A Black-headed Grosbeak for Today

Today's oil study is a black-headed grosbeak.  I see lots of them out my studio window in Northern Arizona - especially when the plums are ripe.  As I've been in Colorado since late June, I didn't get any of this year's plums...and my neighbors report seeing a young black bear in the neighborhood, so perhaps he ate all the plums.  I hope he left a few for the grosbeak.

This oil study is done on 1/8" gessoed untempered masonite.  My brother-in-law buys 8' x 10' sheets and cuts them to order for me.  I then sand the edges and lightly sand the painting surface before giving it two coats of gesso, allowing 24 hours to dry between coats.  I thin the gesso with water so it is fairly thin....slightly than milk.  I use a small foam roller to apply the gesso to the board.  Once the board has two coats of gesso and is completely dry,  it is ready to use.  I don't sand the gessoed board before painting.

159 - Black-headed Grosbeak

5" x 7" oil study on board, unframed

$75 plus $6 shipping within the U.S.

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This shows how I make my own gessoed boards.