On the Easel today...

It's been a bright and sunny day here, and we had a request this morning for a family to come to the Chalet from the mainland...so we had to head over there this morning and prepare the place.  First issue was the 4' snow drift in front of the stairs....Terry took care of that, then we both cleaned and got it ready...they have arrived for the week!   Kinda nice to have some business when things feel so precarious!

Last night i had a wonderful 'art' talk with my dear friend Diana Sanford, who is a very experienced painter.   She spent about an hour with me, helping me figure out what my paintings are doing....they do seem to have a mind of their own!!! Having the means by which to send images of paintings to another trusted artist, is such a treat, i glean so much from her wisdom and experience.   One of the tips she gave me was using the cold wax and oil in a more transparent manner!  I'd never heard of this approach.   The usual way is to use 50/50 cold wax to oil...which is what i've been doing.   But when you use lots of wax and only a small amount of even an opaque paint, it acts like a tint, and the idea is to put down layers of transparent paint and build up the painting that way!!!  So, i started experimenting and i must say i love the effect.   In this painting (which is no where near done!), the top part i've used more of the 50/50 approach, and the lower part...mostly greenish yellow.....i used lots of wax and a small amount of paint.   Then where the red swatches are, they are more 50/50 ratio...giving a more opaque look.   We'll see where this one goes tomorrow.