Blog Post September/October 2026

Posted on October 19, 2026 by SusanG

I know I have been missing and silent for a while. I really didn’t feel like I had much to say or worth saying since I had not been painting or drawing.

I know some people might think that, that was exactly what I should be writing about because someone else might be having the same problem. I tried. Every draft I wrote just didn’t feel or sound right, and a few days after writing it, it felt irrelevant. So nothing got posted. 

green tree frog oil painting in early stage

I was frustrated that I couldn’t seem to find the motivation to draw or paint and I kept coming up with different possible explanations and while all were plausible they just didn’t really ring true. All I could see was that I had done 3 watercolor paintings since August of last year and one of those I had nearly abandoned part way through. And another of those I was so disappointed in the outcome that I have not had it digitized. It’s fine as far as quality, I am just disappointed in how it turned out.

I thought that that one disappointing painting was the entire reason I was stuck. And while it was a big factor, it wasn’t the only painting that was causing it. The one I considered abandoning? It was also a factor. It wasn’t that it was disappointing, it was that it had been frustrating, a battle, particularly the background. Actually, both paintings had trouble with the background. And I couldn’t correct them. For one of them, I couldn’t get areas dark enough and for the other, I totally messed up the background and because it was dark I couldn’t really change it. In between those two watercolor paintings I did something a little different.

green tree frog oil painting in frog more filled out

I did an oil painting last year of a Taekwondo flying side kick. I loved working in oil. It was relaxing and I had so much flexibility. And I could get rich colors very easily. But, that was only my third or so oil painting. I couldn’t really choose that as my main medium since I had so much time invested in watercolor and pastel, among others. And, I had already decided that I was going to focus on using watercolor. Until something in me completely rebelled and decided to be an angry toddler and sit on the floor in the middle of the store until they got their way. 

Yep, my inner child threw a temper tantrum and decided it wasn’t going to make anything. 

Things have started to change some and I think I have appeased the toddler, finally. First I tried some pastel work and painted a seashell. It came out nice. Then, I decided, that since I wasn’t making anything to sell anyway that I might as well just try something in oil again and see how it goes. I have this picture of a frog I took at the Houston Zoo that I’d been thinking would be good to paint since it is clear and easy to identify so I tried it. 

That helped. The inner toddler was happy with that. I found that just a couple of hours was enough time for me to make significant progress. I was enjoying it, I didn’t feel like I was fighting it. And when I got an area a little too dark I was able to fix it. Which was huge for me. 

green tree frog oil painting frog has white spots and it is sitting on a dark log with a dark background

With the watercolors, because I did not and do not have the patience for layering washes, if I wanted real depth and saturation of color, and hadn’t started with a fully saturated load of paint on my brush, I’d have to wait until it dried to go back over it with another layer or risk it looking overworked, or muddy. And if I wasn’t careful and got too much water in the paint for the next layer I would find I was lifting out the color I already put down. In the oil, that has not been the case so far. The longer drying time for oil helps as well because I can go back to an area that needs better blending to eliminate a harsh line I didn’t intend, and I can fix it. 

Even though it took a couple of weeks, the truth is I finished the frog relatively quickly in my estimation. I wasn’t working on it daily. I worked on it maybe four or five times over three or four weeks and before I realized it I was done. Or I thought I might be. I got some input that encouraged me to go back and sharpen up some edges, tighten up some definition,  and deepen some darks. And then it was done. Ok, I still need to sign it and varnish it but the painting is complete otherwise. And I love how it turned out. 

See lion painting in oil paints early stage blue background,

Because I was so happy with how it turned out I started thinking of what to do next in oil. Should I try something more complicated like another taekwondo action piece, or another animal, or a flower. It was suggested that I do the Sea Lion, that I did in black and white stippling, and also again in pastel. The idea being that I should do it in oil. So as I type this, that is what I am working on. By the time I get this posted, who knows. Because here’s the thing, it’s not the only painting I have ready to work on.

I also have a flower painting sketched out and ready for paint. I have at least three more ideas of things to do next. And I’m excited about all of them. I am concerned that I may run out of canvases or canvas board before I get them all done. A small inconvenience if you ask me. Though it is a potentially expensive one as most trips to the art supply store are. 

I am most excited about being excited about making art again. I honestly was at such a loss this last year that I was considering just cancelling all of what I have and just not doing it anymore. Or at least not doing any of it for anyone other than myself. Now, I’m excited about making art again, I’m thinking of pieces I want to do, and I’m considering doing some work to update my store and some of my other sites. 

See lion painting in oil paint blue background with lighter areas and sea lion done and has whiskers

So next up is to finish the Sea Lion and while it cures or drys, I’ll start the next painting that I have ready and get another one sketched out for when that one is finished. I’ll also be making some adjustments to my store. I’m considering setting a limited goal of number of paintings for next year so that I pace myself better. I’m hopeful that the rest of this year and going into next year will be better with more art created compared to this time last year. I’ll try to do better to keep you updated.

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Trying Again and Again

Posted on June 2, 2026 by SusanG

I keep trying to write this post. I’ve started it half a dozen times or more. My first thought when I sit down to write is to try to explain why I haven’t posted in so long. And then to try to share what’s been going on in my head because I haven’t been making as much art either. 

The thing is, I don’t always find it helpful to put those thoughts out there for the world to see, and I have a small enough readership on this blog that I’m not likely to open a robust discourse that could be helpful. So, I’m not as comfortable writing all of that. And when I have written it all out, thinking I’d go ahead and take the chance and post it, I read it back and feel like it’s being either whiny or needy or something I can’t quite describe but makes me feel ick. 

I’m not sure why I stopped posting. I do know that the farther and farther away from the last post I got, the harder it has been to post again. Starting something at the beginning is hard, starting or restarting something again is harder. And that is true for more than just blogging. 

Some Pictures of the painting of the studio
Pictures of the studio before and during painting

I’m also not entirely certain why I haven’t been making as much art. I have some suspicions. Things like wondering if I tried to stuff myself in a hole or box that doesn’t really fit comes to mind. Feeling like I’m just being silly to ask people in this economy to buy my art is another thing that comes to mind. Then there is the frustration or maybe irritation with some things related to my art store, or the merchandise that is available which might be putting me off. Though, along with that comes the recognition that I can make changes to fix or help that however, those changes require time and work to implement and I honestly haven’t decided if I’m ready or willing to commit to doing it. A hard truth.

Another thing I am facing is how I feel about having a ‘business’ art or otherwise. Because before I started my art business I had decided to no longer try to follow that path. And while I have thought about why I did it anyway, I’m not ready to discuss it so we’ll move on.

I think the short explanation is that I somehow got stuck. I’d love to be able to say, at this point, that I know what’s wrong and here is what I’m going to do to fix the ‘situation’. That would just make me so happy. Unfortunately I’ve learned that I don’t work well when I announce my plans for things I’m going to do. Once I say what I’m going to do it feels like I’ve already done it and I barely do anything of the sort. It’s a bit annoying really. And yet, it is how I work. So I won’t be announcing anything like that. I have some ideas of things that I want to try. I am hopeful they will feel right and I will find a groove again. Or I will try something else.

In case you are wondering, before I close this out, I have completed a couple of pieces since the last blog post. I did my Christmas decor painting, I painted my Blue Herron painting in watercolor finally, and I’ve just recently done a pastel painting of a seashell that I still need to sign and spray. I do need to take the bird and the shell to the photographer still. I re-painted the room that serves as my art studio. I really love the color. And, I tested for my 4th degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. I’m quite proud of that.

I think my next step is going to be to work on some sketches before deciding if the next piece will be a pastel or an oil painting. As always, it will probably be the piece that decides how it wants to be rendered. 

Anyway. That’s the quick catch up. 

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So Many Options

Posted on August 15, 2025 by SusanG

It’s good to have choices and options. You don’t feel as trapped, stuck, or stifled. You can choose a different thing to do, to eat, to read, to listen to, to wear, you name it. Sometimes though, all those options and choices can make the situation more difficult. For example, getting dressed in the morning when you can wear anything you have in your closet, because there is no dress code for the day. You could have 5 different favorite shirts that you could wear and they are all clean. How long does it take you to decide which shirt to wear when you want to wear them all? The same type of dilemma sometimes happens to me when I want to make art. 

Not only do I have a large number of reference photos to choose from, in those photos I have several different themes or topics to choose from. Add to that, I like to work in several different mediums. This often makes starting a new painting or drawing a time consuming process. I spend hours looking through photos until I finally decide on something. Sometimes I will start with one theme and then change my mind and look through photos of a different theme. And once I decide on one photo, or even a few, then I find myself trying to decide how I want to create the art. I suppose it’s a good thing that I don’t also sculpt. I have enough choices as it is.

There are several ways I can create art. I started out with pencil. Simple graphite pencil. I had watercolors and watercolor pencils early on though I didn’t really use them much. Then I had a chance to really use the watercolors so I got a little better with that. Along the way I picked up some soft pastels and did a piece or two with those. And then I tried stippling with ink and acrylic ink and had a lot of success creating that way. I tried acrylic paint with a brush, and fortunately for me, I didn’t like it. It was fortunate because it removes an option for me. Most recently I tried oil painting, and happen to really like that. I’ve even done some 3D computer art/sculpting.

With all of these options, it can be a challenge to find an artistic identity. Which is something I’ve been struggling with. How do I define or describe my art? I can’t really say I’m a “x-artist” because I don’t stick with just one thing. Or I haven’t been. I’ve decided to change that for the most part. I am excited and relieved, and also a bit terrified. 

Aside from all the branding, marketing, and business reasons to make this decision, there is a creative one. There is an artist I came across on Instagram, Kimberly Djehanian (@Kimberly.djehanian on Instagram). She paints frogs. She paints frogs in all kinds of scenes and environments. She recently posted a reel about why she paints frogs. It was an artistic challenge. By limiting her subject she would have to be more creative in what she did with them to keep them interesting to her. Working within narrow constraints can be very helpful with stretching your creativity, growing in your medium, and sometimes it’s even freeing. Because it filters out a lot of noise. Like for me, trying to decide what medium to use to create with, or what to paint. 

I’m not ready to stick to painting just one thing. I still have a lot of stuff that I would like to paint, or attempt to paint, and a few things that I just really like to paint, that I’m not ready to remove from the equation. That means that if I want to narrow my focus my best option is for me to limit my medium. This was not an easy choice. I really like having versatility, and being able to create in many different mediums. Though, there are things I like and don’t like about all the mediums I use, including acrylics which I’ve already removed from the list so they don’t matter for this. The decision has been even more difficult with my recent foray into oil painting. I love how the easy I found it, getting what I wanted on the canvas, and the appeal of working on canvas or canvas board without worrying about the pastel dust and how to keep it from rubbing off, or the paper warping with the watercolor, and then how to protect that. Oil painting is very appealing. And I still want to do more even if it can take a long time to dry. 

So here’s what I’ve decided to do. I’m going to focus on being a Watercolor artist. I’m going to leave a little room for the occasional piece in oil or something else if warranted because, like not being willing to give up some themes or subjects for painting, I’m not ready to give up on the possibility of oil painting. What this looks like in practice for me is that when I choose a subject to paint, my first choice of medium will be watercolor. If I can’t make that work for some reason, then I’ll use something else. Also, on the side, or as a secondary, I want to spend some more time working in oil to see if I can get the same atmosphere with it that I get from watercolor. And, because of the difference of what I feel I can do in oil versus watercolor I think the oil practice will help make my watercolor work even better. 

So watercolor it is. Now, with that declared, I started out trying to do just what I said. I decided to paint a passion flower that my sister took a picture of. I was going to do it in watercolor. I thought I’d finally figured out how to do it, and that it would work ok since I was going to make it a little larger than some of the other watercolor flowers I’ve done. The sketch went ok, though I did have to re-draw the tendril like bits a couple of times. I got them so they looked good and started to use some masking fluid to mask them off so I could use the white of the paper since white paint in watercolor is a challenge. I have this bottle of masking fluid with a really thin sort of nozzle and it looked like it was going to work. And then it didn’t. By the time I finished masking off all the tendrils, I knew. That wasn’t going to be an option. Then, as I was rubbing off the masking, it left a bit of a shadow behind so that really wasn’t going to work. 

After doing all that work, I thought about abandoning the idea of painting this flower. I haven’t, at least not yet. I’m going to try it in oil. I was working on watercolor paper which can work well for oil if you prime it. Since I already had a sketch down, I cleaned it up a bit and then used a transparent gesso over it. I think this might work. I may also need to pick up a few more tubes of paint. I don’t know if I have enough to make good green variations. 

I have another painting planned that has a better chance of working out as a watercolor. It will probably be the largest watercolor painting I’ve done so far and that feels a little weird. It’s from another photo that my sister took and it’s of a Blue Herron. It’s quite a stunning shot, I hope I can do it justice.

And that’s it for this post. I wanted to include some pictures from the false starts on the passion flower, except you can’t see very well what it going on so here are some cool clouds I’ve seen recently.

Cheers!

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Not All White Is The Same

Posted on July 30, 2025 by SusanG

As I’ve been working on my most recent painting I’ve been reading a book on the history of color. It covered how white paint was made using a metal oxide. Lead White was a popular one for a long time and still available, it turns out, even though it is toxic and it has mostly been supplanted by Zinc White and Titanium White on the artist’s palette. Because my martial arts paintings use a good amount of white of some form I was curious about a couple of things. So I went to the trusty internets and did a search.

While I knew a couple of things about Lead White, like it being toxic. I had one misconception. Between the book I just finished, and one I read a few years ago, I thought Lead White was no longer available in 2025. This is not true. Though not many companies make it anymore because of its toxicity. I learned that it doesn’t play nice with some other pigments due to chemical reactions. And I learned that it doesn’t age well. Since I don’t have or use Lead White, none of that really matters. What made it interesting is that I ran into another artist recently who really wanted it because he doesn’t like some aspect of the other whites that are more readily available. 

So what are the other whites? Well as I mentioned, they are Titanium White and Zinc White. I have both. And it turns out, I was using them wrong. But first a little more about them. Like Lead White they are made from a metal oxide, in this case zinc oxide and titanium oxide. But since I wasn’t sure if they were still made this way today, because so many colors today are synthetic formulations instead of the historical formulations, I went looking for information to find out. And I found out that they are. You may have read my previous post talking about how I thought I’d ruined my watercolor painting using white, and how white is discouraged in watercolor. In it I mentioned how it seems to sit on top of the paper and not soak in or absorb. Now, I think I understand why.

I found out even a bit more helpful information about the two more common whites today, zinc and titanium. It turns out that they behave differently and there is a reason for there to be two popular whites. 

In case you are catching up with what I’m doing artistically and a little confused as to why I’m talking about white paint since I was working in watercolor, my latest painting is in oil. And I am planning to do more oil paintings. I do have one watercolor that I need to finish. But that’s a story for a different post. With oil paints, and I imagine acrylics, white becomes a much more useful tool in the paintbox. But it depends on which one you use and what you use it for.

And this is where I find it funny to come up against my unfounded biases. I didn’t not know that there was a usage difference between the two. To me they are both white, but since there is a titanium buff and the titanium white, in some lights, looks a little less crisp, I thought it was an inferior white. Silly me. It isn’t. It is more opaque which makes it hold up better when mixing, and when using it to cover a darker color, or even just adding bright highlights. Zinc, while it is crisp, it also has some transparency to it which means, it loses itself a little when mixed. And it doesn’t actually get those crisp white highlights. I did test this after I read that. And sure enough, it doesn’t give quite the coverage as the titanium. 

What’s really fascinating about the history of art, painting, and the colors used is how, in many ways, artists had to be chemists as well. Because so many of the ingredients of their paints had a likelihood of reacting with each other, or reacting to light, or changing with age. When historical paintings are restored from the years of aged varnish and faded colors people are often surprised by the actual colors. And sometimes downright upset about them. It was also interesting to read about how some artists would use colors because they liked them, they were exactly the color they wanted for that moment, and they didn’t care how they would age and change. Probably an interesting topic of debate with regards to the ephemeralness of art and integrity of artists. But I won’t go there. 

If you are interested in reading about color and its history, the two books I have read are: “The Secret Lives of Color” by Kassia St. Clair. And I just finished reading “Color: A Natural History of the Palette” by Victoria Finlay. Both were really good reads and very interesting. The later book is like a journey to different locations and is more of an adventure or detective story as well as covering a lot of history. It’s been a few years since I read the first one, but one of the things that stuck with me from it is where the term ‘white washing’ came from and what it really was. 

I’ve just finished, or I am close to finishing depending on whether I think it needs more enhancement, my latest painting, ‘Break the Board: Flying Side Kick’. It is a martial arts action painting. This time I caught the kick as the kicker broke the board. I really like how it shows that moment and the way the pants move as part of the action. It will need to dry a little longer than what I’ve been used to before I can varnish it because it is oil and that just takes a little longer. 

I still need to put the finishing touches on ‘Say Cheese!’ which is a watercolor painting. Then I can seal it and take it off to the photographer. As soon as those finishing touches are done it will be time to start on the next painting. I have several martial arts paintings I want to do. At the moment, I’m thinking of either, one that focuses on the Master holding the targets for the kickers, or one that is the wind up for a back spin kick. That’s in addition to a painting or drawing of two students sparing. That’s one I have had in mind for a few weeks now but I haven’t got it started yet. So much to paint! I need to get to it.

Cheers!

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I Think I’ll Try Another

Posted on July 15, 2025 by SusanG

Remember that practice oil painting I was working on? I finished it. I enjoyed creating it so much I decided to try another one. Though I did a few things different this time. And learned something interesting, and important.

Practice oil painting

I really enjoyed creating that practice oil painting. Even as small as it is I managed to get the detail I wanted and needed in order to portray what I wanted to and that is awesome. I was working with brushes that I felt were not quite ideal for it and that doesn’t seem to have mattered with regards the outcome. When I finished I was really happy with it. It felt like I’d finally found the medium that will allow me to create the art I want to create with relative ease. 

It is interesting that it has taken me so long to try oil painting. I wasn’t really avoiding, or fighting the idea of painting in oils though, I also wasn’t really embracing it. Mostly, I have painted with what I had. I had watercolors so I did that, and got a few more so I could do more. I had some soft pastels so I worked with those and then got more so I could do more. I had acrylics so I tried to work with those, and got some more to try to make those work. And yes, I had some oil paints from trying them few years ago. I didn’t use them because I had already invested so much into learning to use the other mediums. Or into figuring out that I didn’t like the medium. 

That meant, that even if I thought something might look better in oils, I didn’t try it. Instead I chose whichever was going to give me close enough to what I wanted. 

I had planned that, after I finished the practice painting, I was going to do another one on larger paper. To practice. Instead I decided to try one on canvas board that is a little larger. I also decided to try a more dynamic composition of two figures, not just one. I wasn’t sure how the composition was going to fit on the canvas. So I did something I don’t generally do. I sketched it out first, like a planning sketch. The way it turned out is cool, and even though I used a smaller sketch pad than the size of the canvas board it was enough for me to see how to put it on the board. So I sketched it in. Then I did something else very different from what I usually do. Instead of opting for a super simple background, or an abstract background, I sketched in enough information about the room so that you can tell the sort of environment the action is taking place in. So now I have one of the most complex paintings I’ve attempted to date and it is only my third oil painting. Yeah, I do think this might be my medium. Well, along with regular pencil.

Painting in oils felt, and feels, so much better, and freeing. Much more than I expected. Truly. I don’t find myself fighting with them to force them to do something. It’s just figuring out what color is going to go there and how to mix it or how to blend, or not, with the paint already laid down. It’s even more relaxing. Who knew. 

I have learned that if I am going to sketch the outline in using pencil on canvas board that has been pre-primed, then I’m going to need something between the pencil and the paint. On the practice painting, my surface was treated with a white acrylic gesso before I started. I drew right on that and then did something of a wash like thin coat of paint over it. I thinned the paint with turpenoid. I’ve seen people do similar and said it helped with seeing the sketch when they used an orange color especially. I didn’t use orange when I did it, and it didn’t really help me see my sketch better. What it did do was to sort of fix the pencil in place and create a barrier between in and the more oiliness of the oil paints. I know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense yet. 

When I started the second painting, I drew my sketch on the canvas board and didn’t do any sort of wash or anything. I just started painting with the oil paints. And what happened was that the graphite sort of melted into the oil paint and then did a little of a smear. It was frustrating at first but I was able to work past it. At one point, after I had got started on it, I went back in with a kneaded erasure and lifted some of the heavier, ‘excess’ pencil off the surface and that helped some. Next time, I’ll just use the clear gesso I was able to find at the art supplies store. That should solve things. 

Another thing I’m learning is that as much as I like the quicker drying of working the turpeniod into the paint for thinning it, as needed, it does mean that I lose that ability to blend back into it later. And sometimes even during the same painting session. That ability to work back into something already put down is part of what I like about oil paints so I need to adjust my habits and expectations so I can take advantage of it. The other bit that I need to keep in mind is that oil paints thinned with turpenoid (a synthetic turpentine I believe) tend to have a flatter finish versus paints thinned with linseed oil. The advantage of the turpenoid is it drying faster and then being able to paint over it or up do an edge without mixing or smudging. But the cost is some luster in the finish. I expect I’ll be finding the balance I want as I go. 

I have a good portion of the new painting done, I think. I’ve got a lot of the main detail filled in and I may even finish it in the next few days. Which is very different from the paintings I’ve been working on where I let them sit for a while before I decide if they are finished. I mean, I’ll probably do that with this one to an extent as well. But, if it’s like the practice one, it will sit more for drying than for choosing to do more work on it. I think. This is considerably more complex than my practice painting was. Of course, with completion of this painting feeling imminent I am starting to think about what I’ll work on next. 

I still have the ‘Say Cheese!’, watercolor painting that I think I want to add a bit more shading to, so I’ll get that done. Then I can get it ready to go to the photographer. And then I’ve got that large piece of paper laid out that I think I’m going to start a pencil drawing on it, but it could turn into an oil painting depending on how I feel as I get to working on it. And then I’m going to look through the old photos I have and see what I want to paint from those. And yes, I will probably do the next one of those in oil as well. Because I liked that first one so much I had to try another, and I think I want to do yet another one. 

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ve got to go to my taekwondo class and then back home to paint some more.

Cheers!

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