My oil painting station

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My oil painting easle

Needing a warm room during the winter I decided to set up in our garden room.  The light is good on winter days but I have to be careful of the floor.   After searching Amazon.co.uk I found a good see through mat 3x4ft sold by Home and Office, just perfect.

The easle is W&N bought from http://www.corkartsupplies.com. It was a bit of a job tho getting in the car as it was a huge parcel but did not want to have it at the mercy of a courier… It has wheels and a very easy mechanism to raise the height up and down.  Yes it was expensive, but so worth the outlay to have an easle that stays put.  Having wheels I can turn it around to find the best light and if it ever stops raining ☔️ I can paint out on the decking.

Being a bit anal I wrapped clingfilm around my palette, so I can bin the remnants of paint easily, I also have a lid that goes on to keep the paint fresh inbetween sessions. Oil paint is so expensive I refuse to waste any, lovely soft greys can be mixed from the odds and sods.  An old sheet is good for rags to clean hands, brushes, the odd cat and paint that ends up on me.  A good wrap around apron is so necessary! No matter how careful one is this gloopy paint lands everywhere.

Bristle Magic is fab for reviving old brushes, however I am fastidious about my brushes and always look after them.  I also use Zest it for paint thinning  and cleaning brushes on a daily basis.  Both of these products are eco friendly and don’t give off bad odours.   The Zest it has an orangy scent that can overwhelm but an open window and a Japanese insence stick sorts this quickly.

 

Oil painting

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Have started to explore oil as a medium for the series “Atlantic Sea”.   Cradled board proved to be a suitable surface, 40x40cm.  After applying gesso the surface has a good ‘tooth’ and results were pleasing.  I am now painting on canvas 18×24, this size seems to suit me for the moment.

I am using Winsor and Newton artist quality oils purchased from Jacksons Art and Ken Bromley.  A rather expensive initial outlay but so worth it as the paints are highly pigmented and reliable.   The next step is cutting my own wooden boards 18×24.  Would like to be self sufficient in supports so as not to rely on Irish Couriers.. bad experience of trashed parcels.

 

 

Ken Bromley art supplies

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After a big clean up of my studio I felt the need to order some goodies for a very good art supplier in the UK.  Yesterday a large package arrived with my half imperial “perfect paper stretcher” a size up from the one I already have used for the last 3 years.  Having a spare tripod attachment, this will go on the back of the board with either a stretched piece of hp Fabriano paper 90lb or just taped heavier Bockingford, which will withstand the water I throw at it without buckling.  It is a great bit of kit which enables easy assembly for plein air and it’s also light to carry.  One can tip the surface in any direction so it is ideal for watercolour.  However, I have bought it so it can stand in my garden room so I can do some daily drawing of the wonderful views across Kenmare River.

In the same very large package…..  I have some muted grey and violet Liquitex acrylic inks that I shall be trying out today on Fabriano hp hot pressed smooth and not paper.  I hope they will reflect the subtle greys and shadows found in the mountains and sky…we shall see!  imageThe paper stretcher allows one to stretch thin paper which then dries flat and will act as well as expensive thick paper.  A mallet is the best tool to use to bash in the rods that secure the paper into the stretcher, but hubby has borrowed back this remarkable tool and I have had to make do with a little hammer wrapped in glove to stop the paper from splitting..  Now all ready to go.