FROGS AT NIGHT

This drawing is 38" x 24". The finished painting will be almost black. It ought to look great in a heavy gold frame.

YOU DRIVE!- A SNAP

Here is a rather crummy snapshot of the finished painting.

AN ECONOMY OF MISCHIEF

Two days of underpainting brings this bone-in-the-throat result. I'm using a mixture of burnt umber and burnt sienna, very dry and mixed with just a drop or two of turpentine to thin it. It does almost as fast as watercolor and is a supremely lean and siccative base for the rest of the paint.

I'm guessing it will take two more days to finish laying down and then balancing these tones and then commences the painting.

Sleep well,

Uncle Jim

TRANS-NUCLEOTIDE DESSERT

It took me almost 5 working days to re-draw the "You Drive" sketch and transfer it to canvas. That gave me a lot of time to think about things.

BOULDERS FROM LITTLE STONES GROW

Because I use walnut oil as a medium the caterpillar picture is drying slowly, so there is no picture of the varnish-enriched colors. In the interim, here is a drawing literally found on the cluttered cement floor of the basement:

It's about 9" x 12". I'm going to finish it up and modify it to fit a 38" x 24" canvas. 

MAKING A PICTURE FROM START TO FINISH 8

Here is a snapshot of the painting about 90% done... the crucial point in any picture. As Szukalski told me more than once, if a picture is properly constructed the last 10% of effort will yield 50% of the effect.

But has this picture been properly constructed? 

MAKING A PICTURE FROM START TO FINISH #6

This week I moved my oil painting setup to a corner of my attic studio and painted this brownstone there. The workspace arrangement isn't perfect: low sloping ceilings, west light, midnight blue carpet. But the atmosphere in that room is worth forcing the issue over.

I am dismayed at the way this underpainting came out, but what the hell. I'd give even odds the final picture will be a flop. Well, that's life.

Doggedly,

Uncle Jim