Interestingly enough, in this months issue of The  Artists  Magazine there is an enjoyable article on several artists who started to paint once they reached sixty.

It is always important to remember that it is never too late to begin a new chapter in your life!

When, I find myself feeling rather weighted down here is what I do and I suggest you do it too!!

Look through books,  ideas start to flow when looking at pictures,  if you have an art museum…go there

Play great invigorating music while looking through books,  jump up and dance around the room…. who cares who’s watching.  If they laugh at us,  guess what,  they’ll feel better too!!

Clean up your paint area,  now that will either motivate you or depress you so be careful.  Ha!

But here is the best of all……. get together with a paint friend and go through books and pictures together.  Go out for lunch (eating always makes us feel good).     Book a time together to paint and that will get you back into it.  Smell that paint,  feel the brush,  watch it happen and voila!

Mediums are a must to thin the paint or to allow better manipulations of the paint and also to promote drying time.  It also can change the character of the paint such as make it transparent as oppose to opaque.  The ideal mediums are clear and do not affect the color of the paint.

In my opinion, and for the beginner painter, there are only two to consider.  The first is a product called Liquin from Winsor Newton or Liquiglaze from Martin Weber.  The second is Cold-pressed linseed oil.  I recommend Cold-pressed over refined because it dries faster and is the best quality of linseed oil.

There are many other mediums but I feel if you stick to these two you will be successful!

Well,  I am wondering with all the new resolutions being made, if any of them include perhaps more painting?  It does not matter for me,  I don’t ever have to make that a resolution because I find it hard to stay out of my studio!!  Mine should probably be doing more house work,,,,Yuk!!!   I certainly hope that those of you who want to paint more are able to do it.

Another path for those of you who have painted a lot and are getting rather bored with it,  it is probably time to try something new.  Just trying new surfaces,  new textures and or a new medium may be just what it takes to get excited again.  I am going to be playing in water mixable oils ( just playing, mind you).   At this point, I am certainly not ready to give up love of tradional oils but for purposes of travel, it may make sense for me to make them work.  I am thinking a combination of acrylic and water mixable oils.  There is a lot to learn and not many avenues for information so it shall be fun experimenting!!

I do not paint and I prefer my students not to paint on canvas panels.    They are extremely rough and do not allow for any spring back.  Also, over time, they will warp.   I find canvas that is rough destroys brushes extremely fast.  Also, for my style of painting,  it is much more difficult to achieve a smooth finish.  Once again, though, it is a personal choice.  If you are purchasing the cheaper two-pack of canvas from the hobby stores be aware they are rough.

For my portrait method,  I first coat any canvas that I purchase with two coats of tinted gesso.  You can achieve smoothness this way.

There are many sources of good quality canvas out there.  My suggestion is that if you do a lot of painting, it would be beneficial to order or purchase a case lot.  It usually is only six at a time.

Please note my classes are all posted on my website now and am currently taking new students!!

Having said this, I would like to explain the brushes I use.  Now, this is not to say this is what every oil painter uses. We all differ but I would hazard a guess that most use high quality and high density brushes.  I generally use a flat, or a bright.  These words describe the length, width and thickness of the bristle.  This is usually labeled on the handle of the brush. A bright is shorter and thicker than a flat but flats work just fine.  Also, for general painting I will use a badger or a mongoose hair brush.  Now here is where I do differ from a lot of oil painters because they will most often use hog bristle.  I have moved away from that type of brush because I prefer a smoother finished product but if students bring those to class I let them use them.  Then I have them try mine and 99% of them switch.

For my portraiture, I use a synthetic sable as my portraits are very smooth.  Also, something I had to consider was the amount of painting I do and the number of brushes I wear out.  I go through alot of  brushes,  therefore I use the best brush for the price and I find synthetic sables are fabulous. We need several different sizes from large to small as paintings differ and we must strive to use the size of brush equal to the size of area to paint.  For example, don’t use an little #4 flat to cover a huge background;  get out the big bad boy and get it done.  Also, the bigger the brush for the area, the fewer brush strokes with be used and seen.  A  couple of Liner brushes should be included and they are thin long haired brushes used for branches of trees, squiggly lines or very tiny areas.  When these start to fray open, it is time to buy new ones.  These are not expensive brushes and therefore easy to part with for new ones.

Finally,  I would suggest if you are new to oil painting, contact the teacher for a list of brushes needed before you go out and buy all the wrong items.  I see this all the time and know it is frustrating for you the new painter and for the teacher who really justs wants you to achieve success!

So I am always telling people who say they could never paint to just give it a try.  No one really knows what lies deep within them just waiting for someone to make the subtle suggestion to try it.   I am not saying  you will sit down and create a masterpiece but if painting for the first time makes you the tiniest bit interested in more then seek a class with a good instructor that can guide you along your way.  There are basic fundamentals to learn and from then on you make it your own personal journey.