Category: Tools and Techniques
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James Gurney’s Unconventional Oil Techniques
Unconventional Oil Techniques is the latest in a series of instructional painting videos by artist and author James Gurney. While the majority of his previous videos have dealt with various water based media: gouache, casein and watercolor, after numerous requests, this one is devoted to oil painting. It should be pointed out, though, that this…
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Les animaux tels qu’ils sont
Les animaux tels qu’ils sont, which Google translates as “The animals as they are” is a book published in France in 1959 that offers 90 plus examples of how to draw animals using simplified geometric forms. Someone has apparently determined that the book now falls in the public domain, as the pages are available in…
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James Gurney’s Living Sketchbook, Volume 3 – Court Report
When I first met author and artist James Gurney some years ago, I had the opportunity to leaf through one of his sketchbooks. Gurney is so accomplished that his sketchbooks often consist of page after page of beautifully realized paintings and sketches, usually in gouache or casein. My immediate thought was that he should publish…
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José Naranja
Among followers of “urban sketching”, there is an often associated practice known as “journaling”, or the keeping of a visual diary of one’s travels, day to day activities or random thoughts and ideas. The idea of visual journals or diaries is nothing new, of course, but the current popularity of the practice, and the ability…
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Baumgartner painting restoration videos
If, like me, you find the conservation and restoration of historic artworks interesting, you will probably enjoy this series of videos (YouTube link) from Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration, a conservation studio located in Chicago. In the video from which I’ve shown some example images, above, we see the restoration of a badly torn portrait by…
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Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptill
Pen and ink is a medium with a long history, but despite some modern revival in interest (as evidenced by the current internet-wide exercise of Inktober), its importance has faded from its time as a major drawing medium for Renaissance and Baroque masters, and its strong popularity as a medium for illustration during the late…