Private Oil Painting Lessons- Student's Oil Sketch

Rough Oil Sketch by Student - 8x10"

So proud of my student this morning who attempted her first oil sketch in preparation for her landscape painting...and she hit it out of the park! We did a rough sketch using Burnt Sienna thinned down with Gamsol odorless mineral spirits.

I love this stage of a painting as things fall into place so quickly and it is just so satisfying to see everything come together so quickly.

Look at that focus and how she is holding the brush way, way back....makes me very happy :)

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Graydon Parrish Workshop - Fabric Study

Oil on Canvas Board and Set Up I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to take another workshop with the amazing, talented, generous, patient...I could go on, Graydon Parrish . This is the third time I have had the opportunity to take one of his workshops (see Workshop 1 and Workshop 2 for more info) and every time I am amazed at how much I learn yet how relaxed and fun the process is. When I learn on my own, it is more like a battle of wills and frustration and as I tend to learn by realizing what not to do....and then learning by the process. The workshop was two weeks long during which time Graydon walked us through setting up the still life which he set up as a work of art in itself. He showed us how to determine the colors of the fabric and how the light affects the hue, value and chroma. He had us paint half a sphere and cube with the local color to better understand what we were seeing. We then mixed the color strings we needed by matching the...

Tips for Storing Oil Paint Between Sessions

Well, that was fun, well fun like a long workout is when you are done ;) It definitely helps to have good music when paint mixing as sometimes it can seem like it can take forever to get the exact mix you are looking for. It is so worth it though as there is nothing better than having all of your paint premixed in clean little tubes so that you can squish out fresh paint every time you paint. I have thought of mixing while sipping a glass wine or martini but I am sure I would end up with very sub par mixes ;) I don't premix all my colors but I find it so helpful to premix a flesh palette as I may not get the chance to paint every day, especially in the summer, and there is nothing worse than mixing up your paint and then having to through it all out because it did not keep between sessions. Also, as some days I only have an hour to two to paint and if I have all of my colors premixed, I get to spend almost all of the time painting rather than g...

Quick, Portable Shadow Boxes from Foam Core

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Tracey Costescu Fine Art

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