Valta's Blog | valta.nl

Miniatures As I have some unused small, a kind of kitschy souvenir frames, I decided to make some tiny studies which would pass into those frames. The first one was a detail of my previous painting with strawberries. The second was a tribute to the master I admire , combining a master copy of his works with some details of my old still life which is now with a collector in the United States. The third one was based on my photograph (which I am going to use for larger paintings soon); this was my first attempt to paint a human hand in oil. I was quite excited while doing it, and I am quite satisfied with this result. More exercises with human hands will follow as I am not scared of trying anymore. I painted them alla prima on acid-free cardboard only using the limited palette of primary oil colours plus burnt umber and titanium white. I learned as well what "a painting a day" is. View the finished paintings in my gallery .

A challenge Using the Rule of Thirds when choosing a composition can play a significant role in painting. A fellow artist recently made a wonderful painting based on the photograph she took of her grandson. I asked permission to use her photograph and to try changing the composition by placing the figure out of the middle point. I also tried out the tip of Dianne Mize whose channel I follow on Youtube, to prepare the surface with a little amount of the poppyseed oil and gamsol mix to get the paint laying smoothly. Very happy with this tip. So I made this small and quick study in alla prima. I used the cardboard and my limited palette of primary oil colours plus burnt umber and titanium white. View the finished painting in my gallery .