I paint Alla Prima, which to me, is the method of applying wet into wet and finishing the painting in one sitting. This can be done painting over passages or putting the paint down and leaving it alone. I prefer the method of painting over passages I deem necessary to paint over. Of course I can and do scrape out a section and repaint it as well. There is to be no retouching, glazing, or scumbling; once the session is done, so is the painting.

Using the direct method I attempt to get to the finished picture as quickly as possible without any thought of later fixes. It involves getting my values right and having a good vision of how my colors will interact with each other. Sometimes I have to make radical change from my initial concepts but other times they just fall into place. I think it comes with practice and experience.

The biggest issue is knowing what my stroke needs to imply and getting that stroke to do the work for which it was intended. The one stroke must aid the former and the next stroke in projecting my vision of what I need to help you see what I think you should see.

Naturally there are no cut and dry rules in life and so if I decide at a later date to fix something to save a painting from the garbage pile, I will try. It usually means painting the whole thing over anyway; at least to me.

Often times I tone my canvas prior to the painting session and sometimes I charcoal in my rough drawing. Other times I just brush in my painting with broad strokes of values.

I use a limited palette which consists of Thalo Blue, French Ultramarine Blue, Cad Yellow Light, Permanent Red Light, & Titanium White. I use a Cold Wax Medium which I make myself out of Unbleached Wax Pastilles and OMS at a 50/50 mixture. I heat the items on a little plate warmer (no flame) and then pour the mixture into glass wide mouth Mason Jars. The solution firms up into a nice paste. I mix this paste into my blobs of paint at about a 1/3 to 2/3 ration of medium/paint. This gives my paint a very lovely consistency and also makes my paintings matte in appearance. I love it: no shine. You can put your painting anywhere in the room and you can see it without glare problems.

I use OMS to thin my paint for toning my supports but I don't use any when I paint.

Colors are applied to the canvas with brushes, palette knives, rags, sponges, or any other instruments that will get the job done. (Mostly brushes and knives for painting _ Rags and other for block in or toning).

I like to get my lights in early and base my other observations on the brightest area of my painting. I know when I am finished when I don't know why I need the next stroke. Easy said, sometimes tough to follow.