A good book

When I head on a trip I like to have a book to read. Rarely do I have the leisure time to peruse the various offerings at my local book store ahead of time. This means that I am usually grabbing a book at the airport and hoping I will enjoy it.

The latest "grab" was on my trip to Spain. On a quick layover in Seattle I found the novel The Art Forgery by B.A. Shapiro. I was so busy on the trip that I had only 30 minutes to start it but I did dive into it on the long flight home from Amsterdam to Seattle and on to Spokane.
 Wow. Really a very fun read for an artist or one who likes art.

And, it inspired this next set of paintings. No, I am not going to forge a Degas.

There were some interesting techniques mentioned and it was the extensive use of glazing which grabbed my attention. What if I were to employ glazing throughout a painting? (I rarely use any medium in my painting, preferring to mix directly from the tube and paint wet-on-wet.)

I checked out Gamblin's Galkyd Gel but opted for the old standby, Liquin. Mixing a little paint in with liquin, I have been adding layers of paint. They dry enough for me to add a layer in the morning and then one in the evening.

Below you can see the beginning of these pieces. Each painting is 36" X 15."

The zebra were first defined with my standard raw sienna - burnt sienna turpentine wash and now have about 8 layers of glazing (with 20? 30 to go?) The background colors were mixed directly from the tube and applied with no medium.