The tip about using clove oil as a retarder for oil paint is one that gets submitted regularly. Typically it's suggested you place a few drops of clove oil onto your palette to keep oil paint workable for longer, sometimes alongside the paint, sometimes on top. Other suggestions have included reviving hardened oil paint by placing it in a jar with a drops of clove oil, sealing the lid, and leaving it for a few days.

It occurred to me that any oil would surely do this, were there any special properties in clove oil that it keeps getting suggested? So I posed the question to an expert. Read more...

• How to Make a Ladder Easel

^{Photo: Archives of American Art}

"For Christmas I got painting stuff. I have no clue what to paint. Any ideas?" -- Faith B.

If you paint one a day, I've enough ideas to keep you busy for the next six months. Here you go:

• 31 Painting Ideas for January
• 28 Painting Ideas for February
• 31 Painting Ideas from Poetry for March
• 30 Painting Ideas from Idioms for April
• 31 More Painting Ideas from Idioms for May
• 31 Painting Ideas from Classic Novels for June.

Then there are the Photo Painting Challenges and the Monthly Painting Projects.

The painting shown here, by Val Lempiala, was inspired by one of the suggestions in my painting poetry ideas list: "The Grass Sings in the Meadows / And the Flowers Smile in the Shadows".

Happy painting!

"Keep at what you're passionate about. Don't chase after trends or different media with the hopes of igniting your career...you'll never catch up to those doing something fashionable now and you probably won't be as good at something you're faking."

-- New York Art Dealer Edward Winkleman, in his blog Want to Become a Successful Artist?, about Carmen Herrera.

^{Image © 2010 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc}