Many of the quirkiest stories I have told have been right here in this blog during my Lessons from the Low Countries series. Remember the one about the red haired man and the basilisk? If you recall, a basilisk is the legendary reptile, hatched by a serpent (or toad, depending on the source) from a rooster’s egg, and is so revolting, if it gazes … [Read more...] about A Basilisk and a Rooster Walked into a Bar
Margret's Blog
Girl in the Red Hat
Throughout the 40 or so years that I have been painting, copying master works has held a certain fascination. It is a great way to practice and learn techniques from the very best. I copied Vermeer’s Girl in the Red Hat a number of years ago and gave it to Dave for his birthday. It was very unfair to actually buy the real one in the National … [Read more...] about Girl in the Red Hat
Ready to Roll!
Ready and going live! For many months, Sheri Huffman, my brilliant web designer, and I have been collaborating on a new web site/blog design. This has been a true meeting of the minds. Sheri has been at the helm full of ideas, suggestions, samples, templates, colors, font styles, font sizes, font colors, backgrounds, background colors, visuals, … [Read more...] about Ready to Roll!
More Rembrandt Mysteries
There is a mystery that has been baffling scholars for a long time. Why did Rembrandt apply gold leaf to the surface of a sheet of copper and paint in oil atop. Why would he cover a perfectly and already beautiful copper surface? Was it the smoothness? Was it an experiment? Nobody really knows for sure. What is known is that it is an intriguing … [Read more...] about More Rembrandt Mysteries
Into the Soup
Experiments were made using several different brands of powdered gold leaf, but I settled on the Schmincke. This pigment is super fine, rich in color, and mixes easily into a paint by combining the powder with just a little of whatever medium you are working with on your project. I used the Strasbourg medium that I have been using all along on this … [Read more...] about Into the Soup
Atmosphere on the Easel
This is another example of background transparency/translucency that suggests a lot of atmosphere. The brass is glowing through the paint strokes, but it's not too busy either. Black and burnt umber worked well here. Above is a detail of one of the gold leaf paintings. The gold was such a beauitiful passage that it was left unpainted … [Read more...] about Atmosphere on the Easel