The Mahlstick: Left Brain Oil Painting

06/23/2026

12/13/2025

Painting in progress....Cheshire

12/13/2025

My latest painting in progress

04/29/2025

Silly me. I haven't added anything here for a couple of months. Just got busy with other stuff. But I still exist! I'd like to see some of your projects in progress.

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07/19/2024

Sigmund Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Most of my paintings are just that. Usually no profound "message." The motto for MGM pictures has always been Ars Gratia Artis....art for the sake of art.
However, once in a while there's a story behind my paintings. I will eventually get around to telling them, once these paintings are in their final forms.

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07/19/2024

07/14/2024

Formaldehyde
by
Eric P. Nichols

I keep you in my little jar
Inside my Frigidaire
And take you out one time each week
To get us both some air
I didn't know you'd last so long.

06/16/2024

Unfinished paintings. There's nothing wrong with letting an unfinished painting sit and marinate...for a few weeks...or a few months....or a few years. Every painter that I know has had a painting that has just taken so long that they can't stand to look at it any longer. This is a good time to take a break and start something new. Don't worry, the painting won't spoil. And after a long period of drying, it will probably be easier to apply a few more layers anyway. And you'll return with new inspiration...which may take the painting in a whole new direction....or maybe to its original destination.

I would very much like to see your unfinished works... Feel free to post them here, where you can get some feedback from other members. (I promise to remain a silent observer)

Until next time.

06/08/2024

One of the most important things you can do when making a realistic looking painting is to always be aware of the direction of the light source. When teaching still life painting, I always light the object with a single spotlight, with the rest of the room being dark. This forces you to always look at the lighting direction, highlights and shadows, and to be brutally consistent. It's a hard discipline but the results will amaze you.

05/25/2024

Class is in session!