Checking email & other things

this is a test, seriously to see if adding your email to the box at right works. Not yet.

Beyond that, the local wine shop is having a sale, 30 buck Artesa chardonnay for $12. Is this better than the 9 buck Feltzer, yup, two bucks better for sure, but would I spring for 30? Hah! And if I was going to? well I'd ask a wine merchant a bit further away in Snow Hill her thoughts.

And to keep this art related, it is needed to cut shellack flakes with alcohol. Usually it is denatured alcohol, but you can use vodka. Shaken, stirred? Oive, lemon?Lol, who wants to test the bennys of using Grey Goose over Popov?

Oh! and emails? Please considering adding yours to the handy icon at the right top and join us chatting about painting.

Surfaces

This painting was done on a linen covered board, a commercially prepared piece I bought. I really like painting on the color of raw linen. Some of that can still be seen through the loose background I've scrubbed in here.

The color is nice, I like linen, the most difficult part of this is buying it. Just had to remember to stock up when I saw it. Which was often easier than doing it yourself. Sorta.

Because much as I like the color of the linen, the clear acrylic "gesso" used to seal these boards renders the surface so rough it it like, well, painting on #60 coarse sandpaper. Truly, with this "gesso" finish it does not matter what it covers, that material, even the finest cloth, will be rough. Until you have some base down, brushes wear out before your eyes on this stuff.

"Gesso" is in parenthesis because the word is becoming as universal as "kleenex", although I think any nose tissue on the market is closer to a "real kleenex" than these acrylic-based grounds (white, clear, whatever) are to true gesso.

Several board makers (New Traditions makes my fav, a bit $$$) make beautiful portrait grade linen on boards finished with oil grounds that are lovely to work on. I just feel these give the end painting a better finish. Right now the look and feel of portrait linen works well for me.

For many years I have painted on true gesso panels, have even made them, rabbitskin glue, whitening, chalks. Well, actually I used an easy mix that Natural Pigments offers. Real gesso is a smooth surface that can be thirsty but is wonderful for detailed work.

So I will use up what boards I have. And truthfully, much as I thought how neat that raw linen would look behind the painting, I haven't really used it that way.

thanks,

LindaE

Sea Shells and thoughts on solvents...

,
Hi, Annie here:

First of all these paintings were a welcome end to a day of more theory and testing painting materials.

...The "why are we asking these questions anyway " part. We are at the beach and its

rainy and cold so we brought sea shells inside, dried off dogs and ourselves and set up for a quick sketch. Spent 1 1/2 hours with three breaks. Quit with reluctance when all light was lost.

Now...

Here's a problem I've had.

I have been stopped in my tracks by the warnings on the gamsol and rubisol [Odorless Mineral Spirits or OMS] bottles. Do not use OMS with damar varnish because it will cloud. Implying that the "oldfashioned" mediums are incompatable with this "new fangled "stuff.

Hmmm

Well my first and main inclination is to use no medium in my painting ...or just a small amount initially in a "lean" mix for an initial washy sketch. But at the last phase of my paintings, a medium to create a buttery smooth paint texture IS useful for the detail and finish work. Also I would like to have the option of a glaze without compromising the structure of the paint-film.

So

After we tested the mediums at the workshop [see previous 3 posts] we mixed equal parts OMS and the various mediums and elements of the mediums.

First: mediums are made up of a solvent [often spirits of turpentine] , varnish [a resin and /or wax], and an oil.

The problem of cloudiness seems usually to stem from the OMS being a less powerful solvent than "turps"[spirits of gum turpentine] or "spike" [oil of lavender] . Thus it just can't dissolve the wax or varnish.

Ok [ left to stand for 12 hrs]

Damar Varnish [utrecht] dissolved to clear in the OMS

The L.E. #1 [equal parts spike/stand oil/canada balsam] was slightly cloudy in the OMS

The Italian Varnish [Natural Pigments] separated with a very cloudy sediment and a darkened liquid above. [the wax may have been the culprit]

The canada balsam [ a resin] looked very flakey initially so we added a drop of denatured alcohol and left it. Totally clear the next morning!

so

I used my L.E.#1 in conjuction with my Steve Early Mix [5 parts OMS to 1 part stand oil] in my sea shell painting with no hesitation.

Linda E stayed with her turps and the same L.E.#1 medium that i used.

WHEW!

Whites Test

Several years ago I did a test strip of the different whites that I used. They were mostly flake, or lead, whites and it was interesting to see which were whiter right out of the tube and which once yellowed over time. The time was six years at least, the test strip stayed out on a shelf in the studio under whatever light was available, and while it is good to note the differences, most of those whites are no longer available.

So it was time to re do the test with whites available, starting with what was in our paintboxes. Across the top left to right are six lead based whites: OH creminitz w/ zinc - OH Cremnitz - Natural Pigments lead white - Blue Ridge fleming white - Williamsburg flake white and Windsor Newton foundation white w/ lead. Next are three titanium whites: Old Holland, Blue Ridge and Grumbacher.

Right out of the gate, the NP lead white has a distinctive yellow cast. The Blue Ridge looks the whitest, followed by the OH cremnitz w/zinc, OH cremnitz, Williamsburg flake and the WN foundation which has a grayish tinge. Fot the three titaniums, the Blue Ridge is brightest and whitest but a little gritty. The OH pulled down better. It will be interesting to see what time does to all of these.

This is by no means complete but is some of the whites I regularly use and can be bought easily.

thanks, LindaE

Mediums Workshop - Thurs. 1/19/12

During breakfast we discussed what paints we would like to see and/or compare.

This picture is one of the set-ups we did checking out paint. You know, the stuff ain't cheap and it is nice to see comparisons of colors. Like playing in some one else's paint box! All told we did three set-ups like the one below, placing in some cases the same color (like prussian or sap green) next to each other. Then took a palette knife, did a draw down of each and a tint with Williamsburg flake white.

Top first three were turquoise thalos from OH, GAmblin & WN, then Utrecht & Gamblin Cobalt Teals, Rembrandt Sevres Blue

Middle: Prussian Blues by Blue Ridge, OH, WN, Ceruleans by OH, WN, Holbein,

Lower: Ultramarine blue by OH & Williamsburg; Cobalt blue by Blue Ridge & WN, last OH Cyan Blue

The first tray was of bright yellows and greens

Top: Rublev Verona Green, Rublev Antica Green, WN Sap Green, London Sap Green, WN Green Gold, Gamblin Olive Green, WN ?, WN Prussian Green

Middle: OH Veridian green deep, WN viridian, Gamblin Viridian, Williamsburg Viridian, Varsari Cad Green Lt, OH Cad Green Lt, WN Cad Green, Blue Ridge Cad Green, WN Oxide of Chromium

Lower: OH Cad Yel Deep, Gamblin Cad Yel Deep, OH Cad Yel M, OH Cad Yel Citreon. WN Cad Yel Lemon, Holbein Cad Yel Lemon, Holbein Perm Yel Light, Holbein Perm Yel Lemon, Rublev Lead Tin Yellow, Sennelier Cad Yel Light, Holbein Indian Yellow

Top: Gamblin Cobalt Violet, Holbein Mineral Violet, Gamblin Manganese Violet, OH Schevenings Violet, Oh Schevenings Red Scarlet, Gamblin Napthol Red, Gamblin Perylene Red, WN ?, OH Schevening Lake extra, WN Permanent Rose, OH Alizaron Lake Extra, Gamblin Alizaron

Middle : WN Quinacridone Magenta, OH Ultramarine Rose, Graham Quinacridone Rose, Williamsburg Pereylene Crimson, Blie Ridge Terra Rosa, WN Terra Rosa, Rublev Pozzuoli Red, Roblev, Orange Ochre, Rembrandt Transparent Red Oxide

Lower: Blue Ridge Naples Yellow, OH Naples Yellow extra, WN (Lead) Naple yellow, OH Naples Yellow Deep Extra, Gamblin Yellow Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Holbein Gold Ochre, Gamblin Gold Ochre, Gamblin Transparent Orange.

All told we looked at almost eighty colors and this did not include most cads, bright reds blues, browns, blacks & whites.

Mediums Workshop - Weds. 1/18/12

Ok, all day weds and most of thurs three of us (Annie Compton, Linda Wharton, me) met in my studio to experiment with different mediums

So here is a list of the above :

1: 1/1black oil/double mastic (maroger)

2: 1/1/1canada balsam/stand/spike Probably more useful1/1/2

3: 1/1/1 venice turp/stand/spike -

4: NP's Velazquez -

5: Amber -

6:NP's Italian Varnish -

7a: Wax already w turp 7 b: 7a with oms & linseed added -

8: a roberson's (mastic, copal, spike, drying oil) -

9: 1/1/2canada balsam/linseed oil/ turps

The photo above is a line up with each medium mixed into flake and titanium. Before painting with the mediums we all painted the two whites with mediums onto test boards; planning to see how each looks over the coming months, even years.

To try these mediums we set up a simple still-life: white egg on whitish napkin. Each of us divided a board into sections and painted the egg using a different medium for each section. This was not about making pretty egg paintings (although some are nice) but about the medium; how it feels to work with, how it lays down paint, can it be worked back into, do the brush strokes fuse, what sort of finish [shine] does it leave and how did it dry over night.

We spent the better part of a day painting these simple egg still lifes and also talking about them. We all still like the canada balsam/stand/spike and small variations (venice, linseed or turps); found both of the Natural Pigments, Velazquez & Italian mediums, useful.

Wax was not a fav but mixed with more oil and solvent (LindaW's idea) was useful if you want a matte finish. The black oil/dble mastic (maroger) made a yummy gel, fun to work with. Most were dry to tacky the next morning. One of our criteria was ease of use, which the wax didn't fill, nor did the maroger because if you can't find the ingredients ready made it requires cooking oil with lead. Which we decided is down below even grinding one's own paint.

Weds evening we donned our plein-air pants (flannel-lined jeans) for a speedy paint out in a duck blind at sunset. One of the things we were interested in was painting wet on wet so we took our boxes and the Velazquez and Italian varnish mediums out for the one hour blitz. The mediums preformed well as we froze.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the three us lined up on duck blind seat among the decoys trying to paint between marsh rushes as the sun set.

Hot chocolate on return then a late dinner and wine and talking by the fireplace kept us until midnight. Annie and Linda W make great fires, which the three dogs also enjoyed.

Mediums Workshop - Tues. 1/17/12

A few months back thought it would be fun and useful to spend time learning and experimenting with mediums for oil painting. Talked some friends into coming down to my studio for a few days to do it.

This evening the first friend showed up in time to pack our paint boxes and head out to a duck blind overlooking the marshes here along the Pocomoke River. We were set up by 4:15 and the sun set at about 5:05. Was just fun to do a quick-quick sketch.

Back at the house, after dinner for ourselves and our dogs, we went to the studio to set up for the next day. The next two days were dedicated to a few key things: working with different mediums, ones we had used, or knew about and seemed interesting; checking out different paints each other had – you know, who doesn’t like to snoop in someone else’s paintbox? – and to paint some! Also combining our efforts could ease the wallet. Who wants to buy a tube of expensive paint without really seeing it?

There are so many different mediums, evidently useful for many sorts of applications geared towards making the process of painting and the paintings themselves better. All of us have some idea but do not often have a chance to experiment.