Corey Guerra Design, LLC

07/12/2026

What a night at the 56th Annual National Juried Artists Exhibition — The Summer Show, hosted by the St. Tammany Art Association in Covington! Thank you to everyone who came out to the opening reception. There’s nothing like standing next to your own work and getting to talk with people who really stop and look.

And a special thrill tonight — I sold a painting to an art historian from Tulane University. Nights like this remind me why I keep showing up to the easel.

The show runs for a while yet — if you’re in the Covington area, go see it in person. Grateful doesn’t quite cover it. 🎨

07/01/2026

Hey friends! I’m excited to share that I’ll have two pieces on display and for sale at the 56th Annual National Juried Artists Exhibition — The Summer Show, hosted by the St. Tammany Art Association in Covington, LA. The opening reception is Saturday, July 11 at 6 PM at 320 N Columbia St. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there! 🎨

06/19/2026

Three stages. One bouquet of tulips.

First pass: the bistre. Just warm brown washes, blocking in where the light and shadow want to live. No detail yet — only the bones of the composition.

Second: the grisaille begins. I lay in that deep background and suddenly the flowers have something to push against. The forms start to read.

Third: the grisaille comes home. Tulips, drapery, the little pitcher — all built in grays and whites until the light feels real.

It’s almost there. Once this layer dries, I’ll go back in and tighten the spots that still need love.

Slow process. Worth every layer.

06/11/2026

Getting ready to start another painting...

One of my favorite parts of painting prep — making my own canvas panels. 🎨

Here, I start with an 8x10 birch panel, cut pre-primed canvas to size, and adhere it down with pH neutral PVA glue (archival grade). Press it flat, let it cure, and you’ve got a rock-solid painting surface.

Why bother when you can grab a pre-made canvas panel at the hobby store?

Those store-bought panels are typically made from cardboard or low-grade chipboard. Over time, the cardboard absorbs moisture, warps, and breaks down — and it’s acidic, which means it actively degrades the canvas and paint layers bonded to it. Your painting yellows, cracks, and deteriorates faster than it should.

Birch is dimensionally stable and naturally more resistant to warping. Pair it with archival PVA (pH neutral = no acid, no off-gassing) and your painting has a foundation that’s built to last — not just for years, but for generations.

If you’re serious about your work, the support matters as much as the paint on top of it.

What surface are you painting on right now?

Leave any questions in the post replies.

06/09/2026

She’s framed and ready to find a home. 🍋

Teal and Tart — oil on canvas 16x12
$800 (friends and family get a special price-DM me)

This one’s been one of my favorites since the first brushstroke. The contrast between the cool teal pot and the sharp yellow of the lemons just works.

If she doesn’t sell by the weekend, she’s heading to the Art House Gallery in Covington, LA — which honestly isn’t a bad consolation prize.

DM me to claim her before she goes.

06/09/2026

One of the most overlooked steps in oil painting? Varnishing. 🖼️

After all that work, varnish is what protects your painting from dust, UV light, and environmental damage. It also saturates your colors and gives the surface a unified finish — no more matte spots competing with glossy ones.

But here’s where a lot of painters get confused about when to do it.

Traditional damar varnish requires you to wait 6 months or more before applying it. Here’s why: oil paint cures through oxidation, and that process releases vapors as it hardens. Damar forms a hard, relatively inflexible film — if you apply it too early, you’re essentially sealing in that off-gassing. The result can be a cracked or cloudy varnish layer that bonds too tightly to an undercoat that’s still moving. That’s a problem you can’t easily fix.

Gamvar (by Gamblin) changed the game.

It’s formulated with Regalrez resin dissolved in odorless mineral spirits, which creates a flexible, breathable film. That means the paint can continue to cure beneath it without the varnish cracking or trapping solvents. You can apply Gamvar as soon as your painting is touch dry — often just weeks after finishing, depending on paint thickness (much sooner when painting in thin glaze layers).

Same protection. Same beautiful finish. Without the 6-month wait.

And when you’re ready to apply it, the Gamblin Varnish Brush makes a real difference. It’s wide, flat, and soft — designed to lay varnish down in thin, even strokes without streaking or leaving brush marks (I have tried multiple brushes and this is the ONLY one that consistently works). One coat goes on smoothly and evenly, which matters a lot when you’re working with a glossy or satin finish.

Varnish is the last thing you add to a painting, but it’s not an afterthought.

Protect the work. 🎨

06/09/2026

Selecting a frame for this bad boy this evening. Stay tuned…

06/09/2026

🎨 New book: Architecture of Light: Indirect Oil Painting in the Old Master Tradition

Discover the layered techniques the Old Masters used to create luminous, glowing paintings—from underpainting and bistre layers to glazing and final highlights.

Whether you're just starting out or refining your craft, this book walks you through the indirect method step by step, so you can build depth and radiance into your own work.

Each chapter builds upon the last and offers the "why" behind the "how" in easy-to-read language.

Now available for $36 on Amazon 👇
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H2ZNL6ZL

Architecture of Light: Indirect Oil Painting in the Old Master Tradition

06/08/2026

Ever wonder how painters catch mistakes they’d otherwise miss?

Meet raking light. 🕯️

Raking light is when you hold a single light source at a sharp, almost parallel angle to your canvas. Instead of lighting the painting evenly, it skims across the surface, throwing every brushstroke, ridge, and texture into sharp relief.

Impasto pops.
Sags show up.
Drips you forgot about say hello.

It’s one of the best diagnostic tools you have before finishing a painting — and it costs nothing.

But here’s the step most beginners skip before varnishing:

Oiling out.

As oil paintings dry, certain areas sink in — the paint loses its sheen and looks dull or chalky compared to the rest. This happens because the oil in those areas got absorbed into the canvas or underlayers. It’s normal, but if you varnish over it as-is, the varnish sits on an uneven surface and the results are inconsistent.

Oiling out fixes this. You wipe a very thin layer of medium over the painting, and wipe off the excess. It revives the sunken areas, brings the whole painting to a uniform sheen, and gives the varnish an even surface to bond to.

I use a 50/50 mixture of walnut oil and Liquin Original — the same combo I use as my painting medium throughout the entire process. That consistency matters. You’re not introducing anything foreign to the paint film; you’re finishing with the same chemistry you started with.

Use raking light after you oil out — if anything still looks dull or uneven, you’ll catch it before it’s sealed under varnish forever.

Two simple steps. One much better final painting. 🎨

06/07/2026

Time to find this painting a home. 🍐

Still Holding On | Oil on panel, 8×10, framed

$300 + shipping if you’re not within driving distance of me

Painted using the indirect (old master) process — thin layers built up over time, letting each one dry before the next. It’s what gives oil painting that depth you can’t fake.

If it doesn’t sell by June 12, it heads to the Art House Gallery in Covington, LA.

DM me if you’re interested. Happy to answer questions or get you more photos.