Here’s a look at the process…

Having come a tad late to the painting party my process and palette have evolved from a rather spotty beginning. Well over two decades passed between those mid-70’s intro to color classes in college and the decision to paint full time at the beginning of this century.
Today I use a pile of disposable waxy palette sheets tucked into an old plastic watercolor box. It thoroughly offends my aesthetic senses but it does the job nicely when it comes to the daily rituals of setup and cleanup.
I have six drawers full of oil paint tubes. Most of them are Old Holland colors but along the way I have tried many others and if it gets reordered once…it’s a favorite. The main players change depending on the subject matter but for the most part the palette is arranged chromographically (a word ?) by hue.
The medium I use is Fine Detail Liquin and I use so little of it that even the smallest caviar jar dries out before it is emptied. (Notice how I dropped that fancy culinary delectable in there ?)
That tiny jar along with two former artichoke jars half full of odorless turp sit next to the palette and the brushes…well they surround.

A while back I took some progressive shots of the palette as I worked through a painting for the Granary Gallery show this summer. I typically use one palette for the entire painting unless I’m working on a mammoth panel and then I go through many palette changes. For this painting, I kept the same one going and you will be able to see subtle changes from day to day. I also took photos of the panel at the end of each day for comparison.

So here’s a look at the road to… The Caretaker