The Bent

I have developed this method of painting over the past 30 years and nearly 600 paintings and I am thrilled to now be able to share it with you using traditional still life as the means of instruction. This method is extremely effective in creating illusionism, and also very efficient in both time and cost. You will find it very different from most approaches to painting, particularly in terms of color mixing, where most color mixing will occur through layering, as opposed to mixing all values on the palette first.

The Schildersbent, or simply ‘The Bent’, was originally a group of mostly Dutch painters who gathered in Rome in the 17th Century, and I originally learned of this movement while researching my all time favorite painter, Otto Marseus van Schrieck, who was a Bent member. The purpose of The Bent was to learn from both the Italian painting tradition and also from one another, to hone their techniques, and also have a good time! They were kind of a wild bunch, and at the time considered a lowbrow movement.

In that spirit, I am inviting you to join me as a fellow painter, or enjoyer of painting, as I seek to improve my skills as an oil painter and form a community around the love for oil paint. Painters and paintings.