I also have 2 paintings for the Great American West Show, November 19th at the Settlers West Gallery. The first is the larger version of Abundance, 24 x 30.  Also a 20 x 24 painting of a scene near Steam Boat Springs, CO.

Palettes

I thought I would talk about the palettes I use. It's not an exciting topic and it won’t increase your technical knowledge on painting but, what we paint on can make a difference. 

I have known artists who use paper plates to mix colors on and their paintings look great, but I figure painting is hard enough with making it harder with a poor surface to mix paint on. 

I use 3 different surfaces to mix paint, one is masonite or hardboard from the lumberyard (Home Depot). The other is plywood, a smooth, good quality as opposed to a rough surface. And the third is plexiglass. 

With the wood palettes you have to seal them, otherwise they will soak up the oil in your paint and make it impossible to mix. I use shellac in a spray can or you can get the brush-on kind. 

Any wood sealer will do. At least 4 or 5 coats, this will make it very smooth and easy to clean off oil paint. I have a small one for my outdoor easel, 12x15 and a bigger one for my studio easel, 20x35. 

I will sometime use plexiglass for the studio, I like it better than glass because it doesn’t break as easy, I’ve cut myself too many times. The plexiglass can be cut with a heavy duty box cutter (hard but doable) or a table saw. I put a gray piece of paper (pastel paper) underneath to create a neutral value to paint on, a white surface will make all your color mixings look dark, a middle value gray will help with value and color relationships.

You can also buy wooden palettes in the art store, just make sure you seal them with wood sealer first.