Friday, April 06, 2007

The Road Less Painted

I was fortunate to get some good press for my solo show at the Hopewell Frame Shop. This appeared in the "Good Times" entertainment section of the Trenton Times newspaper today, April 6, 2007. Thank you, Janet Purcell, for coming to see the show and for writing this wonderful review!

(Click for a larger image)
Here's a better view of the image pictured in the article - a farm on the road that runs between Rosemont and Sergeantsville, NJ, one of the most scenic spots around:

"Along Rosemont Road"
11x14 oil on canvas on board

5 comments:

  1. Joe, what a great article she wrote. Makes me wish I could see the show...

    The painting she chose to include in the article was/is great. A very comfortable sceen. I enjoyed hearing how you paint plein aire.

    I am getting so I admire oil painting more all the time, yet have never given it a try ... when someone paints with oil well, as you do, its a little intimidating.

    Congratulation's on the show and the great article.

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  2. Deb - thanks!

    Nancy - thank you too! Funny, I really admire watercolorists, and I haven't tried watercolors very seriously but I think they're harder. With oils, you have a lot of opportunities to correct your mistakes. Watercolors seem to depend a lot on getting it right the first time. Oils have more technical aspects that you should be aware of when you paint, but they're easy enough to grasp. I'll be watching your blog to see if any oil paintings make an appearance. :-)

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  3. Joe... funny you should say you'll be watching my blog to see if any oil paintings make an appearance... I have a few small (.25 fl. oz) tubes of braumbacher oil paint and a couple of small canvas panels, and some linseed oil ... and I'm lost already. I don't know what to do next... am I supose mix the linseed oil to thin it out? Not only am I not in the know, but I'm pretty frightened by the whole process of oils.

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  4. Nancy, I know what you mean about being frightened by the process of oil painting. While there is some technique and technical information that you should know, it's not that bad. But it is too much for me to write into this post! Pick up a beginner's book at a bookshop or library and give it a try. You don't really need linseed oil, you can use paint directly from the tube. You can add linseed oil or other mediums to make the paint thinner or to give it more body, but don't worry about that for your first painting. Just get a canvas or canvas board that sold for oil painting (so you don't have to worry about priming it first). Some stiff bristle brushes would be good - you probably have soft sable brushes from your watercolors, but stiff brushes work better for oils. You already have some paint, and that's all you really need to get started: paint, brushes, canvas. Go! :-) You can use an old board for a palette to mix the paints on. Oh, and some turpentine or mineral spirits to clean your brushes when you're done.

    Maybe someday I'll get the nerve to try watercolors again.

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  5. I really like this painting. The light and colors give it such a realistic feel, almost like I could walk down that road myself.

    http://www.neilzehr.com/blog

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