Painting in a Blacksmith Shop

I produced this mini-doc about painting in a blacksmith shop at Old Sturbridge Village. (Direct link to video)

One of the reasons I'm playing around so much with video is that I'm developing a series of instructional DVDs about painting on location in various media: watercolor, gouache, casein, watercolor pencils, ink wash, and oil. Each full-length video will feature two or three plein-air paintings done right front of you in real time, plus a variety of informative short features.

In the two polls at left, please let me know which media and topics you're most interested in. You can select multiple answers. And in the comments, tell me what else you'd like to see in the long-form DVD/videos.


Garin Baker's painting is in oil, 14 x 27 inches. It was amazing to watch him do it, an impressive feat of concentration. He says: "From the moment you suggested going to Sturbridge Village to paint on the spot, a flood of memories came back to me. Year ago when my daughter was in grade school I was a parent chaperone on a class trip there. I remember the completely authentic feel of the place, so I knew we would find some interesting scenes to inspire a painting or two."

Garin continues: "A few years ago I also remember seeing the original of Norman Rockwell's blacksmith shop ("Horseshoe Forging Contest," above) and how amazing and lovingly every square inch of that painting was handled. So with those two points of interest in mind I set out."


I approached the two portraits separately, since the workers kept changing places and taking breaks. The man above was a retired police lieutenant who was just learning the trade.


I'll be writing in more detail about our blacksmith shop paintings in the next issue of International Artist magazine.

Materials: I was using casein paint, various flat and round brushes, and a Moleskine watercolor book  on a homemade pochade easel. Most of the video is shot with a Canon VIXIA HF R400 Camcorder. The opening shot was with a Canon EOS Rebel T3i with a Canon 50mm 1.8 prime lens.

Previously: Creamer in Casein
My first full length video: How I Paint Dinosaurs
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