uninformed say, “my kid could do that,” but when a respected practitioner dismisses it without care, that’s another issue entirely.

Art is also a means of communication, so negative feedback can strike at a deeply personal level. That’s especially true if the work is part of a creative leap forward, when we’re already feeling a sense of risk. Or, in the case of my painting, when the subject is deeply important.

Tin Foil Hat, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 includes shipping in continental US.

Watch what you say

Artists are, believe it or not, human. Harsh or careless criticism is demoralizing.

There’s often a power imbalance between the critic and the subject, which shouldn’t be taken lightly.

I was once panned in a newspaper review, and it made me cry. There’s a difference between helpful feedback and tearing something down. Good criticism helps artists grow; careless or mean-spirited commentary stifles creativity.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Monday Morning Art School: what medium should I choose?

Apple Blossom Time, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

I’m often asked about the best medium for the beginning artist. That’s like assuming that there’s a one-size-fits-all catsuit.

No medium is inherently easier or more difficult than another. They all have their challenges and rewards. Similarly, no medium is inherently more toxic than another; the toxicity of paint lies in the pigments, not the binder. You can avoid toxic pigments in any medium. And, perhaps most importantly, once you get past the entry-level supplies, they all hit an expense plateau, so you might as well choose what you like.

But don’t be surprised if you end up working in more than one medium. I use them all, and my great regret is that I don’t have more time to experiment.

A tiny painting done with Golden Open Acrylics.

Acrylics are fast-drying and versatile. You can layer and finish paintings quickly. They clean up well with soap and water, and inexpensive acrylic paints are available at most department stores at a low price (although you get what you pay for).

That same quick-drying characteristic is a minus when it comes to working slowly or en plein air, which is why most manufacturers now offer retarders. Retarders help, but never give you the open time of oils. Acrylics can also darken as they dry, and their final feel is more plasticky and less buttery than oils.

You can work acrylics leanly, but adding too much water breaks down the bonds. If your goal is transparency, you need to use an acrylic medium designed for glazing.

Rachel’s Garden, ~24×35, watercolor on Yupo, museum-grade plexiglass, $3985 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Watercolors are the most portable medium. With a travel kit, a brush and a sketchbook, you can paint anywhere.

Watercolors have a luminous quality that comes from the paper reflecting back through the pigment. They’re fast and spontaneous, and you needn’t worry overmuch if you screw something up; just paint something else. Cleanup is, of course, absurdly simple. Just rinse your brushes, wipe off your palette, and head home.

Of course, that’s all true until you set out to create something brilliant. The downside of watercolor is that errors are hard to fix. Once pigment sets, it’s often there to stay. That means you need to plan ahead. And getting consistent results takes practice and patience.

And good watercolor paper ain’t cheap, as my friend Becky constantly reminds me.

Oils offer the richest, most vibrant colors. Since they dry very slowly, you have tons of time to work, blend, tweak, and perfect your transitions, if that’s your thing. Oils have a centuries-long track record for durability without fading, and you can go from thin glazes to thick impasto with the same material.

Oils can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to dry to the touch, but don’t be fooled; that painting is still wet inside, which is why it can’t be varnished immediately. You will need odorless mineral spirits and a good brush soap to clean your brushes. The cleanup is a bit finickier than with other mediums, but it needn’t ruin your life.

Gouache is just opaque watercolor. It dries to a matte finish, and can cover underlying layers. It’s reworkable and fast-drying. It’s an excellent learning medium and is often used by illustrators because it’s quick.

Once dry, the paint layer can be easily scuffed or reactivated by moisture, so varnishing can tricky. Colors don’t always dry accurately, and gouache doesn’t blend well.

You need to work on a stiff board or paper, because gouache will crack if laid down too thickly or not on a proper support.

Shenandoah Valley, long time ago and far, far away… in pastel.

Pastels are expressive and tactile and support a wide range of styles.

There’s no need to learn brushwork with pastels, since there aren’t any brushes. Blending is simple and intuitive, as is layering and creating texture. Pastels, like oil paints, have a good record of longevity.

Finished pastel paintings are fragile, and need to be framed or fixed (which may change the colors.) Pastel dust is also potentially hazardous; more so, in fact, than any paint-bound medium. So pastelists should work in well-ventilated areas and wear some kind of gloves, since pigments can be absorbed through the skin.

My Tuesday class is sold out, but there’s still room in the Monday evening class:

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Art and morality

The Late Bus, oil on archival canvasboard, 6X8, $435.00 framed, includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Should an artist’s behavior change how we see his work? I have a hard time tolerating the work of Pablo Picasso, because I sense his misogyny shining through his work. Paul Gauguin, it has been argued, was merely following Polynesian culture in his sexual relationships with teenaged Tahitian girls. I think that’s a terribly abusive, colonialist mindset.

The question of art and morality came to mind this week with the passing of Pope Francis.

Fr. Marko Rupnik has evaded justice for six years for documented sexual abuse of nuns. The appointment of his canonical judges, ironically, coincided with the death of Francis, who some critics accused of protecting Rupnik. (Francis later lifted the statute of limitations so Rupnik could be tried, so it’s complicated.) Hopefully, the trial won’t be forgotten in the current crisis in the Holy See.

Last light at Cobequid Bay, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

What does this have to do with art?

Besides being a priest, Marko Rupnik is an artist whose mosaics and other art grace many Catholic churches, chapels, and shrines around the world. They’re not my cup of tea; to me they look derivative and expensive. But someone must have liked them or they wouldn’t be everywhere. Given that the Vatican has already determined that Rupnik did, in fact, abuse these sisters, what are those sanctuaries going to do with those monstrously large mosaics?

That’s a timeless question, and it relates to that which we also have to answer any time we look at art by a disturbed or disturbing individual. It’s a question that sits at the intersection of art, ethics, and personal values.

No Northern Lights Tonight, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

The aesthetic autonomy argument

Some argue that once a work is created, it stands alone. The artist’s personal behavior, no matter how flawed, shouldn’t affect how we interpret or value the work. This view emphasizes the art itself—its technique, message, emotional impact—over the biography behind it.

That’s easier to do when more time has elapsed. Very few of us, for example, know anything about the personal life of, say, Benvenuto Cellini, but we can recite chapter and verse about Taylor Swift.

Context

We could argue that Caravaggio’s propensity for violence (after all, he killed a man in a brawl) is a lens through which we understand the gritty realism of his work. He was also systematically ripped off by his putative patrons, the Borgheses. Edgar Degas’ antisemitism, while reprehensible, was sadly in line with popular sentiment in late 19th century France. There are situations where context doesn’t excuse behavior, but it does make it more understandable.

Windsurfers at La Pocatière, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Our own ethics as viewers

We make ethical choices every time we buy something, and art is no exception.

That is magnified in the case of Rupnik, whose art is in places of worship worldwide. I’m not Catholic but I like what Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes, France, said about it:

“My role is to ensure that the Sanctuary welcomes everyone, and especially those who suffer, among them, victims of abuse and sexual assault, children and adults.

“In Lourdes the tried and wounded people who need consolation and reparation must hold first place.”

My Tuesday class is sold out, but there’s still room in the Monday evening class:

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Spring flowers

Forsythia at Three Chimneys, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental United States.

I was chuffed to get home from Malta to find hyacinths blooming along my driveway. The pieris japonica along my patio is singing its heart out, and the forsythia is starting to color up. Long delayed, the first signs of spring are finally here in midcoast Maine.

“What will you be teaching in the first class of Advance your Painting Skills?” a student asked. “I want to know what we’re painting!”

As I’ve mentioned, this is a bespoke class, based on students’ needs, but there are certain things every painting class should stress. Color is critical, and what better place to start than early spring flowers?

Lilacs, 12X12, private collection,

Learning how to paint, for the midlevel painter

We have six three-hour classes, which isn’t a lot of time to get things done. But here are the fundamental concepts that I will be stressing in this class:

Project workflow

That’s a fancy way of saying the artist has a process in place from idea to finish. That includes preparatory sketches and an order of operations appropriate for your specific media. For watercolors, that usually means light to dark. For oils and other solid media, that means dark to light and fat over lean. For everyone, it means big shapes to small shapes.

While there are exceptions to these rules, they should be locked down before you start puttering.

Bridalwreath spirea, private collection. They’re just starting to bud out now.

Color theory

That’s where we’ll be starting Monday night. Color theory is more than just the color wheel (important as that is). It includes warm vs. cool colors and color harmonies.

Mixing paint

Using the right color from the start is the secret to not flailing around. It’s a question of method.

Composition and design

If there’s one thing I natter on about, it’s composition. That includes balance, rhythm, movement, value, and focal points.

Brushwork

Brushwork, like handwriting, is highly individual; we don’t need the equivalent of the Palmer method. However, grip, angle and bristle type have a big effect on the results.

Miss Rumphius’ garden, private collection.

Working from life

Working from life is the best way to become adept at painting. While we can’t always avoid reference, we’ll learn how to simplify and strengthen our designs based on the real world. And we’ll explore the difference between working from life and working from photos.

The ability to critique our own work

I like to think of this as developing executive function in painting—to see how things are going wrong before they’re a disaster and to fix the problems in midstream.

An art vocabulary

Learning how to paint should include developing an art vocabulary and a familiarity with the canons of art. Seeing how master artists executed important concepts helps us understand how to apply those same ideas in our work. In every class, I try to show students great works of art that illustrate key concepts in every class.

My Tuesday class is sold out, but there’s still room in the Monday evening class:

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Monday Morning Art School: basics of painting

Happy Dyngus Day! This marks the first real day of spring in my home city of Buffalo, where “everyone is Polish on Dyngus Day.”

Dawn Wind, Twin Lights, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

There are some fundamental principles that every painter should know. Even if you’re an experienced painter, you might benefit from reviewing these basics of painting:

Materials:

  • Understand the basic differences between oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, oil and chalk pastels, and tempera. Know which can be used in multimedia applications such as printmaking or collage, and which will cause chemical reactions that lead to decay. Understand how your specific media works in terms of open time, opacity and blending. (And, yes, I realize I’ve never written about this, so I’ll get right on it.)
  • Know how to read a paint tube and understand the difference between popular names and the pigments actually in the tube. Know the difference between what you want and what you need.
  • Know what kind of brushes are appropriate for your media, and your method of painting. There is a vast range of bristle material out there, and they are suitable for specific mediums and specific methods of painting.
  • Know what surfaces (supports) are suitable for your media, and what kind of sealant you need if you use an incompatible support.
  • Understand the difference between medium and solvent, where each are appropriate, and how they affect viscosity, opacity and drying time.
Seafoam, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed.

Drawing fundamentals

Value

Peaceful tidal pool, 9X12, $869,

Color Theory

Fundamentals of composition

Nocturne on Clam Cove, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869.00 framed includes shipping in continental US.

Observation and reference

Maintenance

  • If painting in oils or acrylics, clean your brushes properly after each use. If painting in watercolor, rinse your brushes thoroughly after each use, especially if painting with salt water.
  • Store your materials someplace other than the back of your car (which is one of my worst habits).

If this is all review, congratulations! If not, you might consider taking one of my classes below this spring:

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Bespoke: the advantages of online learning

Breaking Storm, oil on linen, 30X48, $5579 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

“What will you be teaching in your Zoom class, Advance your painting skills,” asked a prospective student. Unlike most of my classes, I haven’t laid out the curriculum in the online class offering. That’s because it’s, as our British cousins say, going to be a bespoke class. That means it will be tailored to you—your strengths, your weaknesses, your needs, your aspirations.

I’ve been teaching painting online since the world’s annus horribilis, when COVID shut us all up in our little nuclear cells. At first, I thought I’d hate teaching online, but I rapidly became a convert.

Skylarking, 24X36, oil on canvas, $3985 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

The advantages of online learning

In the old days, I’d tour my studio, quietly commenting on work, mentioning what was good and what needed improvement. If Beth overheard what I said to Lynda, that was a bonus, but most people remained in their own little working bubble. Occasionally, if I saw an essential truth that needed mentioning, I’d raise my voice, but that is tiresome for everyone.

That doesn’t happen in Zoom classes. If I tell Lynda, “You should restate the darks,” everyone in the class hears it and consciously or subconsciously checks their pattern of darks.

Students in my classes have come from the United States, Canada and Great Britain—in fact, anywhere there isn’t a language or time barrier. They’ve developed an esprit de corps that would be impossible in the old world of physical classes.

My students have access to recordings of the class, which means that if they must miss one, they can make it up at their leisure. Or, they can review it the class when they need to. That ability to access the content at any time going forward is invaluable. Students can just rewatch the videos until it clicks.

Skylarking II, 18×24, oil on linen, $1855, includes shipping in the continental US.

From the teacher’s standpoint, it’s helpful to see students working in their own environment, on their own easels. I have many times caught ergonomic issues in students’ setups that were hampering their ability to paint and draw.

And, of course, people can attend in their pajama pants—and dogs and cats are always welcome.

The internet sometimes gets terrible press… and I get it. There are problems with social media, but the availability of online art classes is a great boon. I started writing this post in Manchester, England, finished it in Reykjavik, Iceland, and you are reading it wherever you are on the globe. Isn’t that cool?

Dinghy Dock, 8X10 on archival canvasboard, $522 unframed includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

Why am I offering Advance your painting skills?

I’ve had a core group of students with me since I started teaching online in 2020. Many of them are now selling their work, making them professionals. I think it’s a feather in my cap to have helped so many students get to that level, but I need to make room for the next generation of great painters.

That’s why I’ve broken my offerings this spring into two sections. Signature series is intended for those advanced students to develop specific themes in their work. Advance your painting skills is intended to get the next group of painters to that level. You can start as a good emerging artist or a hesitant beginner; there’s a place for you here. Wherever you’re starting, in whatever medium, it’s an opportunity to take a step forward into better technique.

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Neolithic art, made by artists like me

Fishing net at Marsalforn. It’s nice to see working boats.

I’ve done just a few watercolor sketches along the shores at Gozo. They’re all fleeting and for my own amusement. Sketching (in pencil or paint) is how I observe my surroundings; serious painting for posterity is another matter entirely.

Malta and Gozo are the crossroads of the western Mediterranean. There are seven known megalithic sites on the two islands. The prehistoric civilization of Malta lasted a thousand years, starting around 4000 BC. We’ve burrowed deeply into this history; so far, we’ve visited the underground burial chambers of Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and the Ħal Tarxien Prehistoric Complex on Malta, and the Ġgantija temple site on Gozo. Like so many others, I am mystified and humbled by the engineering, particularly the mathematical precision of the hypogeum’s Holy of Holies. But it is the small art objects that I find the most moving.

The luzzu is the traditional fishing boat of Malta, and comes in all sizes.

How does Malta’s neolithic art relate to the rest of the ancient world?

Western art is said to have started with Minoan and Cycladic art, both of which arose around the same time as Malta’s neolithic civilization. Since Malta is only about fifty miles from the coast of Sicily, that’s no surprise. Ġgantija had flint tools that could only have been acquired through sea-trade.

The earliest mariners had rafts, dugout canoes, and hide-covered coracles; sail-power was not introduced to the western Mediterranean until much later. The Mediterranean is a famously tempestuous sea; trade in small human-powered boats must have been a terrifying business.

Figurines found at Ä gantija temples on Gozo, courtesy UNESCO World Heritage Site

Artists like me

At Ħal Tarxien, there is a bas-relief of two fine bulls and a sow. It might have been ceremonial or it might have just been very fine kitchen décor. (Archaeologists have a tendency to explain away everything they don’t understand as being religious.) There are two half-size heads at Ġgantija with such poignant expressions that their feelings are visible through the weathering of five millennia. There are also figurines that tell us the ancients of Ġgantija looked much like modern Europeans. There are miniscule figurines carved of cow toe bones, and bead necklaces just for fun.

The Sleeping Lady of Ħal Saflieni, courtesy National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta

Each of these items was made by an artist like me. Similarly, artists like me painted the red ochre patterns on the ceilings and walls of the hypogeum, and carved the whorls in the temple sites.

Art requires that a civilization have leisure time. There must be time for artists to develop their craft, and spare resources to support those artists. There must be leisure time for audiences to look at and appreciate art. Societies that can produce art are civilized societies.

All that is left of neolithic art is that which was set in stone or pottery. There’s no trace left of painting, textile art, dance, or music. However, if sculpture existed, we can presume those other forms existed as well.

Likewise, the names and personalities of the creators are long gone—but, almost miraculously, their creations live on.

Two stone heads found at Ggantija, courtesy Ä gantija Interpretation Centre

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills 

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Our place in space

Fort Rinella, part of the ancient fortifications at Valletta’s harbor.

My watercolor kit is safely stowed in my backpack, but the idea that our Grand Master would allow me time to paint is a chivalric fantasy. I’m up at 6, out at 8, perambulating until 7, and safely stowed away in my monastic cell at 10.

To be fair, my friend Kenny is far more easy-going than the Grand Masters of the old Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitaller), whose footsteps we are following on these ancient dusty hillsides. About the only preparation for this trip that I did was to read about the history of the Knights Hospitaller before the great Siege of Malta in 1565, in which they maintained a truly heroic defense against overwhelming forces.

Malta is a very Catholic country, and at night is lighted by many crosses.

The shadows of the Knights Hospitaller are visible in Valletta and the ring of defensive towers that surround the islands. The Knights may have been the most colorful part of Malta’s history, but they were really only a short part of it. Malta was settled sometime around 5900 BC, by Neolithic people floating over from Europe. It’s been occupied by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Christians, Arabs, and Christians again. Its modern people are a polyglot mixture from all over the Mediterranean.

The Dingli Cliffs.

The valleys of Malta are obviously fertile, supporting much market gardening. Above them rise steep, rocky, fallow slopes. These are shaped by ancient agricultural terracing that dates from the Arab conquest of 827-1091 AD. (Since chattel slavery was a significant part of the medieval Muslim economy, I shudder to think these terraces were built and maintained involuntarily.)

It’s spring in Malta and the wildflowers are blooming.

No photos can relate our place in space

I didn’t do much reading about Malta, but I did look at a lot of photos online. I was still ill-prepared for the reality.

Photos never capture our place in space. That’s a multisensory experience, coming from our balance, our eyesight, our hearing, and of course our binocular vision. Even the breeze plays a part.

There’s where plein air painting has the advantage, because it captures the impression of the place, rather than its mere physical details. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to paint before the week is out, but if not, I’m still having a lovely time.

Sometimes you wander on trails, and sometimes on city streets…

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills (whoops, the link was wrong in last week’s posts)

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

Posted on

Monday Morning Art School: how to choose the right art supplies

The Late Bus, oil on archival canvasboard, 6X8, $435.00 framed, includes shipping and handling in continental US.

L is the leader of a small rebellion among my students. They don’t like the constraints of single-pigment paints. Their motto is, “In the absence of a good idea, let’s buy art supplies.” Our last paint conversation went like this:

“That green cannot be mixed with the colors on your supply list.” L then pulled out a tube of permanent green recently purchased at the art supply store.

“Okay, what are the pigments in that tube?” (On reputable paints, there are tiny alphanumeric codes that starts with the letter P. These are more important than the poetical names on the tubes.)

“PG7+PY3…”

“And what are they when they’re at home?” I asked.

“Chlorinated copper phthalocyanine and arylide yellow.”

“Which are…” I lead.

“Phthalo green and Hansa yellow.”

“So why would you buy a mix of two pigments when you already have Hansa yellow on your palette?” I ask. And then demonstrated that the painting in question was mixed with phthalo blue and Hansa yellow in the first place.

The Logging Truck, oil on archival canvasboard, 16X20, $2029.00 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

The more experienced you are, you less stuff you buy

Buying excess art supplies can be fun, or it can be a form of flailing around. It can be a search for something that will elevate your art. It can also be displacement behavior; it’s simply easier than buckling down, especially when what’s on your easel isn’t going well. I speak from experience here. I have a large studio, and way too much of it is filled with stuff I never use.

How to choose the right art supplies

Start by knowing what it is you want to do. While this seems obvious, I have lots of art supplies in various media I’ll never pick up again. To a point, experimentation is good, but it can also be expensive.

Lonely Cabin, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $652 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How much are you willing to spend?

Art supplies range widely in price. While quality materials are expensive, it’s not true that the best materials cost the most. For example, while I paint with Gamblin’s artists oil range, I’m happy recommending their 1980 range as well. Likewise, I think Princeton Snap and Neptune line brushes are excellent and do not cost a fortune. And nobody who’s just learning needs a top-end archival oil-painting board.

Less is more

Three good brushes are worth more than a dozen very cheap ones. Likewise, you can get away with six colors in watercolor and seven in oil paint (those paired primaries plus white), if they’re decent quality paints. A set of 18 cheap paints is a very bad bargain.

Tilt-A-Whirl, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Research and Compare

I’m happy to share my supply lists with interested painters. (Here they are for oils, watercolors, pastels, and acrylics.) These are a moving target; my students give me feedback and I adjust them over time. Likewise, you should read reviews and ask for recommendations from other artists.  Look for online resources and tutorials that can help you learn about different materials. And never feel pressured to buy everything at once.

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills (whoops, the link was wrong in last week’s posts)

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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The color of place

Teslin Lake, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Years ago, Bobbi Heath, Joelle Feldman and I went to the Bahamas to paint. There were many lovely things about that trip, including the warmth. However, I found myself absolutely uninspired for painting. Grand Bahama lacked three variables I crave in landscape painting: variety of foliage color, compelling architecture, and fascinating line. (I’m sure that if we’d been there in hurricane season, the weather would have spiced things up nicely, but alas, it was all calm seas and blue skies.) I have a limited interest in the beach and I came home with very little in the way of finished work.

It was also my first experience in a resort area, and I found it frankly disturbing to be in a place where visitors and natives were so cleanly separated. That’s not something I’d ever seek out again.

No Northern Lights Tonight, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

An artist born in the tropics might love the subtle variations of turquoise for his landscape painting, whereas I found the gentle surf boring. He, in turn, might find the sulky violence of the Maine surf to be cold and forbidding. He undoubtedly would like conch, and I prefer cod.

If all goes well, as you read this I’m jetting from Manchester to Malta and Gozo for a week of hiking. I’ve no real idea what Malta looks like, although I’ve dutifully read up on its history. It will, I suppose, be dry, sandy, sunny, and more anciently-settled than most of the places I hike—not too different, I suppose, from the dusty village from whence my Calabrian ancestors emigrated.

Keeping my expectations low—hah!

I’ve painted in many corners of the world, and I always tell myself to keep my expectations low, that landscape painting in one place doesn’t necessarily translate automatically to another place.

That never actually works. I’m always carried away.

I’m not taking my oil painting kit, but I will have a sketchbook and a small watercolor kit. In the past on these hikes, I haven’t had time to do much painting. Even when I do, the results are just a passing fury. It’s not just a matter of focus, but of exploration. There’s a difference between landscape painting for finish and effect and plein air painting for exploration and thought. I never seem to move past the latter.

Consider the difference between Thomas Moran’s trail sketches from the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 and his magnificent oil paintings of the same subject. The sketches are meant to record impressions; the paintings are meant to awe and inspire. Would Moran even have gotten into a major modern plein air event? Perhaps not.

Maynard Dixon Clouds, 11X14, oil on archival canvas board, $869 includes shipping in continental US.

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills (whoops, the link was wrong in last week’s posts)

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025: