I thought about ordering supplies and shipping them to my folks house but mom said there was a Michael's in Myrtle Beach and I figured I could get what I'd need there. WELLLLL....... Yes, they had most of what I needed. But I chose student grade paints. And forgot white! Once on the beach and painting, I realized you just can't paint without white. Especially not the light pastel colors of all that atmosphere.

So I found some white, surprisingly, at a Walmart and got some "painting" done.

I have to say, there is a definite difference in the student grade paint. They were weak. I found it very difficult to cover the canvas or mix accurately. So my advice is that you paint with high quality paints. At least with good paint, you have one less struggle - especially when working from life. I tend to use Gamblin mostly. I do use W&N and Lukas also. And in the studio, the big tubes from Classic Artist Oils for my staples like white, ultramarine, and hansa yellow. I continue to avoid the heavy metal paints and toxic solvents. Gamblin makes great products for the safe studio.

I had a lovely trip to the South Carolina coast last weekend and got to paint on the beach several times. My parents bought a small home just a block from the beach in Surfside Beach and our family is thrilled! I'm finally one of those people! We have a beach house! Granted, its not an easy commute from Texas, but we will make it work. My sister and her family live in Ohio and its a decent drive for them. Nothing is close to Texas really. But maybe in another 10 years, I will be "retiring" there. I have big ideas about this new place... spending a summer on the beach...teaching on the beach. Teaching along the coast - down to Charleston. Who knows?

If you get my newsletter, you would have read about plans to go to the coast with V....Vaughan this weekend and a wet paintings show the following weekend of August 11-13. Well that is still happening with one change. V.... is going to the Texas coast and I'm going to the east coast. To Surfside Beach, SC to be exact. My parents bought a home there! So I'll be painting beach scenes on the Atlantic and when I get back to Texas, we're going to hang our "wet works" at our remote studio Joels. We'll be working there and be available for demos and q&a and just visiting. If you are local, it would be great to see you and share our newest paintings. And while you're there you can see our version of a salon show - with many paintings available at summer special pricing! Help us make room for our new art by taking some home with you!

​As a rehearsal, I started this little piece a couple days ago. Can you see where I sketched out something for a horizontal scene then changed my mind and swapped to a vertical? I was using zinc white and was having trouble covering the lines. I am not sure why I bought zinc white.