A Painter's Exploration

Welcome to Painting Tips & Exhibition

The Painter

Cynthia Dudley, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, now lives in Toronto. She has studied oil painting for over six years, at the TDSB (Toronto District School Board) in Toronto. Her interest is in figures and landscape.

Artist’s Statement – “My painting is a way to share the joy and peace that I find in people and nature. I work in oils because I find it rich in the colour and the texture qualities that I desire on the canvas. Cool reflection in water, rock walls, and meditation in quiet spots and people are my favourite subjects.”

Painting TIPS

Travel with Artist's Oils - can be done! The trick is to declare that you are checking baggage containing ARTIST's oil paints so there are no surprises. They are allowed. Make sure they are double bagged and put into a plastic box. If they test your paints be careful to check lids are tight.

Varnish -Vladimir Ribatchok recommends Dammar Varnish (glossy or matte) http://www.vrstudio1.com/

Whatever you are painting, include the surrounding colours of the earth, sky, water, or the background colour, on your subject

When mixing colours, only mix as long as each individual colour can be seen. Then stop.

John Stuart Pryce's tip: When painting en plein air, don't use a white canvas and disposable pallette, as they are blinding in sunlight and will affect your perception of colour http://www.prycestudios.com/

Put a plastic pot scrubber in the bottom of your media jar. Then you can clean your brush well without touching the sediment on the bottom of the jar. GREAT!

George Perdue recommends for plein air painting - use alkyd medium to speed drying for transporting paintings. Best wet canvas carrier - a pizza box - light, stable and will fit in a suitcase. Can also be used to start a fire to keep the painter warm on location, on a cold day. http://www.georgeperdue.com/

For studio use when the sun is gone - a full spectrum lamp - we found a wide variety at Wallack's Art Supplies in Ottawa https://www.wallacks.com/. They were extremely helpful and open to new products and speaking of new products...

Soltek Pro easel - I have one - FANTASTIC! They are pricey but sets up in 20 seconds and weighs 9 pounds. Designed by an artist: http://www.soltekarts.com/ . To protect the feet of the easel, buy xsmall dog rubber boots (like balloons). Works great!