What materials do you use?

I was originally trained with traditional oils. I moved on to alkyd oils because I liked the fact that they dried more quickly but still provided me with the flexibility of a traditional oil. I finally transitioned to water-soluble oils years later after discovering them and doing some research on them.

I presently use Winsor & Newton Artisan paints. However, once I get through those, I will be switching full time to Holbein Duo Aqua and Royal Talens Cobra because of their handling. But, sometimes you just find the right color and gotta have it regardless of the brand!

I occasionally will use a medium, though presently, my heart is sold out to alla prima painting. (Though, artist and Chair of Painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Al Gury points out in Alla Prima: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Direct Painting that one-sitting paintings are but one facet of working in the alla prima tradition; glazing during and after completed is within it as well.)

I use synthetic brushes—Princeton and Artisan—because they are (relatively) inexpensive and get the job done. Plus, because I use water-soluble paints, I find that synthetics hold up in water better than natural hair brushes.

Gourd, Alla Prima oil painting

I'm not sure where my head has been. I should have posted this last week with the other oil painting demonstrations. This gourd elicited great consternation from my students who struggled with getting the undulating surface and transitions between the two colors correct. In some ways like the pumpkin and other ways not, my students failed to appreciate the color variations in the peaks and valleys of the surface. I told them it was not going to be easy but to look for the shapes of the colors and block them in as best they could. A few did well.

We've moved on to a small still life featuring a putty colored vase and a few more simple pieces of fruit. I did not do a demonstration this time around. Instead I did direct instruction and sketched on the whiteboard how they were to proceed, step-by-step. For some of my students this worked well, for others less so. So, I'll probably do a physical demonstration on Monday. A few were determined to do what they wanted while others--focused on getting it "right"--fell behind leaving me to dash back and forth.

Thoughts anyone on how to walk a class through the beginning painting process without doing a demonstration?

Pear, alla prima oil painting

Here is the third in a series of still life demonstrations that I did for my students in Introduction to Painting, my alla prima painting class. Unlike Apple, I was able to complete this painting in the 15-20 minutes I allotted for my demo.

The three students who sat in on this demonstration saw the key point I have been reminding all of my students of from the beginning of this course. Namely, alla prima is meant to be immediate--it's direct painting. Most of my students struggle with over mixing, over blending and, generally, over doing it. That often translates into muddy colors and edges that are too sharp.

This particular fruit example was made particularly challenging for two reasons: there were two green, speckled "stripes" running down either side and two splashes of orangy-red on the other two sides. I showed them that this was merely an opportunity for alla prima to shine. I could have done the green "stripe" a bit more speckled with a broken line effect but I opted to focus more on the blending between the green and yellow underneath. The splashy orangy-red was more easy to achieve and gave my students what they needed seeing the blending happen in front of them.

For those particular students, it was important for them to see the blending happen in front of them. Surprisingly, this wasn't the first time they saw it but it helped two of the three with what they delivered in their own rendering of this composition.

Apple, alla prima oil painting

Here is the second in a series of still life demonstrations that I did for my students in Introduction to Painting, my alla prima painting class. As I stated in my last post, I've been trying to get through as much as I can in the 20 minutes that I'm doing the demonstration and then finishing the piece for my own satisfaction during my lunch.

This one I all but finished during the demonstration. That particular day I found it easy to enter the "zone." Unfortunately, I didn't fully complete the curved background at the top. I think I got sidetracked by a student coming in during my lunch to speak with me and then the period ended preventing me from getting back to it. But, I wanted to post it anyway.

I was particularly happy with this piece. I'll definitely need to go back and complete the background. Thoughts anyone?

Aging Well: Permanence and Water Soluble Oils (Water Soluble Oils, Part 3)

Aging well for an artist is a double-edged sword, isn't it? On the one hand, we ourselves experience the fullness of time; our eyesight weakens, our hands don't always catch on to what our brains tell them to do and so on. With the other hand--and more relevant to this discussion--comes the bittersweet reality that what we create here on earth will also suffer at the hands of time.

I call it bittersweet because many of the finer things in life become better with age--just like we hope our work will do. And, that is our expectation more often than not. We expect fancy restaurants to present us with a wine list befitting their three- and four-star ratings. We expect older homes to have a charm that newer constructions simply don't possess. Though in the US we don't see this as much, but elsewhere in the World, the elderly are looked on as vessels with something meaningful to impart from their well-lived years on this planet.

And so it is with the works of artists. My students are often aghast at the prices fetched for masterworks. In an effort to pull them out of their consumable- and entertainment-driven stupor, I like to point out most ancient civilizations aren't remembered for their dignitaries or sports; rather it is the art and literature they created that stands the test of time.

Suffice it to say, the paintings that artists create will undergo changes because of time. The important issue to be discussed presently is how will water soluble oil paints stand up to those imminent changes? On the whole, the evidence would indicate very well.

In a previous post, I introduced the major players and their water soluble brands. Standing behind these players looms the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and their tests form the benchmark of light fastness, or how much exposure it take before colors begin to degrade. Their work is essential because it helps ensure the artwork that I have in my living room will look the same when it is handed down to my great-great-granddaughter in 75-100 years.

There are several factors that affect permanency. One is application. It doesn't matter how good you think you are; if you don't follow time-honored rules of painting then your work will suffer. Winsor & Newton sums up those rules well (emphasis mine):

• Fat over lean (flexible over less flexible). When oil painting in layers, each successive layer must be more flexible than the one underneath. This rule is maintained by adding more medium to each successive layer.
• Thick over thin. Thick layers of oil colour are best applied over thin under layers. Thin layers on impasto paintings are likely to crack.
• Slow drying colours should not form continuous under layers as any faster drying layers on top may crack.

Another issue affecting permanence is lighting. UV lighting damages paint. Period. Thus, we have museums with special lights, darkened rooms for more sensitive mediums such as pastel, UV glazes and special UV glass covering up priceless artworks. It's impossible to oversee where and in what light your work will be seen after it's purchased. However, informing your clients of the effects of UV light on painted surfaces would be a kind way for them to protect their investment . After all, most buyers aren't conservationists so any advice you give them may get you more sales. In essence, you caring for your client is also you caring for your artwork. (Can you hear it? It's Elton John singing "Circle Of Life.")

The following have specifications which either specifically mentions ASTM ratings or utilizes internal testing protocols based off of the ASTM standards. Click the links below to visit the technical specifications and color charts. (You may find the color charts helpful before you try one of these brands:

• Grumbacher MAX: Specs and Color Chart (Download problems? Click here)
  
• Holbein Aqua Duo: Specs and Color Chart
• LUKAS Berlin: Use the top-level navigation, go to Leaflets > LUKAS Berlin
  
• Van Gogh H2Oils: Color Chart
  
• Winsor & Newton Artisan: Specs and Color Chart (Permanence and ASTM compliance)
  

The fact that a company may choose to conduct its own tests based on ASTM guidelines shouldn't necessarily raise red flags for an artist. Why? First, these companies have been around for a long time. This means they have spent time creating processes to make their business better. Secondly, you can do what I did and cross-reference the information on the manufacturer's primary product. If those products use the same rating system as their professional-quality oil colors then you know their water soluble line is equally important to them. And, thirdly, we're dealing with companies with reputations they need to uphold. They can't afford to mislead the public and thereby destroy the brand they've spent millions of dollars trying to build.

So, there you have it. I hope that this gives you a springboard upon which to learn more on your own about these companies and their fine products. Any questions or comments, please let me know.

Still Think Oil and Water Don't Mix? Think Again. (Water Soluble Oils, Part 2)

Sorry I've been remiss in posting. My wife and I got sick concurrently with two different things. Then our 4-year old got sick. Ah, such is the life of a parent.

As I indicated in my first post about water-soluble oils, I discovered a book by Sean Dye called Painting with Water-Soluble Oils that introduced me to a new product, transformed my understanding of oil paints and revealed a practical way for me to return to painting.

Water soluble (water-mixable or water miscible) oils are similar in composition to traditional oil paints except that the oil medium in these paints has been altered on the molecular level to allow for water dilution and clean-up. So, the old axiom of water and oil not mixing isn’t true in this case. I’ve read a few online posts that the manufacturers use detergent to make the water solubility occur, but I was not able to confirm this through any legitimate source. Therefore, I would list such claims as questionable. Collateral I was able to find from the different manufacturers points to the chemically-altered makeup of the paints and not a simple additive formula (though additives do play a role). While not the definitive authority on the subject, Wikipedia concisely ascribes it to "the use of an oil medium in which one end of the molecule has been altered to bind loosely to water molecules...."

I found six (sorry, Wikipedia) manufacturers and their respective water soluble oil paint brand. I've listed them below alphabetically:

• Grumbacher (site unavailable due to redesign, try grumbacherart.com) produces MAX
  
• HK Holbein produces Duo Aqua
  
• LUKAS (be warned, poor site) produces Berlin
  
• Maimeri produces Classico Acqua (distributors unknown at this time)
  
• Royal Talens produces Van Gogh H2Oil
• Winsor & Newton produces Artisan

You might be thinking, "Jeff, are these professional artist paints?" I searched literature and here's what their sites or representatives say:

• Grumbacher refers to MAX as their "professional line of water miscible oil colors." (Note: MAX2, which has been discontinued, was their student-grade.")
  
• Similarly, Holbein speaks of their Duo Aqua brand as "an artist quality pigment in water-soluble linseed oil."
  
• LUKAS' Berlin brand is listed as "professional quality."
  
• Winsor & Newton's Artisan brand is a curious case. Their well-designed website doesn't specifically list the paints as professional-grade; however, when I emailed W&N's customer service I received the following email back from them (bolding mine, for emphasis):
  
  Thank you for your enquiry. Artisan currently does not quite match our
  Artists' Oil Colour range in terms of size of range and pigment loading (in
  certain cases). However, in terms of permanence and colours included in the
  range it definitely meets the stringent requirements of professional
  artists. For example, it contains "genuine" cadmium colours, cerulean blue
  and cobalt blue.
  
  The Artisan range is for professional artists and is used successfully by a
  large number of professional artists worldwide.
  
  
• Van Gogh H2Oil paints are not listed anywhere (either manufacturer or retail sites) as being professional.
  

As Wikipedia conventiently points out, "The Royal Talens and Holbein paints do not use the traditional pigments that are based on cadmium and other heavy metals, which further reduces the toxicity risks of working with them."

Well, that concludes the discussion for now. I encourage you to check out the manufacturer websites. There's a wealth of information out there on these paints. I've linked to the retailers selling some of the paints. I believe all of them offer starter sets if you'd like to experiment which I'd encourage you to do.

Up next, I'll specifically address the feel of those paint brands I've worked with and what my results were when using them. If you've worked with water soluble oil paints, please let me know about your experience and what brand you used. I would love to hear from you!

Using Water Soluble Oil Paints

I have to take pictures of my last couple of paintings from my a la prima oil painting class at Fleisher Art Memorial and instead of allowing the time to pass without comment, I decided to introduce the first in a series of posts about my experiences with water soluble oil paints.

I've been using water soluble oil paints for about a year. I transitioned from regular oil paints early on in college and took up with alkyd oil paints because I wanted faster drying times. I learned about water soluble oil paints before I used them. I purchased Painting with Water-Soluble Oils by Sean Dye after wanting to get back into painting but realizing that I had no true (or, more to the point, safe) studio space so I needed to consider something that wouldn't ruin our carpets.

To start things off, let me begin this intermittent series of posts with my brief review listed on Amazon.com of the book which I'll go into more in-depth later:

I have owned this book for quite some time and just recently re-read it. It does a fine job providing an overview of water soluble oils (WSO) and how they differ from regular oils. The write-ups for each include a listing of paints offered by each manufacturer and their light-fastness (i.e., longevity after sustained exposure to light). The information covered is more than enough to help you select one of them to begin painting.

I've used them in the past and am now taking a class where I'm using them and others are using traditional oils. I have to say that cleaning up with soap and water is awesome. I use the Artisan brand and have a couple of the MAX brand too. I'm going to try the other brands to see how they handle.

The write-ups by artists about WSOs, their comparison/contrast with traditional oils and the demonstration "lessons" provide for light reading. The pictures throughout give you a fine overview of what other artists do/did with these paints.

Having said all of this, though, I have to note that this isn't a strict how-to book. You'll need to look elsewhere for that. One person recommended the "Water Soluble Oils" section of a book called "The Oil Painting Book" by Bill Creevy. Another is "No Experience Required! - Water-Soluble Oils" by Mary Deutschman. From the reviews this last book sounds it is more about hands-on technique.

Overall, I'd say buy this book to help you get a sense about this medium.

Some of my thoughts have changed since writing this review in June 2008. I'll cover these thoughts and more beginning with my next post about water soluble oil paints.

Please feel free to share your own experiences about this medium.

Autumn colds, a missed class and stupid tv

Sadly, my family's corporate illness caught up with me. It hit me on Monday afternoon so I was quite tired and simply chose not to go to my class that night at Fleisher Art Memorial. As such, I don't have a new painting to post this week, but tomorrow night's class will find me painting away.

I'm hoping that my week off won't affect my ability to cover the canvas like I did the previous week. I'm expecting that it'll be a bit of a challenge just from having the week off.

This past week flew by and it brought some resolution to my cold, but completely. Last night, however, my wife and I planned on going out with friends to The Melting Pot. My wife and I had eaten there before, but this was the first time our friends had been there. We got through out salads and our cheese course when suddenly the lights went out. Long story short, we stayed there for an hour before they decided they were going to close down the place. I ended up sending them an email indicating out disappointment and displeasure with the fact that:

• We planned on our evening but the company never planned on a contingency plan for when their power goes out which apparently had happened a few times last year.
• They offered us complimentary alcoholic drinks, but since we don't drink that was meaningless for us. They didn't offer anything else as a consolation after I mentioned we weren't drinkers.
• They charged us full price for our meal when it wasn't our fault that our evening was incomplete and ruined.
• They gave us bogus parking validation. We still ended up paying full price for parking.

All of the area Melting Pots were booked so we couldn't simply find another one to finish our evening out. We ended up coming back to our house and playing cards after stopping to get ice cream and some other snacks. We also watched Yeti on the Sci-Fi Channel.

All I have to say is that you know it's bad when you're hoping the cast gets eaten!

Why did we watch the whole thing? Well, it was horrendously stupid while ALSO being incredibly funny. It's funny, that is, if you like leap-frogging abominable snow monsters who can get burned, shot and impaled but never seem to die until they're thrown off a cliff. But, there, I don't want to give TOO much away in case you plan on watching it.

Let me just leave you with this additional tidbit ... one of the main characters gets both his legs broken, uses one of his dead friend's forearms as a splint, walks through knee-high snow drifts and then, later, tumbles down a hill while trying to escape the yeti only to have another friend shoot him in the eye with a flare gun after arriving back at camp. BUT, he turns out NOT to be dead -- which you don't find out until the end of the movie when he crawls disoriented from the hold of the aircraft that had been pushed off of a CLIFF by a yeti.

Fortunately, though, we need not fear that that guy's character will further pollute the gene pool because the hand of one of the yetis that had been IMPALED by stakes and covered by tons of snow from an avalanche thrusts his three-digit hand through the snow ominously ending this horrendously stupid horror movie. (Hey, I got to use my description again!)

So I guess one can't complain about spending time with your spouse and good friends even if that means an insipid movie sucks you in and leaves you laughing as its foolishness, right?

Vases with gourds, a la prima painting

As you can see from this most recent painting from my Monday night still life class at Fleisher, I'm still struggling with speed and economy in the a la prima approach to oil painting. I think I'm making progress, though.

I feel much more confident in handling large compositions such as this. My previous efforts usually would have me focusing on a section of a larger composition. Opening myself up to seeing in new ways and experiencing this new way of recording what I see have already positively affected me. I'm excited about that. I wish I had the opportunity to paint between my Monday sessions. I'll have to speak to the wifey about making the time for that to happen (either inside or outside). Or, I'll have to do something about it at night.

Regardless, I hope within the next four classes, I'll have things more clearly worked out regarding the speed at which I work. Of course, increasing the speed at which I work must coincide with a growing economy of my technique. If I can't combine speed with economy then, without doubt, I'll become increasingly frustrated (though I won't be giving up any time soon.)

But, who knows, this growth may simply take more time. That's not my plan, but you've heard of the best laid plans of mice and men, right?

A la Prima, the joys and frustrations

I had class again tonight at Fleisher. Overall, it went well. I'll post the painting in another day or so (I need time to take a good pic of it).

One of the great frustrations for me is that I'm not working fast enough. In an effort to challenge myself, I've been choosing to paint the ENTIRE still life. That means I'm not finishing things up before the end of class (thus, my last painting isn't complete).

One of the great joys for me is that I'm enjoying this new style of working (a la prima). Overall, I'm finding it challenging but also very rewarding. I've got a lot of issues to work through as I push to embrace a la prima painting but I'm confident that I'll get there. Actually, I'm quite excited to get there!

So, tomorrow or Wednesday, I'll post my painting from tonight. I look forward to your comments.

Better experience this time around

I came home from my second class at Fleisher last night and I have to say that tonight's class was SO much better an experience for me than last week's session. Giovanni came over and spoke to me almost immediately after class began. I'm sure he realized that I wasn't happy last week.

He encouraged me to not look at the act of painting as a rote script to follow; technique being a stale end in itself. He also spoke quite passionately about "feeling" what you paint and loving the experience of painting.

The act of learning to see is critical to my way of thinking. It's the foundation of what I'm trying to accomplish with my students at school. That's the reason I took this class at Fleisher in the first place. I want practice in capturing what I see in the moment of seeing it. I'm excited about next week's class. Let's hope I can reinforce what I took away from last night's class.

My last painting for my class

Last night I completed my final painting in my seven-week summer Still Life Painting class at Fleisher. I started out on a different subject than what I ended up with. Frankly, I was not feeling very engaged when I first got there. I think it had a lot to do with the fact it was my last class (i.e., disappointment) AND we were doing a one-session painting (i.e., anxiety).

I had not done a one-session painting in many, many years so I was nervous how I was going to begin. Now, what artists did as a preliminary sketches to determine value and work out compositional problems are hot items on the Internet. On Google or ebay, all you have to do is type in "postcard paintings" or "painting a day" and you'll get overloaded with results of varying degrees of quality.

So, the final product is unfinished. I plan on returning to it this week to finish it up. The issues I want to tackle are the background and, in the process, refine the shape of the bowl. I think I can also go in and take care of the thickness of the tallest stem. Once I define the foreground and background and add some cast shadows the piece will be stronger (and I'll be happier with it). Overall, it's not horrid or even half bad considering where I am with my skills.

Thoughts anyone?

Water-soluble oil paints

Someone in my class noticed me cleaning out my brushes with water the other week. She had never heard of water-soluble oil paints which is the type of oil paints I use.

When I went to Rutgers University, I had used both regular and alkyd oils. Even while in school I had occasional bouts of outbreaks of small blisters that would itch; almost like a fungus. I tried gloves but that only made my hands more itchy. I thought I'd have to give up painting forever.

It wasn't until much later that I first heard about water-soluble oil paints. What a surprise it was! Here was a medium that I could reintroduce into my life. I found a book on Amazon called Painting with Water-Soluble Oils by Sean Dye. I really enjoyed this book. It had plenty of examples and feedback from other artists. I'd recommend it. You'll have to purchase it from resellers via Amazon since it's no longer carried by Amazon.

I'll provide some additional thoughts in another post.

2nd painting from still life class

After three weeks (9 hours of class time), we got another still life set up. I overworked the pitcher, but overall this painting has a more consistent rendering across the piece than my first painting for this class. I'm not happy with the shadow behind the pitcher either. The lights moved so this shadow wasn't the same as when I first blocked it in. It's not a show-stopper but I notice it more than I'd like to.

Since this summer class only has seven classes, our last painting will be al a prima. That should be interesting! Perhaps it will help me loosen up even more. I seem to run into the issue of being somewhat painterly in some areas and tighter in others. It's something I'm hoping to work on as I try some pieces at home on my own. I may try to do compositions of one or two pieces. We'll see.

1st painting from my still life class

As I indicated in my previous post, I have been taking Still Life Painting at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. David Berger is my instructor and it's been highly enjoyable and beneficial to me as well. David is a great instructor; honest, informative, attentive.

This was the first still life we worked on. It was part of a larger grouping each member of the class was responsible for isolating elements for their composition (without moving them, obviously). 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it since this is the first painting I've done in about four years. The background object ends up looking more like a tree and less like a vase, primarily because of the palm tree-like shadow. I should have scaled it down or changed the orientation so you could see the flowers in it. I suppose I also could have made the shadow look like a flower, too.

I also found myself loosening up the more I got into the painting. As such, the bowl is tighter than many of the other components. I'm also not that happy with the lime though it was as dark as that. It dominates a bit too much in my mind. 

But, I'm still happy with it. After all, if you're not willing to make mistakes then you're not going to make improvements.