Poppyseed Oil

I gathered all my unfinished jars of medium and combined them. I have been using this mystery mix for all my current paintings. I did leave out the ones with driers or alkyds. I am using  mix of rectified turpentine, linseed oil, a little stand oil, and an indeterminable amount of damar varnish. I am not sure if I need the damar. It speeds the drying and makes the paint surfaces a little tacky. I began adding poppyeed oil to slow the drying. It is a very clear oil and can take up to a month to dry. With the atmospheric conditions in my studio my paintings might not dry until next year. 

I am painting pretty directly for the most part. A little blending when the surfaces allow it. The paint layers are probably borderline transparent. At times the paint is so thin they are like a glaze. I am actually beginning my paintings with this medium rich paint. I just need to make sure that I leave the areas with lighter values pretty clean. If I compose the paintings reasonably well the paintings go pretty smoothly. I began a couple Bouguereau copies with my new slick approach. I also started a Morandi copy which is very exciting.

Yet More Barack

Painting Begins to Shape Up

More Barack

I put highlights on Barack for a few minutes. I think the painting got a little better. I put the painting down and moved on to something else. He's back lit hence the white outline.

Obama

Here is another oil sketch. It is by no means perfect but that does not mean this painting is hopeless. The facial features seem out of alignment but I ran out of time to get a better understanding of the proportions. I'll approach the painting like I always do. I won't address any problems directly. I'll just paint and hope the problems will sort themselves out on there own. That might not seem very convincing but it often works. The painting needs a light touch. I leave everything half baked for a while. Nothing needs to be anchored down too concretely. I just want a hint of what is the painting to become.

More on Palin

I stopped obsessing about finishing anything in one sitting and have been bouncing around from painting to painting. I found that can keep things fresh. I am using so much linseed oil that nothing is drying. That way I can keep working wet on wet without having to worry about anything drying. I have been rotating the paintings around as I work the images up. I spend half the time painting on the canvases that are upside down. Each time I turn the canvas I find that I feel like I am approaching a fresh image. I have stopped trying to paint a perfect portrait and instead have been focusing on the shapes as simply abstract shapes. This detachment helps me keep the painting alive.

I had some left over mud on my palette and made a mid tone color for Sarah Palin. I like to slop the paint on pretty loosely. I used this mid tone for a few minutes until that approach started to feel old. I then took the painting off the easel and left it alone. No reason to overwork anything. 

I think I am pretty sure I won't be doing any blending on this painting. As the painting develops I am hoping that the last layer of paint will be more transparent. I'd like Palin to look ghostly. We'll see. 

Symmetry

After letting the painting sit I went in and started adding highlights. I don't think there is really any special order to go about things but it seemed sensible. This is when I realized that her eyes were way off. I am not one to sit around and study my paintings to see what is wrong. I usually just wait until it hits me in the face. I had some left over mud on my palette and moved the eye over. It was at this point that I realized that Sarah Palin's face has perfect symmetry. Each side is exactly like the other.

The drawing at this point is by no means perfect but oddly enough I feel like this painting is going in the right direction. It is still open and I can make more changes as I go.

Sarah Palin

This is my initial sketch of a new painting. On one hand this image seems very crude and kind of lame. The right eye is too far to the left which gives the portrait a peculiar look. But as a painting it actually feels open and filled with possibility when work with it. I began this painting with a transparent orange oxide wash mixed with lots of linseed oil. I pushed the wash around with rags and brushes and blocked in the the basic forms. My wash was one part linseed oil and three parts rectified turpentine. I then mixed a little ultramarine blue with what was left over on my palette and began sketching out the image. I didn't even catch the misshapen eyes until the next day.

Ronald Reagan

James Madison can't quite get off the ground. Maybe tomorrow.

I have been wanting to paint Ronald Reagan. This is the underpainting. When the paint starts to dry and get tacky I'll go back into it. I don't want the paint to get muddy. I have been wanting to finish all of my paintings in one sitting but that can lead to more obsessive compulsive behavior than I need right now. I think making these underpaintings and stepping away and getting some distance might be a good change. 

A Work in Progress

I was going to paint James Madison today but I got ahead of myself. 

Thomas Jefferson

John Adams

I like this painting. I might have to take one step back and redo George. There is always some thing I seem to overlook but I will try to refrain from pointing out any shortcoming. Both Washington and Adams seemed angry as I painted them. You can guess why. 

This is wet on wet, done in one sitting, the way it should be. My medium is finally oily enough that the paint won't dry before I finish it. I am happy with his fleshy cheeks. I'll try to set this one as my standard for the others.

George Washington

I am taking a sabbatical from lemon wedges. George Washington is the first in my new series of daily paintings of presidents.