Marc Dalessio

Zecchi is now selling the medium I recommend pre-mixed to save painters the trouble of making their own. The recipe is the usual: 1 part Canada balsam cut with 1 part turpentine, and then that mixture is added to 2 parts Zecchi sun-thickened linseed oil.art. The item number is 3882 ” Medium Antichi Maestri” and the price is €12 for a 125ml bottle and €22,50 euro for the 250ml bottle. (They ship abroad too, check out their website for more details).

I tried to get them to name it after Theodore de Mayerne or to call it the “Cecilian medium” as Charles Cecil developed a similar version (adding mastic varnish) based on his reading of de Mayerne’s manuscript on 17th century painting techniques, but no dice.

‘Old Master Medium’ is so trite.

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My stretcher bars on the raw linen.

My canvas suitcase a week later.

My trustworthy Julian half-box.

I’ll be in Myanmar (Burma) for the next month, painting plein air landscapes so no updates for a while. I don’t think I’ll have any internet access.

We’ve been given a house to use near Bagan, and the place looks incredible. I’ll be traveling with a small group of plein air painters with whom I’ve been doing this sort of thing for years. We get given a house somewhere warm during the Italian winter and we stay a month or two and paint the surrounding area. Past trips have included India, Morocco, Kenya, Puglia and Mexico.

In this case we will be having a charity exhibition when we get back with the paintings. Our host runs charitable organizations in Myanmar and the proceeds will go to these charities.