Hi Stephen,

I know what you’re trying to do in exploring oils and in my experience, letting it dry is the best approach to “isolate” as you say. On a dry piece you can apply VERY thin glazes to alter a color. You can add an object without ruining what ‘s already there. If you don’t like, just wipe it away. To be more drastic you can sand…

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Stephen, I’ve seen provenance sheets glued to the protective backing so it can be read by just flipping the ptng around. Also, most artists I know will sign & write some brief info on the stretcher bar or back of solid substrate with a marker, this may or may not be visible depending on protective backing used. Also, if you flip some older…

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Stephen, after you’ve taken steps to protect yr work, don’t forget to attach a “Certificate of Authenticity” to the back. This is appreciated by collectors and will aid “Provenance”. There are examples around the net, but it should at least include Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions, your name and signature. Nice additions could be a small…

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James, thanks for posting this. The Titanium Zinc would definitely be a deal breaker for me. I saw a lovely painting in a museum wherein the artist used a titanium zinc white, all the light passages are cracking even tho it’s a fairly recent work. So sad.

Absolutely, it is my step just before final soap and water.

Enjoyed your article about the use of egg yoke in Renaissance painting. I experimented with adding egg yoke last year. It was interesting in a tactile sense but noticed it dried very fast on my palette and the canvas. So, one point in the article was, to me, counterintuitive: the “antioxidant properties of yolk proteins slow…

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Thanks George, for understanding my confusion and clearing this up.

OOPS: Sorry. that was a typo. Senso’s product says “Universal Acrylic Primer”. So is Acrylic Primer the same as acrylic polymer?

I know you do not recommend oil paint over “Clear Acrylic Polymer”. But am confused about terminology: Senso makes a heavyweight (14oz) linen that has “Universal Acrylic Primer”. It’s a clear primer that lets the lovely gray linen show. My ques; is “Clear Acrylic Polymer” the same as their “Universal Acrylic Polymer”?

Have a portrait done…

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Great recommendations Tatiana, especially like the toothbrush idea. I follow all yr points but sometimes get exuberant and paint ends up at the ferrule. Your toothbrush idea may help me with this. Thanks. BTW I buy safflower oil in large glass bottles from the grocery and it works wonderful for cleaning, then do the soap & water. 🤗

Thanks.

George, just read your latest fat/lean article. Great stuff but I have one question: Would “Oleogel” be considered a “paste” type medium? Wondering since it’s a bit thixotropic.

Your copy? Lovely! I just did a Vermeer copy (Milkmaid). Used a limited palette (cyan, magenta, lemon). Came out OK but plan to redo using Vermeer’s fuller palette that included an earth color. Been loving using Rublev’s umbers lately, such fun, so many!

Were u doing a portrait? I keep thinking this would be a nice mix for skin. Rob Liberace uses Vermilion. I have issue with my photo too. Doesn’t reproduce the chroma of the mix I made, and wants to lighten my swatches. But then am using an old ipad. You’d think after 180 years photography would be a little more artist friendly. Ha!

And, with a little more rose to the mix:

James, thanks for posting yr swatches. Was considering buying the Holbein Vermilion but hesitated at the $50 price. So after seeing yr mixes I experimented and came up with something fairly close (for my standards anyway)

Enjoyed reading your opinions. I, on the other hand love Rublev’s Cyprus Umber Light. It leans a warm yellow, almost a very dark raw sienna. I use it as my low chroma yellow. Keeps its warmth even when tinted out with titanium. The French Umber goes a little too gray for my tastes. Like Rublev’s other earth colors they handle like…

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Hi Connie, thought I’d throw my 2 cents in since I have a lot of umbers in my stash. When I purchase a new color I always do a swatch: Neat, rubbed off and tint with titanium. A while back was looking for a raw umber that leaned warm/yellow instead of cool gray and ended up with 9 brands! Of the tubes I amassed Michael Harding sunk in…

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