Discusses the development of artistic techniques and intentions in easel paintings and murals of the painter Thomas Hart Benton. The chronological history by the painter documents his use of media and choice of palette over the course of his career. His brief instruction in decorative china painting influenced his later approach to pigment use. Notes problems he had with specific media and how he resolved them. The difficulties with the mural in the Board Room of the New School for Social Research are summarily described, including subsequent restoration work and change of varnish; he had also restored Clemente Orozco's mural once, but no details of method are provided. His experimentation with materials and colors evolved from his own research into other artists' methods.