Studio blog of Julie Galante – painting ridiculous things in Scotland
On a recent Radiolab podcast, Oliver Sacks and Chuck Close discussed what it’s like to be face blind. When the subject and guests were presented, I was so excited I almost started jumping up and down. I love Oliver Sacks, but he wasn’t even the exciting part. Personally I’ve always wondered why I am good … Read more
I’m starting to like where this one is going, although I need to figure out the background. Usually I leave the background rather abstract in my portraits. It’s the rendering of the face that interests me, but I need to care about the entire composition. The canvas is 50 x 60 cm. Any suggestions?
In my studio this week: My daily paintings focused on medieval European cities. Finished a quick portrait of my husband Scott and started on a couple others (to be posted next week). Played around with mixing my own oil paints from pigments and boiled linseed oil. Love the smell. Other exciting stuff: I spontaneously treated … Read more
I love medieval cities, especially the parts where the buildings are chaotic mixes of construction and decay from various centuries. I am constantly in awe of how beautiful they manage to be. I mean, how is it that people 600 years ago could create buildings that could age into something this charming, while my culture’s … Read more
I usually paint portraits from photographs. This one, my first one in oils for a long time, was from life. My husband was working at the computer while I painted. He moved around more than I would have liked, so the resulting image is a little inconsistent. That’s why I like photos – they make … Read more
In my studio this week: Several more little daily paintings complete. Big switch from acrylic to oil as everyday medium. So far so good. Other exciting stuff: My revamped art web site went live this week. The design is all new, but I still need to update the paintings on it. What do you think? … Read more
Overall most of my painting experience is with oils, but for the past five years acrylics have been my main medium. I love both types of paint, really – the crisp vivid colors of acrylic, the smooshiness of oil – but my primary reason for choosing acrylics so often recently is due to my painting … Read more
Most of my work is subjective and painted from life, but every once in a while I create images purely from my imagination, such as these two. Usually I have a hard time choosing a direction when painting without reference material. I like to push myself to try it every once in a while. Both … Read more
Trying something out here. Will a weekly check-in on the blog help hold me accountable? We’ll see. In my studio this week: I completed several little daily paintings. Other exciting stuff: Flogging the Muse is up and running! Yay! Now that I finally have an art blog again, I’m excited to be a more active … Read more
This isn’t one of my favorites, but it was fun to play around with a new style. It certainly doesn’t do justice to Naples.