I am Daniel Charles Sickles. For me, oil painting is following a path with heart. Hand painted pictures are rewarding for the artist, but a lot of work goes into producing them. I have come to realize that I am much more a knowledgeable man than a man of action. I dream of being a prolific artist, but so far that hasn't happened. Hopefully this blog will inspire me to get to work!
Here's some of the topics I'll be writing about: plein air painting, values, composition, charcoal drawing, ways of starting and methods of painting, priming a canvas, gesso, gilding, the computer as a tool for the artist, restoration, the palettes used by artists such as Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, Velasques, Canaletto, and much more!
This post is an introduction, just to get started. I'll be back soon with a post on a dedicated topic - maybe plein air painting would be a good start!