Another good site

I was just reminded of another good resource.  http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Hagan/menu.htm

This site gives a good overview and some good lessons on oil painting.

I find the forum connected to this site very confusing, so I would recommend caution when looking for advice in the discussion forums.




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Panel or Canvas, Stretched or Rigid

Up to this point, I have been painting on about anything I could find that was inexpensive. Since I haven't tried to sell my paintings, I'm ok with this. However it is time to switch to materials and techniques that will withstand the test of time.

The primary issue; will your painting crack over time? There are other issues such as yellowing and fading which can be addressed by the proper choice of materials which I will cover in another post.

So here is my take on the best practice.

The support should be stable and not flex since the paint film will become brittle over time. This means that if painting on canvas, the canvas should be glued to a stable support such as masonite, metal or plywood. If not, the canvas will flex with changes in temperature and humidity. Most of the rules of "fat over lean", "thick over thin" and "slow over fast" are all about not putting a brittle layer over a more flexible layer because when the flexible layer flexes, the brittle layer cracks. Remove the flex and most of these concerns are minimized.

Since I prefer a smooth surface, I will be painting on the panel without canvas. Here are my choices:

I am going to cut my panels out of Joubert Okoume mahogany plywood. Joubert is a french company and makes the finest quality of marine plywood that can be found. It is available just about anywhere boats are built. I will use the 5 ply, 6mm. I can get twelve 16 x 20 inch panels or twenty four 11 x 14 inch panels out of a sheet. This makes the cost very reasonable for a high quality substrate. Plywood is dimensionally stable and this plywood is free of voids and light weight. Why not hardboard? Simple, it is difficult to know what you are getting, are there chemicals in the wood process? At these sizes. I shouldn't have to worry about supporting (bracketing) the panels to prevent warping as long as I seal all sizes of the panel.

I will size the plywood using a ph neutral PVA size (seal the surface of the plywood). Hide glue has been used in the past, but it can absorb water over time and is messy. Gamblin makes a PVA size. Elmers glue is not ph neutral but can be made neutral with the addition of calcium carbonate. Four coats with light sanding with fine sandpaper between coats. Still want some tooth for the next layer.

The next layer sets the foundation you are going to paint on. Classically it is gesso made of hide glue and chalk (calcium carbonate). Today's acrylic "gesso" is better since hide glue does absorb moisture. I'm going to experiment with using lead white with some calcium carbonate included to both act as a extender and to neutralize the acidity of this layer. Why skip the acrylic gesso? For one thing, the bond between it and the oil paint is purely a mechanical bond. The combination of acrylic gesso and zinc white is known to cause lamination problems. Zinc white is very brittle and many painters avoid it because of this issue (me too). I prefer to avoid it and any issue with the bond between the acrylic and oil paints. I will add enough calcium carbonate to bring the ph of the lead white close to neutral, possibly slightly alkline. This should also give a nice smooth surface to paint on. I may tint this layer.  (I might try Winsor & Newton Oil/Alkyd Primer)



This painting was my very first.  It is called Tulip Abstract

Hints on Web Surfing

This may be a silly post, but after many many hours reading everything I could find on the web and coming away more confused than I started, I developed the following rules to sort out the information given.

1) Look at the art that is produced by the artist giving the advice. For starters, is it of excellent quality? Is it a similar style you are trying to achieve?
2) Look at what the artist is saying in this and other postings. Look elsewhere if:
a) advice screams of opinion stated as fact i.e. "don't use black" or the classic "this is the way the masters did it" (nobody really knows)
b) argument for argument sake. i.e. "rgb versus cmyk"
c) advice without giving an explanation so you can understand the underlying reasons.
3) Look for real professionals, people that are concerned about quality of art and concerned about the profession. Look at the organizations they belong to.

A good example of quality information are the posts by Virgil Elliott and Thomas Jefferson Kitts on Yahoo groups cowdisley. See Thomas Kitts blog at http://www.thomaskitts.blogspot.com/

Off to Catalina in the morning.

Larry

Books that you will use

In this post I am going to list the books that I have learned from that you may want to get and read. All of these books are ones that I will keep in my library and have already gone back to many times. In following posts, I will give a short review of each book. The list is in no particular order.

"The Complete Oil Painter" Brian Gorst : A book that gives you a page or two on most topics relating to oil painting. Great for the real beginner.

"Problem Solving for Oil Painters" Gregg Kreutz : Lots of examples covering topics that can improve your painting.

"Art in the Making REMBRANDT" David Bomford, Jo Kirby, Ashok Roy, Axel Roger, Raymond White: Discussions of Rembrandt's paintings from knowledgeable sources.

"How to Paint Like the Old Masters" Joesph Sheppard: Whether accurate or not, a good demonstration of various approaches in layering a painting.

"Classical Painting Atellier" Juliette Aristides: Describes one viewpoint in developing artistic skills, good suggestions on exercises... (I'd skip the section on composition)

"Creative Color", Faber Birren: A treatment of color perception which can aid you in getting the effect you are looking for.

"Traditional Oil Painting" Virgil Elliott: Well informed book covering a lot of topics including in depth information on materials A must read.

Larry

Starting Out

So why this blog? To tell my story and summarize what I've learned and am learning in becoming an artist.

For the past year, I have been learning to oil paint. I've never painted before, well a few paint by numbers when I was a kid and many many walls in my homes over the years. So I set out and took a community class in oil painting. It got me started, but that was about it.

There is so much information on the web about painting, most of it is either useless, highly opinionate or full of hype trying to sell you the best "how to" video, book, or art class. I know, I bought a lot of them. There is also a lot of good information, but how is a beginner going to sort it all out?

So here is what I make out of all of the "noise" on the web. I'll list in upcoming post, the books and other sources I have found useful. I'll also summarize the lessons I taken away from them so you can decide on whether you think they are worth buying.

Here is my latest painting.

Please feel free to comment and add value to this blog.