Tools of the Trade: Palette Knife & "Dusk" 8x6

Dusk

8x6, oil

sold

A bit about the tools of the trade.

Everyone knows about paint brushes. Yes, I use them to apply paint. Just as important are the tools to remove paint and push it around on the canvas.

The palette knife is not only useful for mixing paint, but for controlling the amount of paint on the canvas. In the photo below I scraped a "spot" for the spindly tree on the left as well as removing some of the too-wet-and-too-thick paint in the foreground.

The more I paint the more I find there is no formula to making a painting. What worked yesterday won't work today. The each landscape brings another discovery in my journey as a painter.

Bright Morning 8x6

Bright Morning

8x6, oil on canvas 

sold

It was the sun reflecting off the road, the haze in the air and those shadows on the snow that drew me to this scene. Snow scenes are such strange things to paint. The laws of warm and cool, light and dark, sky and land, are reversed.

Crimson and Copper 8x6

To my Midlothian friends, does this house look familiar? You would probably recognize it immediately from the front. Care to take a guess?

Crimson and Copper

8x6, oil on canvas

● sold

Naming a painting can be a tricky thing. Sometimes a title comes to my as I paint. Sometimes not. Sometimes all the wrong titles come to me. For example, "Be Mine", "February's Flame", "The Love Seat",  and something with "Cupid" in the title. Luckily I have a husband who helps out by veto-ing my tacky titles.

I've been reading quite a bit on the history of Midlothian. Fascinating stuff. Around 1950 the Lea Company built a sawmill near the location of this house. One of the books said the home in my painting was probably build by the company to house mill workers. 

Summer's Glow 6x6

Summer's Glow

6x6, oil on canvas
sold

To study the light and landscape is in a small way to meditate on the glories of Christ.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Colossians 1:15-17

Quiet River 6x6

Quiet River

6x6, oil on canvas
sold

Of all the creatures both in sea and land

Only to man Thou hast made know Thy ways

And put the pen into his hand

And made him secretary of Thy praise.

O Sacred Providence, who from end to end

Strongly and sweetly movest!

Shall I not right, and not of Thee

Through whom my fingers bend 

To hold my quill? Shall they not do Thee right?

-George Herbert

I would substitute "brush" for "quill" and "pen". 

It is my deepest desire. 

In some small way might He be seen as glorious by a bit of color on my canvas.

I still watch this almost weekly.

"better to have loved and lost than never have loved... better to have put that color down and suffer the consequences" The Infamous Richard Schmid.

So great. 

I should watch it every day. I would paint with less fear. 

Reflections of the Silver Lining

Reflections of the Silver Lining

8x6, oil

sold

This piece will join Familiar Places, the collection of paintings at Cafe Caturra Midlothian, on Friday.

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This one was a ton of fun. Lots of subtle color. Practice working the grays. Lots of glazing. Take a look at some of the process shots:

and the final below: