To me painting in oils is an adventure. I like to experiment and look for ways to put the way I see the world on to the canvas. In this particular piece I played with edges, values and limited use of color.

No title. Oil on canvas 50x70 cm

Commissioned caricature of dutch writer Annie M.G. Schmidt. Oil on canvas 30 x 40 cm

Yesterday’s painting from festival ‘de Kaaij’ Nijmegen. I painted a little over 2 hours.

Yesterday's plein air painting. I was a challenge, painting this heavily backlit situation.

I had an hour yesterday to do a quick oil sketch on a deserted and overgrown contruction site down the block.

Delft area. Oil on canvas board.

Portrait study of Dutch writer Gerrit Komrij. Oils on paper.

Richard Schmid states in his book 'Alla Prima" (which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more on painting alla prima) that you should never leave anything in your painting that you are not satisfied with. I totally agree. If you compare painting to speaking, leaving such a thing on the canvas is like mumbling, instead of spealking clearly.
Still I limited myself to one session for this sketch, especially to see which elements I overlook, when I am not revising every 'mistake'.
Most apparent are two things to me.
1. Colors. The tonality of the portrait is quite okay, yet the portrait lacks interesting play of warm and cool accents. The light areas are way too cool.
2. Point of interest. The sharp edges in his hair and his coat, take the focus away from his face. Because of this, the painting does not state clearly where the point of interest lies. This sharpness had better be placed in the glasses and his eyes instead.
I learn from this sketch that it is very important to take the time and to think about concepts like these (point of interest, composition, color, tonalities) even more, before putting the paint on the canvas. Painting happens in the mind first.


Detail for those who want to have a closer look at the brushstrokes:

Because of its size (1.20 cm x 60 cm , oils) I was unable to take really good pictures of this painting. (I have to learn how to do that properly some day) , so the subleties in the colors and skin tones are a bit lost here. However the main idea of what the painting is about still comes across.

Oil on linnen, 50 x 70 cm

I have been rediscovering oils lately. It is a wonderful medium with endless possibilities. This is a portrait of my friend Arjan I did some time ago.