This is the first in a series of articles I want to write about painting with oils. Before I started painting with oils I was pretty intimidated. Tales of trash cans bursting into flame and toxic materials with strict handling rules kept me tiptoeing around them for sure.

But as I have continued to study master artists and great paintings that I really like, most of them are done in oil. So, a few years ago, I started learning more about the process of oil painting and while I certainly don’t know it all, I am happy to share what I have learned.

Frits Thaulow was a Norwegian impressionist painter. I learned of him through the book Landscape Painting by Asher Durand and Birge Harrison. He was praised by Harrison for the way he painted water, and I agree, what a master he is!

I just finished reading Landscape Painting by Asher B. Durand and Birge Harrison. Great read. It is a combination of letters written by both artists to their students, Durand's originally published in 1855, and Harrison's originally published in 1909. 

Happiest new year to you dear reader!

This piece, Prairie Marsh, started a few days ago in the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep, you know how that is. I think it was 4:00 in the morning. Those morning hours are good to me. 

Here is another master painting study, a work by John Frederick Kensett titled Mountain Lake.

Kensett was a member of the second generation of the Hudson River School of artists. His work is associated with the American Art style of Luminism. I love this style of painting (along with Tonalism) and I look forward to painting more and applying what I am learning to my new pieces for 2017. 

This is a second piece I have studied by one of my favorite master artists, Alexei Savrasov. You can see more of his work here.  

Wow, this portrait was a real challenge and I am happy to have time to study and practice the work of Robert Henri. Look at his masterful brush strokes, especially the important details of the eyes. Amazing. 

I am continuing my practice and study of painting pieces by master artists (here are others in the series, Gifford, Inness, and Savrasov).

Here is another piece in the paintings of the masters on which I have been spending time lately and loving every minute of (others are Inness and Gifford).

This is a beautiful work, Home At Montclair, by master artist George Inness, the second in a series of painting with the masters I am sharing on the blog. Here is a link to the first one by Sanford Robinson Gifford. 

I have been wanting to take time with some of the master artists I really admire, perusing their paintings, choosing some favorites, and spending time painting them as a learning experiment.

I have been listening to the Savvy Painter podcast on my 4 hour drives to see the littles. Have you heard of it? It is well worth your time. Host Antrese Wood skillfully interviews accomplished painters about how they got started painting, their views on painting and the artist’s life, and other really interesting topics.

I have been wanting to show photos of the stages of paintings and I always forget to take progress shots. Until today. Here are a couple I have been working on.

Foggy Morning On Highway 2

The Valentine Art Guild sponsored a wonderful workshop with artist Rita Kirkman last weekend. She demonstrated life drawing and working from a grid. It was SO GOOD.