Testing out Acrylics

I decided to test out some acrylic paints. It's been forever since I used them (not since high school, actually). I picked up a few tubes from Utrecht:

Titanium white, hansa yellow light, yellow ochre, quinacridone red, burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine blue and chromium oxide.

I knew acrylics dried fast, but I was really surprised at just how fast that was. I guess it's from 6 years of using oils and being spoiled with such a long working-time.

The positives:
The quick drying time allows me to knock out paintings in one evening (This one was painted in an hour). I think this could be a good medium for doing color studies, working out compositions, etc. Potentially even as an underpainting for an oil painting. The speed of drying made me realize the importance of making every brushstroke count. I think acrylics will continue to be a good exercise in that sense. Making the most out of every brushstroke means a "fresher" looking painting, less "muddy" colors, and ultimately a quicker painting.

The negatives:
Acrylics dry darker than they are when wet. I totally forgot about this. My painting turned out much darker than I anticipated. I'm going to have to mix colors lighter than they need to be. It's going to take practice before I can figure that out exactly. The quick drying trait means that I can't mix lots of custom colors and let them sit on the palette for future use... I'm going to experiment with drying retarder next, but the window is still very narrow with how long I can work with the paint. Colors will still have to be constantly re-mixed. This adds time to the painting process.

A few new paintings

I haven't updated in a while. I've got a few new paintings to share...

 First up is the finished Camelback Mountain painting. I think the most successful areas are the large boulders in front. Least successful is the large rock face in the back left. It looks like I got lazy on it. 24x30 inches

 I think this one is 10x14. I think the most successful areas of this painting are the rock faces. The part I find most interesting to paint are the bright, sharp highlights on the top and edges. They really stand out when the rest of the rock is in shadow. I will be painting more rocks with this type of lighting. I think the foreground is least successful, especially the two trees.

This Sedona painting is one of my largest. 30x40 inches. It was a challenge for me, working this large. Normally I work fairly small. I forced myself to use a large brush for most of the painting, so I would not get caught up in the details. I think the composition here is good, though if I could go back I would have waited a few more hours for the sun to go down a bit and cast longer shadows. I think there is not enough cast shadow shapes. 

More on Camelback Mountain

First up is a small sketch from the Echo Canyon hiking trail on Camelback Mountain. I think it measured 10x10.

I liked the sense of light in this one. I also found things to be a little challenging. The rocks here in Phoenix lack a lot of color compared to elsewhere in AZ, such as Sedona (which is what I'm used to painting). Not to mention since this was done before the rainy season, there was very little vegetation. I'm hoping that I can use that to my advantage... I will need to strengthen my composition and lighting more to create an interesting painting, and not rely so much on the color that's already present. It's also going to force me to exaggerate color more in order to avoid making things too neutral or bland-looking.

Here is the start of the large version. This one is 24x30.

My palette here is:

-Flake white
-Cadmium yellow (I try to avoid using this until the very end, and only put it in the closest foreground mixtures)
-Yellow ochre
-Raw sienna
-Cadmium orange
-Cadmium red
-Quinacridone rose
-Burnt sienna
-French Ultramarine
-Prussian blue
-Viridian

Moab Sunset

I finished the painting that I mentioned in my last post. I took a bunch of pictures outside of Moab, Utah just as the sun was going down. I liked the light in them and decided I had to paint it.


This kind of composition was new for me. I placed the horizon fairly low, leaving a very large, open sky. Sky and clouds have been rather neglected in many of my other paintings, so I figured it was about time that I dedicated more time to them. 


One of the techniques that I found especially helpful for the rock face was glazing. I suppose one might call it more of an opaque glaze. Anyway, I began by sketching in the large rock with a slightly darker/more purple version of the local color. After that was dry, I went in with a darker warm purple and glazed over the entire rock. I was using Liquin and mineral spirits to thin it down. That glaze became the shadow in the recesses. When that became tacky (only an hour or so, as the Liquin sets up quickly), I went in with the orange highlight colors. I've found this technique gives a great sense of light, and I've done it on a number of my mountain paintings.


My palette:


flake white
yellow ochre
raw sienna
cadmium orange (just a tiny bit in the final highlights)
cadmium scarlet
quinacridone rose
burnt sienna
raw umber
ivory black (just a touch to help neutralize some of the greens)
French ultramarine
Prussian blue
viridian

Camelback landscape done

I'm happy to say that this 24x30 painting is finished. I brought cadmium lemon into some of the highlight mixtures in the foreground plants, and a touch in the mountain highlights. The highlights really make it look "finished".

The shadowed side of the mountain wasn't reading very well, so I extended some of the highlighted faces of rock downward.

Now I just need to pick out a frame. I'm thinking a dark mahogany frame will suit the painting well.

I was flipping through some photos I took on a road trip last year, and a couple pictures taken outside of Moab, Utah caught my eye. And on that note, I think I have a new painting in the works.

More work with a limited palette, and the start of a new landscape.

First up is a quick study of a plaster cast that I did last week. I was experimenting with an earth-tone "student" palette.

Titanium/zinc white, yellow ochre, Venetian red, raw umber, and ivory black.


I took a photo of the cast from a couple different angles, so I think I will take another shot or two at it, and maybe spend a little more time refining the paintings as well.


Next up is the start of a commissioned painting of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. It measures 24x30 inches.

My palette (usually very minimal) is somewhat expanded for this painting. 


flake white
yellow ochre 
raw sienna
cadmium scarlet
quinacridone rose
burnt sienna
raw umber
ultramarine
viridian


I'm waiting on throwing in the cadmium yellow until near the end. I want to restrict the vibrancy of my greens for right now, and then use cadmium in some of the mixes for only the closest bushes. That will help convey a sense of atmosphere/distance.

Zorn Palette

Continuing with the last post regarding limited palettes, here is a painting I just finished which used a "Zorn Palette".

Titanium white/zinc white mix (Gamblin)
Yellow ochre (Gamblin)
Cadmium scarlet (W&N)
Ivory black

Painting with a limited palette

This 6x8 painting of a bottle of clove oil was a study using a favorite limited palette of mine. The colors are:

-Titanium/Zinc white mix
-Cadmium Lemon
-Quinacridone Rose
-Prussian Blue

I enjoy working with this palette a lot. You can mix a really amazing range of color with it. I've always preferred to work with a limited palette for a few reasons, though the main benefit has to be gaining a better eye for color. Not only does it teach you to mix color better than anything else, but it helps you learn to see color better. Not to mention it makes the painting look much more harmonious. It's also cheaper to buy just a few tubes of paint compared to a couple dozen... I could go on.

Another great limited palette (which is used by Scott Christensen) is:
-Titanium white
-Cadmium Lemon
-Permanent Red (Winsor & Newton "Bright Red" is good, or any sort of pyrrole pigmented red)
-Ultramarine Blue

I find this second palette better for landscapes. Colors are a little more subdued compared to the first.

I also realized the perspective is a little off in this one. I need to check my ellipses more. That's what I get for painting so many landscapes and forgetting how to paint cylinders.

Two New Sedona Paintings

I tried a new palette with these two. I really like it a lot. The colors seem to be less muddy looking. The shadowed sides of the rocks, especially. Less brown, more violets.

-Zinc/Titanium White mix
-Cadmium Lemon (I have been using this color very sparingly in my mixes. I use it in some of the foreground green mixtures, as well as a very small amount in some of the areas of the rocks that are in sunlight).
-Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna (sometimes I will have both on my palette, sometimes just one or the other).
-Quinacridone Rose (This has affected my mixing the most, I think).
-Venetian Red (I use this color for convenience more than anything else, i suppose. I could easily mix it from the others. Perhaps I will go without it on the next painting, and see what kind of a difference that makes).
-French Ultramarine

"Silver Lining" 11x12

I've noticed that a lot of my landscapes have a lack of clouds and back-lit subjects. These two landscapes combine both of those. I enjoyed working on them. I think the clouds add a lot more interest to the piece. I think it helps accentuate the brightness of the sun.

"Standing Sentinel" 12x12

I used my palette knife to create most of the grassy texture in the foreground of Standing Sentinel. I'm pretty happy with the result. Grass is something that I find difficult at times. It can be hard to create interest in such a flat, bland area. I found that by using a brush to block in some darker shades first, I could go in with the palette knife to place the highlights and scratch through to the underpainting (The underpainting was a wash of Raw Sienna and Venetian Red over a white gesso. Warm and yellow-orange near the bottom, and more red near the top).

Sedona Plein Air Trip

I took a quick 3 day trip to Sedona last week. I was able to finally test out my Guerrilla painting box. It worked very well, and I'm happy with my purchase. It held the panels snugly when closed, so they didn't shift around or smear.

I believe this was one of the Thunder Mountain hiking trails. I also did some painting on one of the Schnebly Hill trails the next day. It was a good time. Though I did find out the hard way that I need to invest in an umbrella, a hat, and sunscreen.

Three new paintings

It's been a while since I've updated this. I've still been painting, though. Here's what I've been working on...

I posted some WIP shots of this painting a while back. I'm pretty happy with how the rocks came out in this one. I like the atmospheric perspective on the mountains in the background. The smaller pieces of rock (which are actually quite massive up close) near the base of the mountain can be tricky to paint with minimal brush strokes. For me, it's a matter of finding the fewest brushstrokes needed to give the impression of detail. It's something I am always learning.

This next one is the other side of the Superstitions. The foreground was good practice. I think that's one thing I need to work on the most right now.

Palette:
Cremnitz
Naples Yellow
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red
Burnt Sienna
Green Earth
Ultramarine

And finally we have a view of Canyon Lake in the afternoon, finished this morning.

In this painting I expanded my palette a little bit. Still mostly Old Holland. Though, I like to try something new in each painting. This time I added some Quinacridone Rose and Permanent Green. The permanent green is very artificial looking, especially in a desert landscape. I found it was helpful in very subtly tinting some of the greens as they came forward, making the closer greens slightly more vibrant. The Q Rose mixed with Naples Yellow made some nice oranges and pinks for the rocks.

What I'm listening to:



Johnny Cash's cover of U2's One. I like this a lot more than the original.

Superstition, take 2

Well I think it's just about finished. It took a bit longer, since this one is 24x24.I took photos of the in-progress painting each day. Perhaps you are curious to see how a painting evolves over the course of my painting process...

I made all the images the same size. So, if you click the "next" arrow, it should be like a flip book of sorts and you can see the painting go from start to completion.

I think I am going to put on some more glazes. I would like to dull down the blue rocks in the shadows. They are a little too light right now. The camera made them appear a little bit lighter than they actually are, but it's still something I need to address.

I also need to work more on foregrounds. Painting the desert can be tough. It's hard to get all the muted greens, along with the peach and pink colors of the dirt with minimal brushstrokes. I think my foreground looks a little too lush. I think it's effective in the middle to background hills, but there's still a lot I need to work on with the nearest hills.

I tried out a couple new colors as well. Mars Violet from Williamsburg was one of them. When mixed with ultramarine and white it makes some nice muted purples. I used it a lot in the shadowed sides of the mountain.

I picked up a tube of W&N Cremnitz white (Lead white) and used that instead of Old Holland, since this canvas is pretty big and I can't afford to use up half a tube of that on one painting. I also used a little bit of Prussian Blue to get some of the greens.

My full palette
-Cremnitz (W&N)
-Naples Yellow (O.H.)
-Yellow Ochre (Rembrandt)
-Cad Red Medium (O.H.)
-Red Ochre (O.H.)
-Mars Violet (Williamsburg)
-Ultramarine (W&N)
-Prussian Blue (Gamblin)
-Sap Green (Rembrandt)
-Green Earth (O.H.)

Guerrilla Box and some painting progress

After reading some reviews online I decided to buy a Guerrilla Box. I bought the 9x12 Pochade  box at Utrecht today. I think it was around $169. A little pricey, but I have been really impressed with the quality. It has a piece on the bottom to be connected to a tripod. I'm using the ancient family camcorder tripod.

 It's nice and spacious inside. Plenty of room for tubes of paint and mediums. The enclosed leaflet says it can store multiple wet 9x12 panels inside. That's great for backpacking, which is something I plan on doing really soon. Can't wait to get outside and try it out.

I also have some work in progress shots of new paintings. First up is the Superstition one from last time. The color is now blocked in, so the next step is some dark glazes and highlight layers...

I decided to revisit the last Superstition mountains painting I did. This time it's on a 2 foot square canvas. I don't normally work much larger than one foot. I also decided to extend the foreground, and put it in shadow. I think it will help focus on the shapes in the rocks created by the sunlight.

The color has been lightly sketched in, over a reddish-brown toned canvas. Since there's no sky I think it makes the mountains seem much larger, and now that it's on a bigger canvas it should seem more towering than before.

"I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend." -Freddie Mercury

Done and on to the next one

Finished the latest Sedona painting. Things have been really busy lately at the gallery and I haven't had much time to paint. It feels good to mess around with oils again.

There was a cropped-off mountain on the right side, you can see it in the older photo from last week. I thought it would make the composition better by removing it. I'm happier with the result.

And on to the next one. I went to Lost Dutchman State Park a couple weeks ago and took some pictures from the hiking trails. Here's another view of the Superstition Mountains. There's something about the geology there that I really like painting.

I toned the canvas with some scrap paint (When I clean my palette after each painting session I mix a muddy mixture from the unused paint and save it for next time. It makes a good neutral color for mixing or simply for toning canvases).

Then I sketched with charcoal, followed by some sketching with thinner and the mud mixture.

Now it's time to begin adding color...

It seems like I forgot to post some music for the past couple of weeks. Here's what I'm listening to right now. A great cover of Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone by The Rolling Stones. Bob Dylan really is a master of lyrics. Check out Hurricane if you haven't heard it before. 

Sedona (in progress)

I started another painting a few days ago, and I made some good progress last night. I went to Sedona not too long ago and took tons of photos. This was taken early in the morning. It was cold, but thankfully the sun was out. It was a nice break from the clouds and rain the day before. Anyway, in this painting I'm trying to capture a crisp, cold morning with some warm light. That's my goal, at least.

I like to try something new/different on each painting. Lately I've been experimenting with dark glazes, and then building up highlights out of the dark shapes. The medium I seem to like is mostly thinner, with a little bit of stand oil. The thinner evaporates quickly, leaving a slightly tacky surface from the stand oil. Some painters like to coat the painting with a very thin layer of oil before each painting session (it helps colors flow better and provides a better surface to paint on, among other reasons). I think this method gets the best of both worlds.

My palette so far (Old Holland unless otherwise noted)

Canvas toned with scrap paint from previous painting session. Sketched in with charcoal, followed by burnt umber and thinner.

Flake white
Naples Yellow
Yellow Ochre (Rembrandt)
Cadmium Red Medium
Sedona Genuine (Daniel Smith) <This one is cool because it is made with iron oxide from Sedona.
Venetian Red
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine
Green Earth

Storing tubes of paint

A while back I stumbled across this rather brilliant way of storing tubes of paint. http://njainschigg.blogspot.com/2011/12/paint-storage.html

I've always stored my paints in buckets, tackle boxes, cardboard boxes, etc. It always results in the tubes getting really beat up, covered in other paint, covered in oil, and just an overall mess. Not a great system.

But this system Nicholas came up with seemed like it was just the solution for me, so I built one. I still need to put some screws in the wall and hang it up, but for now it's doing great. I used "cup hooks" rather than nails/screws.

I've still got a ton of other tubes of paint. I'll have to make a couple more of these...

Newest landscape finished

"Monumental" is the title I came up with. I've never been good at picking titles. Oh well. I hope the painting speaks for it self.

Anyway, I think it's done. I also decided to start watermarking my images. Maybe that will increase traffic to my website.

I thought the painting was too vibrant and green (It was that Cad Yellow Medium that did it, I think), so I did some red/orange glazes all over the painting. When that was a little tacky I went in with thicker paint. I added more variety of greens and a bit more detail in the foreground. I didn't want to add too much because I want to keep the focus on the main cluster of rocks.

I dulled down the highlights on the rocks with a mix of Naples, Flake White, and a touch of Red Ochre. The Cadmiums still peek through here and there. I think it makes a more convincing sense of a sunset without being too overpowering.

I drove to Sedona earlier this week and took loads of photos. It was too cold to do any painting outdoors. I think I'll paint some of that stuff next.

Progress...

Progress is coming along on this one. The colors are a little too vibrant for me right now so I will have to dull those down with glazes as soon as this layer is dry.

This session started out with glazing some darker, complimentary colors all over. I was just using thinner and a little bit of stand oil as my medium. The idea was to make the surface slightly tacky before I started putting thicker paint on.

My palette was the same as last time except with the addition of (Old Holland) Flake White and Cadmium Yellow Medium.

Next up on the chopping block

Last night I got a new painting sketched out. This is from the series of photos I took out by Superstition Mtn and Canyon Lake. This is a new kind of composition for me. There isn't any sky visible here. I'm trying to study more on using light and shadow as part of my composition.

I toned the canvas with some scrap paint a couple days ago, then made a rough line drawing with charcoal. I used some thinner and Burnt Umber to finish the drawing. Then, last night I went in with a wider range on my palette, keeping colors thinned and gradually building up layers.

My palette here is(Old Holland unless noted)
-Warm Grey (Senellier)
-Naples yellow deep
-Yellow Ochre (Rembrandt)
-Cad Yellow Deep
-Cad Red
-Venetian Red (Gamblin)
-Alizarin Crimson (Williamsburg)
-Ultramarine
-Green Earth

I'm avoiding using white in order to avoid that "chalky" look that white can sometimes give. Using Naples Yellow as my lightest color has made the light very warm.

So now I have to wait for this to dry before I can glaze and build up more layers. I think I'm going to start sketching some new paintings until then.

And here's what I'm listening to. Get in the painting mood with some crazy hair and more glam than you can shake a stick at.

Stretching Canvas

I stretch my own canvases for a couple reasons. It's cheaper, which is great. But generally it is higher quality than the pre-stretched canvases too. I also hate how some store-bought canvases put staples on the side of the canvas. It looks terrible. I can also put as much, or as little, gesso as I want. Anyway, I can be a little obsessive about how my canvases are stretched. I figured I would share my process.

Materials:
-Staple Gun (mine is an Arrow brand, model JT-21M, and JT-21 8mm staples)
-Cotton duct canvas (Fabric stores sell it pretty cheap, tent/awning manufacturers will sometimes give away scraps. If you are looking for a real bargain pick up some canvas "painter's drop cloth". Home Depot sells 12 foot wide ones for about $15. It's not good quality, but it works great for studies and stuff once it is primed. Art stores have the best kind but they will charge you a lot more for it).
-Stretcher bars (I like to get the thicker bars. If the bars are too thin, sometimes the canvas can warp once it is stretched. Thicker bars don't have that problem, and as a bonus you can get away without framing your painting by painting the edges)
-Scissors

Some people like to use some kind of canvas-stretching pliers. I find that I can stretch it tight enough with just my fingers. Any creases left in the canvas will go away once you paint the gesso on (gesso shrinks when it dries). The canvas will be as tight as a drum if you do it right, so I don't really see the need for any extra tools.

Here is a set of stretcher bars. I believe it is Utrecht brand. I decided I wanted to re-stretch the canvas so I removed the old painting and the staples. The stretcher bars are upside down on a piece of canvas, and the canvas was cut so that there is about 3 inches extra all the way around. Try to center the bars as evenly as possible.

 Beginning in the middle of one of the sides, I pull the canvas up and staple it down to the back of the bar. I like to fold the edge under itself, because it hides the frayed edges and it looks a lot cleaner.

 Staple the center part of the opposite side next. Then the 2 remaining sides.

 Now, pulling tight and folding the canvas edge over as I go, I put one staple on either side of the middle one. Then I work from the center of the edge opposite of that. I'll work my way around the canvas putting in two staples at a time on each edge. This helps keep the stretching even, rather than putting a ton of staples in one side before starting the others.

I keep my staples about 1 inch apart. Though it wouldn't hurt to put more in.

 Finally we work our way over to the corners. I stop stapling about 3 inches away from each corner, in order to give me enough slack to fold it over.

 Don't fold it this way. Some people fold their corners this way and it looks really tacky. If you put a little bit more effort into how you fold your corners it will make a huge difference. Especially if you aren't framing your paintings.

 This way of folding takes some time to perfect but it is really worth it. Try to keep everything very tight. Pull the edge down and to the left (1).

 Then pull it upwards (2). Try to keep the other edge (on this image's right side) pulled in tight. Sometimes it can get a little loose when doing the second step. Finally fold it down flat onto the back of the stretchers (3). Then staple it down.

 The finished corner. Doesn't it look nice?

Then I prime them with 3-4 coats of gesso followed by a light rub of sandpaper. Make sure to gesso the edges too.

A Drive to Canyon Lake

Last week I drove out to Canyon Lake. Its a winding, mountainous road with lots of hills and potholes as you get closer to the lake. Not very fun to drive and you can't really look at all the great scenery while driving (you don't want to take your eyes off the road for even a second). I stopped at nearly all of the pull-off areas I saw just so I could take lots of pictures. The sun was getting low in the sky, creating lots of good shadows.

I started working on a new painting, referencing some of the photos I took.

I painted a quick 5x7 inch study first, to test the composition, values and colors. I'm trying some new things with my composition and lighting in this painting. One of the things I have sort of neglected in my landscape paintings is using shadow as part of my composition. I had a discussion with a gallery owner in Scottsdale and he gave me a lot of good pointers. Peter, if you are reading this, thanks. That was the kick up the rear I needed!

So here I have the foreground entirely in shadow, and a good portion of the background hills/rocks are in shadow as well.

Next I took a 10x14 inch canvas (I stretch them myself) which had been toned with a mix Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Red. After sketching out the basic composition with thinner, Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue, I began applying some thicker paint.

My palette here is (Old Holland oils) Flake White #1, Naples Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Cadmium Red Medium, Burnt Sienna, Green Earth, Ultramarine Blue. I also used a little bit of Malachite from Daniel Smith. It's a really nice color, sort of like a cool kind of emerald. I figured it would be a nice color for the brittlebushes in the shadowed foreground.

Yesterday I quickly sketched in the foreground. I'm pretty happy so far with the overall colors and values, so over the next few days I will refine shapes and add more detail.

Today I worked some more on the foreground and some minor adjustments everywhere else. I think I'm going to start another painting now and come back to this one next week, with a fresh eye. Maybe I'll do a little bit of glazing.

I almost forgot to post another song too. Some folks like to get away... I think I could use a vacation.

13, 14 (and 10)

It seems like I forgot to post landscape #10, so here it is

 This one was done with a Zorn palette again (50/50 Flake/Titanium White, Yellow Ochre Light, Vermilion, Ivory Black, and a touch of Burnt Sienna). Old Holland brand paints, again.

I like how the water turned out in this one. I enjoyed painting these overcast river/lake landscapes, so expect to see some more.

I tried some new things with the trees in the background. All the leaves have fallen, so we are left with trees made up of only sticks and branches. Difficult to paint without going into a ton of detail. I looked at how some plein air painters tackled the subject before I dove in. After some thinking I mixed a hue that was halfway between the sky color and the branch color, and painted broad strokes for the majority of the branches. Then I went in with a liner brush, along with some extra medium, and painted a few stray branches here and there, along with the trunk. The idea was to give the impression of detail without actually painting all of it. The trees on the left are farther away and thus have less branch details. I think it ended up being pretty effective.

Next up we have #13:

I haven't included any man-made things in this series yet. In fact, I rarely paint buildings in general, so this was a nice change of pace. I was able to get some pretty crisp details using a Flat #2 nylon brush. I stuck with that brush for the buildings, and used mostly #2 Filbert bristle brushes for the rest of the landscape. I referenced a photo I found online, taken in the German countryside.

Palette: Titanium/Flake White, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red, Burnt Sienna, Green Earth, Sap Green (Rembrandt), Cobalt Blue, Ivory Black. I also used some of the leftover purples and turquoises that I had mixed for landscapes 11 & 12.

Next up is #14:

Some parts of this painting I really like, others not so much. I like how the trees turned out. Especially the texture of the bark. I'm pretty happy with the background mountains too. The strokes used on the grass/brush in the mid ground (just beyond the three trees) looks too repetitive. I'm not happy with that. I need to work on the foreground grass more. I tend to paint that last, and by the end of the painting I am usually losing patience and rushing things. I need to improve that habit...

Same palette as #13. These were both painted the same day.

I've been thinking about sharing some music on this blog too. Music is something really inspires me, and I am always listening to it. I have Pandora radio going all the time and I love coming across new artists. I think I will post a YouTube clip of what i'm listening to each time I post. Could be a classic, could be something new. Maybe I'll post something that interests you.