When I first started painting with oils, I bought a smattering of substrates to test.  I painted on stretched canvas and linen, canvas and linen panels, oil paper, and gesso board.  Over the years, I learned that I didn’t like the bounce and fragility of stretched canvas and linen.  I didn’t like the texture of canvas panels, but I’m okay with the texture of a fine Belgian linen panel.  I also learned that not all gessoed plywood, MDF, and hardboard are the same.  Some are rough and grippy.  Some are slippery, and the paint almost resists the surface.  Doing “the thing” is the best teacher, and through doing, I learned that my favorite surface was plywood panels I gessoed (primed) myself.  (THIS is the gesso I use.) I like that they are easy to store in my studio, inexpensive to ship, rigid and unlikely to be damaged, and have a

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who shopped my original art sale yesterday.  All of the original paintings are sold out!  There are still some hand-painted color charts available, as well as blank color charts for those who want to make their own.  You can find those HERE.   All of the paintings sold in yesterday’s art sale are now available as prints from 5 x 7″ to 16 x 20″.  You can shop the newly released fine art print collection HERE. Included in the print collection are a few of my favorite recent commissioned pet portraits.  If I really love a painting, I ask the owner if I can offer prints. And there are also new FrameTV digital art images for the pieces that work in the horizontal wide-frame format.  You can find new FrameTV art HERE.

The next original art sale is Thursday, August 13, 2026, at 1:00 pm Eastern (New York) or noon for presale subscribers.  If you subscribe HERE, you can shop the sale at noon before it opens to everyone else.  (This isn’t a blog subscription.  You will only receive emails with presale information for this and future original art sales.  And it’s free!) In this original art sale, I have pieces ranging from hand-painted color charts on antique linen for $75 to a 16 x 20 floral still life for $850.  This collection includes still life paintings featuring peaches, clementines, blackberries, strawberries, pears, blueberries, viburnum, and hydrangeas.  There are landscapes from Maryland and England.  There are a few dog portraits available, and a pair of baby shoes I couldn’t resist painting again. As usual, this post provides a preview of all available works, including sizes, substrates, and prices, so you can consider