THE SYNTAX OF COLOR

Summary: The use of a digital camera with telephoto capabilities can reveal minute details on works of art and provide a window to...

Summary: Plein air painting is defined as the act of capturing nature outdoors. The origins and evolution of the movement have changed...

Summary: A visit to a museum can be a rich and rewarding educational experience. Looking carefully at paintings as a learning tool is a...

Summary: Looking over the Horizon - As both an artist and a chairman of an ASTM subcommittee focused on quality standards for the art...

Summary: Artists need to understand the positive and negative aspects of painting supports. A support that appears stable and sound when...

Summary: Making art is a two-way proposition. An artist masters the medium of their choice and bends it to their will. However, the...

Summary: It is time once again to dive into the realm of common household foods as they apply, or in this case, should not be applied to...

In a previous Syntax of Color essay, I encouraged readers to branch out and try other media to expand your skills and capabilities. ...

The subject of selecting varnish is important because the decision can result in a painting being protected and long-lasting verses a...

I painted thickly. I painted thinly. I scraped things off. I over painted many areas. I changed my mind several times because things...

Sometimes making art requires the same strategy that is employed when doing physical exercises. Doing different sets of repetitions,...

I am focusing on paint viscosity while working on some big pictures that required a large quantity of oil paint. This got me thinking...

An artist can get a bit spoiled by continuously painting on pre-primed panels because it is easy to forget the steps needed to prepare a...

Oil Penetration The same question appears repeatedly on various social media sites that utilize crowd-sourced responses. The question:...

Selecting Colors A number of years ago when I lived in the New York metro area, I listened to a FM station that had a program called...

We are starting to get a glimpse of the start of the outdoor painting season approaching in the mid-Atlantic region. Soon, deciduous...

This is probably a phrase that is muttered daily under the breath by some patrons who visit a modern art museum. It is easy to recognize...

The priming layer or ground a painting is placed upon has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. Since the priming layer serves as a...

(Editor's Note: This essay has been re-titled corrected and reworked. It was first published on April 19, 2016. Essays will be...