Sunday, November 9, 2014

Make Your Own Paint-Saver Container


This is a handy little gadget that will pay for itself in no time by keeping your oil paint moist for several days.

I like to pre-load my colors using this device before heading out to plein air paint. Then I clip the small palette to my mixing palette as an extension. When I'm done I put the bottle in the freezer for re-use later on. It should keep for several days, if not weeks, depending on your oil brand of choice.

I have to say that you can buy a similar product called a Garage Palette for about $22 if you don't want to go to the trouble of making your own. The Garage Palette website recommends using clove oil to help slow down oxidation so I suppose that a couple of drops on a cotton ball placed under the palette would work just as well. Other oils might also work but I haven't tested any.

What you need:
Thermos Water bottle (about $8)
Back saw (or saw of your choice)
Piece of cardboard or mat board
Wooden palette (preferably used)

First, cut a piece of cardboard or mat to the size you need. This will be your guide for cutting the finished piece.

Don't make it too snug since you may have some paint build up over time that will require you to sand it down.

Cut your wooden palette to size. I used a back saw which worked well.

Super easy and keeps your paint where it belongs.





Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Roadside Furniture Series

I'm not exactly sure why but there's just something funny to me about roadside furniture. Maybe it's because they sit by the curb so completely out of place, like one of those tuxedo t-shirts. Once a proud possession of its owners, and now sitting in the elements, getting marked by passing dogs and soon to be headed to the dump (or picked up by someone really down on their luck) with it's only value being whatever loose change might still be found under the stained cushions.

It struck me that it might be fun to paint a series of stumbled-upon roadside couches, recliners, love seats and the like, just to see how they might be received in the art world. You just never know what crazy thing might catch on.

Admittedly this will NOT be a plein air series. Can you image the looks I would get from anyone passing by as I seriously paint a 20-year old Lazy Boy?

Roadside Furniture I - 8x10 oil on gessobord

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Finally Spring!


Thanks to photographer Steven Ng for this great shot of me painting on Mach Road near Ennis, Texas.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sugar Ridge Road Bluebonnets

After work on Good Friday I headed out to Bristol, Texas for a little plein air action in one of the best bluebonnet locations in Texas. The area has lots of rolling hills and Sugar Ridge is one of the highest points in Ellis County so there are some great vistas to work with. The smell alone was worth coming out for.

By the way, Bristol is home to some of the best sushi in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Hard to fathom considering the population is probably 50 on a good day, and is completely off the beaten path. You don't stumble upon Bristol. You have to want to go there since it's not on the way to anywhere. Don't let the humble building/gas station fool you. Personally, if someone hadn't told me about this place there is no way I would have stopped here. But the food is worth the drive even when the bluebonnets are long gone.

9x12 oil on canvas panel

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Crane Flies In My Paint


I usually get annoyed by the annual crane fly invasion here in Texas in April. Especially since they always seem to find a way to get inside my art studio and, inevitably, in my paint. But for this occasion, I found them to be welcome. 

I was about 2 hours into a still life when two of them landed on my main subject, an enameled tin. Since they were sitting so very still for me I thought, "why not," so I decided to try and include them in the painting. Easier said than done since I hadn't planned for them in the beginning stages. But, I figured it was worth the risk, and a great example of being flexible when it comes to painting.

Unfortunately I wasn't totally happy with the one sitting on top so I wiped him off, but the one clinging to the tin on the left is still there. Most people looking at this probably wouldn't notice him, but I think it adds a little interest and a conversation point.