A wonderful home to come home to!

This morning I got up early to go paint with a local figure painting group...nobody was there.
Then I drove up to the University to see if there was a group up there...no such luck.
I then went to a ballet studio where I've photographed in the past...classes were canceled today.
The Opera company was closed, the restaurants I usually paint weren't open yet, and even the landscape was too gray to really enjoy painting.

So I came back home, slightly defeated. But when I opened the door, I was overjoyed to find that my wonderful wife and kids were all awake and happy...The happy cries of "Daddy's home!" made up for any amount of defeat I may have felt. What a nice morning it turned out to be! :)

Moving up...to linen!

About 7 or 8 years ago, after getting paid for a small residential mural, I bought a roll of Claessen's oil primed linen. It was so expensive that I never could justify using it...until a couple weeks ago, when I finally decided it was time to move up to the highest quality materials money could buy. The carefully prepared hardboard panels I've been using are great, but now I'm going to be adhering (using archival acid-free PVA adhesive) oil-primed linen to the masonite panels. I've already made several, which turned out beautiful (nice and flat, with no wrinkles or peeling corners). I also asked the advice of another artist, who has been doing the same thing for years...I was glad to hear that I was already doing it the right way.

I've also been experimenting with different brands of paint. I've come to the conclusion that for the sake of smell, I'd probably go with Schmincke Mussinni oil paints...I know that sounds strange...they're made with a little bit of damar resin in the paint, which makes them smell great! (That smell reminds me of VaLoy Eaton's studio; VaLoy was the first professional artist I had ever met [when I was 14], and who is still a major influence and a valued friend). But back to the paint: I think I'll go with Windsor & Newton (which I'm already using a bit...I really like the buttery consistency and strong colors), and Rembrandt. A friend of mine uses Permalba for his white...I'll have to try that out.