General Chat March 2010

Yes. Me too Janet. The front door and the frame. Yahoo!!!
not
Jack

You're quite the painter, Jack!

Maybe you should put your easel next to the door and and put a paintbrush in each hand

Should be warm here this weekend, if it doesn't rain I'll try another plein air outing on Sunday.

Lucky you Callie. We're just emerging from the coldest winter for 40 years. Brrrrr.
I like painting out in the open air. Unlike most stories I have found passers by to be most interested in what I am doing. Especially children. Gazing in wide eyed astonishment. Wonderful.
And some parents proudly showing me off as though they had specially arranged for me to give a performance.
Good moments to recall.

Jack

We often paint at city parks or one of the farmer's markets. So there's always people around us. Usually parents/kids. When we do go out in the middle of nowhere to paint, it's with the plein air group (mostly men). We've painted in some areas I would not go back to by myself

If it doesn't rain tomorrow,we'll paint at Jefferson Barracks National Park and Cemetary (old military post during the Civil War, lots of old stone buildings and bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River). Here's a painting from one of the plein air group artists (David Cornell) done at a quarry in the park:

very nice! hope the rain holds up and you get your plein air session!

Finally - we have gorgeous weather in New Brunswick today. But I have been running errands today. maybe some plein air tomorrow?

Gorgeous weather here too! I have my opening reception today, so no outdoor painting for me either. Just lovely to sit in the sun this morning and soak it up, though.

Great weather here as well! Couldn't resist taking a drive out of town to an art store. Picked more colors to try out the secondary palette and can't wait to get started on the Girl with a Pearl Earring.

I went to Michaels yesterday and they have cleared out of all the Artisan brushes. now I don't know what kind of brush to buy. Luckily, i bought a bunch on sale so i don't need anything for a while

Dale - do you ever buy them online? I usually get a few new brushes (and paints) whenever I see them on sale (especially the sizes/shapes I use the most). That way I have an instant replacement when I need it.

I can't figure out if Michaels really wants to carry art supplies or not. It's gotten really hit-or-miss at the stores here. If it's not back to school time or Christmas, there's not much on offer.

I usually purchase my brushes from Michaels. The best ones I've found so far are available from Michaels the Robert Simmons Titanium brushes. I've purchased other brands to give them a try and still prefer this brand. I'll keep trying different brands. Like Callie I find the Michaels hit and miss for certain things. It's virtually impossible to find the W&N Artisan Thinner at Michaels. They never seem to have it in stock.

The weather is great here rite now but the forecast is calling for a lot of rain.

Our local Michaels does carry a good inventory except they don't offer other brands of w/s oils.

I did see the Robert Simmon's brushes and will give them a try. I am bristling with brushes right now. (hee hee)

I haven't bought them online as yet.

The last time I went in Michaels, they didn't even have oil paints and the only brush selection was for watercolors. They had some table-top easels on clearance - that's what lured me in. Even Dick Blick is getting rather unpredictable - sometimes they have a good selection of Artisan products and a few other ws oils in the store, then the next time I go, most of it's gone - I guess they want people to order online so they'll have more store space for other stuff (like their own brand of paints and canvas).

Maybe Blick needs to put out their own line of ws oils

I only buy my brushes from a lady who has a small workplace in Yorkshire and makes them. Several years ago she gave a demonstration of brush making and I was hooked.
She does send them all over the world if you are interested her contact is www.rosemary&co.com
The ones I use mainly are her 'ivory' collection, and, in the UK her prices are extremely competitive for a top notch product.

I don't find Michaels a good place to shop at all. They have a huge craft inventory,but not much selection in art supplies, plus their prices are higher than in the other stores I shop at.

Good morning everyone !! I have not been around much, lots going on in my world plus I have been painting mostly with acrylics, I just keep going back and forth so not much to show. I was however missing everyone so I wanted to say hello.

Hi Dawn! Good to "see" you again Go ahead and show off your acrylic work - Just start a thread in the Water Mixable Mix-Up section (most of us use/experiment with other mediums, so we figured we would need a place for non-ws oil stuff. Anything goes in the Mix-Up).

I'll be taking a drive through your neck of the woods today. The "other half" is considering a job that would be based in Cape Girardeau. Too soon to really think about moving (gotta get the job first - and we're nowhere near ready to sell our house), but the weather is gorgeous today - clear, sunny and warm. We're going to go have a look around anyway - it's a good excuse to get out of the house for awhile

Yes. Both confused and annoyed. My brand new Mac looks good but that's all, decoration. Just lost 1000+ photos. Saved them onto a flashdrive stuck it into the Mac uploaded iPhoto opened photos and dragged them into albums which I had created. Opened albums everyone empty and I had dragged the photos off the flashdrive so gone forever. I am now going to cuddle a bottle of 'euscheava'.
I shall recover but at moment feeling down.

Jack,
How horrible and frustrating. I recently had an email from one company I deal with for a program that can recover lost files. I'll see if i can remember who it was. If anyone else knows, please feel free to post it for me.
Judy

Hi Dawn! Welcome back! I'd love to see your acrylics!

Jack, I'm so sorry to hear about your images. I hope you can find a way to recover them. I don't have a Mac but two things I would try is check your Recycle Bin or do a search on your computer for one of the file names.

Dale - the AHM medal is yours - but I can't remove it from my own profile, will have to wait for Janet or Judy to take it away from me

Jack - Google data recovery to find someone in your area (after you check the recycle/trash bin as recommended). I feel your pain - when my computer fizzed out on me a few months ago it took down 2 hard drives and the back-up hard drive. Years of files, photos and a few thousand fonts - gone in a second Someday when I've got an extra $1000 laying around, I'll send the drives off for recovery. Since your flash drive wasn't damaged, it probably won't cost so much to restore it. But I hope you find the files lurking in your computer somewhere!
I just thought of this - when I drag/drop files or folders off of flash drives, it takes a copy of the file and leaves the original behind. Dumb question - you did look on the flash drive to see if the photos are still there?

Callie and Dale, so sorry for forgetting about he medal. I've fixed everything now.

Thanks, Janet! I didn't want Dale to get the idea I didn't want to give up the award

Wow. I feel so special

I googled in "What are the best oil paints" and found a guy who seems to have researched about everything on traditional oils. I questioned him about WS/WM paints and he said that they are on par with student grade oils. I questioned him a little more, asking him about his thoughts on Holbein Duo, but he seemed a little condescending. I wonder if he ever tried them at all!

By the way, I didn't like the stickiness and drag in the beginning, but now that I started using walnut oil, voila!! Smooth and nice!! I'm staying with it, After using the Holbein WS linseed and the Artisan stand oil, I much prefer this!