Happy New Year

    I decided to start a journal this year to basically compile and organize my thoughts and methods that I use in my painting processes and my plein air adventures.  Although I have been painting a long time,  It has sometimes been instinctive  for me and I never really thought of documenting the 'hits and misses'  of my plein air paintings, and my studio works.  I do a lot of experimentation in my work and I know due to this I have learned a great deal.... but what did I really learn?  Lets Begin with breaking down the materials I am currently using:    

  I use Linen Panels glued to gatorfoam,  masonite or birch .    I make these myself, although if I ran out of my own panels I use the Fredrix linen boards which are green at the back and are supposedly archival in quality.  for the linens I use the C13 of Claessens  and the Fredrix Carleton DP which has a rougher texture but i love the way it takes the paint.  I use this now for works bigger than 12 x 16 , I find the texture of this linen in smaller works are too pronounced and can be distracting , unless I pile on the paint.   

 For Oil paints i use Artist Quality Rembrandt, Windsor&Newton, Gamblin and Grumbacher.   for my Brushes i have recently switched from using only Flats to using Bristle Filberts and sometimes Flats ,  and Sable Flats.  I like the Dick Blick masterstroke series 05208 Sables and Langnickel Sables series 5590,  and I use  different brands of Bristle brushes:  Utrecht 209-F series , Robert Simmons Signet series , Richeson Signature Filberts and sometimes Arttec Bristle Supreme 500KF  Filberts.   I also use Cheap Utility house painting brushes that I buy from Hardware stores or the cheap  Loew-Cornell bristles that you can buy at craft stores that come in big sizes.  These are good for Big studio pieces where you want to quickly cover a big area on the canvas.    As for the colors , I'll just post the ones I use per painting, this way I will be able to look back and compare .