Teacher Tips from The Joy of Art Studio

Doing a commission

2012-01-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

When I first start a commission, I use a plastic portfolio such
as the red one you see here. I put the person's name on it
written on a piece of tape (I haven't done it here!). Then I place
every bit of data and photos and sketches in it as I work on the
piece. That way the bits and pieces do not get lost and I can
immediately locate what I need to do the work, as well as to go
over things with the client as the work proceeds.

I own several of these portfolios. As soon as the work is done,
I remove the tape and put the things that were in it in a file folder
should I ever need to refer to it in the future.

Plans for the New Year!

2012-01-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Do you feel like this in regard to making plans, yet again?
The New Year being a reason to revisit what you are doing?
I say fie on it all, just continue what you were doing and do more
of it and better!

Happy New Year! (Get up Lucy, I'm trying to write here...)

Look Up!

2011-12-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

Just a Christmas related tip to all of you artists!
You never know where there will be something interesting
to paint or draw!
So look up as well as around you and
SEE what is there!
Merry Christmas and here is to a New Year
of wonderful creating!

Schedules for artists - HA!

2011-11-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

OK, so people who work for a living start at some time on the clock and quit at some time on that same clock. How little that has to do with my life as an artist.

I used to feel embarrassed when people asked me if I painted every day. Now I just say no and I've figured out how I work.....in mad spurts! I get some things going and suddenly I can't do anything BUT work on them, paint them. I think about them when I'm cooking dinner, about to go to sleep, daydreaming out the window at my computer desk. But they consume me until they are finished. Then I don't have anything to do that remotely resembles a painting schedule.

There is a point where suddenly it grabs me that I haven't been creating new work for a while (a few weeks? a month?) and I get itching to start the next work. And I do.

Just don't talk to me about a painting schedule. I don't have one, never did.

Get more than your feet wet!

2011-11-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

To what main characteristic do I attribute success? The persistence factor. That is, NEVER give up.

This leads me to consider that when we really step into an area with both feet and live in that realm, possibilities and ideas just are not hard to come up with because we immerse ourselves in what we have chosen to do. It is, to me, one of the key ingredients of creativity. You can't just skim across, you have to get in and swim! (I'm hopelessly addicted to analogies as you see!).

Good composition

2011-09-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here you can see the elements of a good compositional set-up. It was done by one of my students before she started her painting. There is good variety of the major things one needs to be aware of. Good tone or value variety, good differences in shapes and sizes and good colors as well! There is also a good arrangement of these shapes such as the lighter bowl against the dark rooster. If the bowl were against the background, it wouldn't show up so well since it is close in tone to the background.

Always be on the lookout

2011-08-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

I took these photos when I was in my local mega-sized hardware store. I carry my camera with me at all times because I never know when such an opportunity may come up for a painting idea. These were so beautiful! Don't know if I'll ever paint them, but you get the idea. Stay on the lookout! Noticing possible subjects for a painting is your stock in trade!

Keep Sketching!

2011-07-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

I admit that I don't sketch as often as I think it would do me good.

I tell all my students to do it to sharpen their perception of visual shapes and compositions.

I was going through my sketch books yesterday and found this one.

My excuse for not sketching more is that I draw a lot in the studio warming up to do new paintings.

I'm hoping that counts!

But one can always be better at noticing things and then doing a fine job of rendering them.

I show sketches to my students that have been made by the masters. Cezanne is one of them.

His sketches are scribbly and messy.

But look where they led him....to his masterpieces.

When there is a ridge line you don't want

2011-05-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here you see three images of parts of a recent painting of mine.

There were some areas I needed to change and when I painted

over what I didn't want, you could see the leftover part underneath

as a ridge line. It caught the light and so you could see it. It's

sort of like having your underwear stick out from your clothing

when you don't want it to show!

The first photo here is where I have taken #220 sandpaper

and knocked back the ridge so it wouldn't show. You can see

the old line underneath the other paint now, but it no longer is

a ridge of dried paint.

The second photo is a longer shot of the same area. It was

a tall wine cabinet and I had it too tall!

The third photo here is showing the ridge line next to a woman's

shoulder in the same painting.

Go to my blog at http://joyofartforever.blogspot.com and you can

see the whole painting which is nearly complete now!

Tone and color drill

2011-04-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

What is this?

On the right is a tone chart done by one of my students.

The black cloth is velvet and that's about as dark a tone as something can get!

To the left and right of it you see parts of a fabric chart I made. It has various colored rectangles that the student has to identify regarding their tones.

What is tone?

How light or dark something is.

Is the tone of something the same thing its color?

No.

These are drills I do with my students to learn the difference between the two.

That red on the left is pretty dark in tone, but it is not the # 10 on the top of the chart.

This is seen by comparing the black velvet right next to it.

When figuring out the tones of things, you can't do it in a vacuum.

You have to relate one to the other and then come up with what they are.

What haven't you been using lately?

2011-03-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

Like many of you, I have worked in a number of mediums.

Among them are oil, pastel, water color, charcoal, ink and so on.

I have made jewelry using a variety of materials such as silver, copper, polymer clay and stained glass.

I have done print making doing etchings as well as woodcuts.

I have painted huge wall murals.

Who knows what else I may have done and left out here!

But I have found myself doing a lot of my work in oil over the past few years

and so here you see my water color palette and a few of my many

brushes looking abandoned.

They were until recently when one of my students asked me to teach them

watercolor basics.

Hmmmm, now they are looking very interesting again!

So keep your creative juices flowing by not working only in one medium.

Most of the great masters did this.

I have been reading about Matisse recently and he is a remarkable example of applying

his creative self to many media, even colored paper.

Let me know what you think of this in your own experience!

Painting from Photographs

2011-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last many weeks putting together a series of lessons about what a person has to know in order to successfully make paintings from photographs. A few words here and there to my students about this didn't really get all the points across.

Maybe I'll have to post some of the information here.

Let me know if you are interested!

Paint Small!

2011-02-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

These paintings are all 5" x 7". If you have never

tried painting in a small format I suggest that you

try doing it. You can see from the variety of

subject matter that you can do simple or

complex with these little pieces. You can also

explore subject matter as well as styles of painting

(abstract, realism, impressionistic, etc.) and not

have it take a long time. Thus you can learn rather

quickly some new painting paths you might like

to explore.

Such panels can be purchased, but you can also

make your own. I buy a large sheet of masonite

and have a friend cut it up for me. Then I prime

them with gesso layers, sanding between each one.

Two layers seems to work fine.

Have fun!

Sharing student work

2011-01-15T14:38:00.000-08:00

A few posts ago you would have seen the lacy part of this

napkin. Now you can see how well the student painted it

here!

It is very important to be able to show the subtle variety

of tone changes in order to fully render form on a two-

dimensional surface. That is what this student has done by

careful examination of each change of plane and the

appropriate tone for that part of the fabric.

Using a ruler is sometimes OK

2011-01-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

The first photo is of the canvas on which I am doing the

preliminary drawing. In the lower corner you can see the

image I am working from.

I use a ruler when I need to really get long perspective lines

right, or else I can be in a situation after applying paint where

I have to make a lot more adjustments. Moving paint around

is messy! So get it right at the very beginning.

HOWEVER, I do not use a ruler once I am painting. I follow

the drawn lines carefully with my brush, but because I am

not using a ruler, there is life to those lines. They don't look

mechanical.

In the second photograph, you can see the image I am using.

I took the photo and had it blown up into a color copy that was

large enough for me to see what I needed to see! Then I

decided the composition needed some changes and so I added

pieces of paper around two edges to add to the image. You can

see the scribbled part that looks like a border.

After doing the above, I made a grid on the painting that is

proportionate to the canvas and started drawing!

Keep some of your own art

2010-12-31T11:36:00.000-08:00

After some years of painting, I realized there were pieces I had done that I should keep.

So do the same yourself.

Build a collection of pieces that you keep for yourself.

The basis for your decision will be your own personal 'take' on it.

That is as it should be.

Some of your children should live at home.......

And then you can let the majority of them go out into the world!

Organizing your paint colors

2010-12-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

As time passes, you will most likely have more and more paint

colors. This is how I easily find them. I have taken various

containers and labeled them with their basic color names.

(These are all oil paints.)

You will also see that I have a small set of colors which I have

left in the box below these containers. In a few cases, I

decided to keep the same brand of paint together.

These are suggestions that might make it easier for you to

find your colors more quickly, if you have quite a lot of it.

But the other thing it does is that you can easily see when

you are low on colors and can restock before you run out!

Prevent Liquin from drying up

2010-12-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

I went through a lot of bottles of Liquin

before I figured this out. They would dry

out and I would have to throw them away

without getting my money's worth.

So now I turn the larger bottle upside

down and then there is no air there

to dry out this very useful medium! The

smaller jar that you see is where I put a

small amount to work from. If you look

carefully, you will see that the glass part of

that little jar is lighter in color than the big

bottle. That is stuff that is all dried up

on the sides of the jar. I just pour about

a half inch of Liquin in that jar and with

all these clever tricks, I now get my money's

worth!

I hope you find this helpful.

Make closeups

2010-11-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

This is a helping tool for when you are painting something that

has a lot of detail that you may not be seeing too clearly, even

though it is right there in front of you. Take a photograph,

a close-up of the detail and study that.

I did this recently for a student who was having trouble seeing

the way the lines of the pattern curved around. With the

photograph that you see above, it became much easier to see

what was actually happening. And she drew it correctly!

Have company in your studio

2010-11-26T08:06:00.000-08:00

The possibilities are almost endless as to what could be written upon seeing this photograph.

This is Lucy, studio mascot.

She is sunbathing, or at least being in the spotlight at which she is very accomplished.

Having a cat in one's studio while doing one's solitary work is really great.

She is a very social gal and keeps me company, as well as my students.

And she knows she is the star!

Teeny tiny brush is very useful

2010-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

First you see the dry brush and how few hairs it has!

Next you see its size next to a Sharpie pen.

Then you see it on my palette and that is what I'm going to

tell you about.

To properly use this brush, you have to spread out a smear

of slightly thinned paint (the longest smear on my palette

in this photo). Flatten the smear with your palette knife so

that it is easy to pick up on the brush. Then hold the brush

so that it is practically parallel with the palette surface and

twirl it so as to get it all evenly covered with paint.

I use this brush for jobs such as painting whiskers on my

cat paintings!

Try it out without committing!

2010-08-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

The top image is the original painting (acrylic).

It is the work of a student of mine.

If you are nearing the end of a painting and need

to try out additional elements then here is a way

to do it without putting on paint that you may have

to take off and also wreck affects that are underneath

that you like and want to preserve.

Take colored paper and cut out shapes and lay them

on the painting til you like what you have. I have

done this in two arrangements. Of course I could

have cut different shapes in different sizes, but I

think this communicates the general idea.

Nothing is too small!

2010-08-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

This sweet statue is actually only two inches tall.

A student brought it to class so I could see it after

she had done a drawing of it.

But it was so small, it was hard to see the details.

So I told her to take a photograph of it and enlarge

it so she could see the details well enough to draw

it.

I took this photo with my studio camera to show

her what a difference it makes to really see all the

details! I put it on a plain background that enhanced

the figurine and then lit it with my desk lamp to

create what you see here!

Composition tip

2010-07-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

When you are arranging a still life, sometimes

there is an area in the background that is a big

blah! Lighting the set up so you can now have an

interesting shadow break up the blah space is

a simple thing to do to make it more interesing.

This is a set up arranged by one of my painting

students who has just started painting after

completing her drawing courses (line and tone

drawing).

Distance from work surface

2010-06-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that students can be back too far from

their drawing or painting surface. Then your arm tires

quickly and that is not good if you want to be working

for an hour or two. This distance in the photo shows

the art bent, not straight out. This is good!

Also, be sure your work surface is perpendicular to

your line of vision. If you have it slanted back away

from you too much, you will not draw things in

proportion.

Cezanne made it OK

2010-05-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

Years ago I bought all fresh fruit and veggies for my still

life paintings, and for my classes. But then I read

that Cezanne used artificial fruit in his work and that

was over a hundred years ago, so I decided to start using

the fake stuff. Over the years, I have found some pretty

remarkable fakes, like this onion.

You couldn't tell, right? You'd try to cut it up for soup,

right? Well even having it right in front of you, you would

be fooled.

If you keep your eyes open you can find some great fakes.

Florist supply places have really good ones.

But I told you that in an earlier post!

Texture close up

2010-05-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

It is notoriously difficult to photograph textured surfaces in paintings.

Take Van Gogh's work for example. You see his paintings in art books for years and then you see it on the wall in a museum and are astounded at the thick textured surfaces he

created.

Here I have tried to show the texture up close of the log from my previous post.

I did the texturing twice, letting the first layer dry.

In this close up, you will see that I put the second layer on with out using any paint in it, just applied the Aquapasto with a palette knife.

A way to get texture

2010-05-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

This is not intended to be a painting! I did it as a sample of how you can achieve texture with a product called Aquapasto which is a thick version of Liquin. This product used to be called Oleopasto, but maybe Winsor and Newton changed it because it sounds like a food item!

I have put the Aquapasto on my palette and mixed paint into it. It is only on the right side of the log. When you see it up close, the texture adds a lot to the effect of rough bark.

Like Liquin, it dries quickly....overnight.

Here I have painted the first layer of texture with a dark brown.

On an upcoming post you will see that I brush lighter color over the ridges of the paint and then the dark shows behind.

If you click on the photo you can see it enlarged.

This painting example is 11 x 14 and is done with oil paint.

Rogue's Gallery!

2010-04-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

When one is learning to draw, cups and boxes and such things

of simple shapes are good items with which to start. But

then one needs to have more challenge with interesting shapes.

I have found that stuffed animals serve this purpose well.

They come in very simple shapes, but then some have limbs

that are jointed, or long flexible limbs that give posing variety

to them. The yellow bear in the middle of this photograph

was a lucky find in a supermarket! He can take all manner of

positions and presents a good challenge for drawing a shape

that breaks the bonds of symmetry! Also, his modeling rates

are very reasonable!

Props for your paintings!

2010-04-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

This is a large basket of artificial fruit and

vegetables that I have collected over quite

some time. One year a student gave me a

gift of several pieces that were really well

done. You can see the lemon and orange at

the front (or bottom) of this basket from the

collection he gave me. Some artificial fruits

or veggies are really poorly done, but even

they have their uses -especially for me when

I am teaching basic drawing. But I always

keep my eye out for well done fakes! The

best ones I ever got were from Williamsburg,

Va. They have an enormous place just outside

of town (williamsburgpottery.com) and I found

these things in the flower section. I'll have to

photograph them for you to see. The onions

were especially fantastic!

So keep on the lookout for such things for your

own work. I used to only use real fruit and

veggies for my paintings. Then I read that

Cezanne used fake fruit and so I quit buying

these things!

Composing from your photos

2010-04-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

When I see a scene that I would like to paint, I take a long shot of it, then close up shots.

The reason? Because when you photograph a long shot, there are things that are not clearly visible in the photo.

Therefore, taking closer shots of the same subject gives you more visual information.

This was a series of shots from last week when I was down viewing the

glorious cherry blossoms in

Washington, D.C.

There were families and couples everywhere, but these two were in a setting that

worked for my painting purposes!

Testing the colors for a specific palette

2010-02-26T21:08:00.000-08:00

Some time ago, I purchased these small

canvas boards. I bought so many of them

they turned out to be 35 cents apiece!

They were going to be for my 4 x 6 inch

daily paintings. But they were not smooth

enough, and even lumpy in places.

So they took on a new life and I have used

them to demonstrate various techniques to

my students.

This is a really good use for them. When

you are going to use a color palette that

you are not familiar with, make a sample

on a small board like this and keep it for

reference as you paint. Mix white with each of

the three primaries to see how they look going

lighter and lighter. Then mix the secondary

colors under them. The last thing to do is

mix the grey these primaries will make, and

add a little white. And then mix the same

primaries to get your brown, also adding a

bit of white.

Why is this important? Well some primary

colors that you might use will not mix the

secondary colors you may be used to getting.

In the above example, because the primary

yellow is lemon yellow, it's paleness will not

get you a powerful green or orange. Having

made such a sample, you won't be in for

a surprise!

When a painting is almost done.....

2010-01-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a way to try out a change to a painting that is nearing completion.

In the first photo you see the painting.

I am thinking that perhaps this painting needs another branch, but where to place it?

In the second photos you see a piece of colored paper with tape on it, and in the last two photos you see two different placements that I tried out.

Now why would I do this? Well sometimes you have a painting that has so much work in it that if you place a new element in it with paint and don't like it, you have to do quite a bit of work to take it out AND repaint what is behind.

This example is just that - an example.

I would not use a color so different from the painting, but I wanted you to clearly see what to do so I used a very different color. If I were really doing this for myself, I would use a piece of brown paper and I could tell much better how the placement would look.

This is something I developed on my own and when needed, it has been very effective.

I hope it helps you too!

Fan Brushes

2010-01-07T06:18:00.001-08:00

When one is in the art store staring at rows and rows of brushes, it can be overwhelming. I know a lot about brushes, but I too will often just buy new ones to try them out and expand my tools.

Fan brushes always attract the eye when brush shopping because they are so different than most other brushes (I did see a 'brush' made of a bird's wing once in an art store in Santa Fe).
They come in various sizes, but they also are made of different bristle materials and that is what I want to tell you about.

First you can get a fan brush in hog's hair bristles. The bristles are stiff and are good for dragging wet paint that you have applied to get certain effects. I have used this brush to pull paint over the "edge" of a painted cloth and it helps to show the change of direction of the cloth falling over the painted edge. Sometimes I just pull the applied paint while it is still wet and sometimes I use a slightly different color and put it on top of the color already applied.

Secondly you can get fan brushes made of very soft acrylic bristles. These are not good for the job I mentioned in the above paragraph. They are for blending paint in the most delicate way.

I would suggest you try out these things on a sample board or canvas paper til you get the hang of it.

Also, if you pick paint up off your palette on your fan brush, don't pick up big clumps of paint. You made need to thin the paint down a bit with linseed oil (or whatever medium you are using) so that the paint will flow off the brush easily. You will have to reload the brush often, sometimes with every stroke. Notice that a fan brush is thin and is not made to hold a lot of paint, therefore you have to reload often.

You can use part of the fan brush, the side edges. You don't have to use the whole thing. Sometimes you need to use one of these but the entire fan shape is too much for the job. Just load one side of it and do the job!

Tip: if someone can tell you used a fan brush for effects in your painting that isn't a good thing!
You don't want it to look gimmicky. Keep it subtle.

Compose everything! Happy 2010!

2009-12-31T07:26:00.000-08:00

Most of us are probably not working in our studios

or on our art just now. I trust you are all enjoying

the season of sharing time and love with family

and friends. And perhaps you too have composed

something lovely for them to enjoy, letting the artist

that you are create something wonderful.

I wish you and yours the most delightful and

fulfilling year to come. Compose it beautifully!

2009-11-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

Transferring a drawing to canvas is done by placing the drawing face to the glass of a window (in the daytime!). Then you go over the lines with charcoal, taking care to make the coverage a bit wider than the actual line in the drawing. For complex areas (here it is the hair) just cover it all with charcoal.

Now place the drawing face up on the canvas. Adjust it to fit as you want it placed. Then with a blunt pencil (a sharp one will poke holes through the paper), go over all the lines of your drawing. Do tape it in place so you can lift it occasionally to see if you got it all transferred.

Here you can see the tape holding the drawing in place, and also the blunt-tipped pencil.

In this last photo you see the drawing which is about to be lifted off. Note that the placement of the drawing over top of the canvas is slightly tipped. This is because the student wanted to place it that way. Doing drawing transfers this way gives you that flexibility of placement.

Even though there is no photograph here of the drawing on the canvas, understand that after you have it done, you will need to touch it up with any corrections or adjustments you want to make. Also you may need to make some of the lines darker so they don't disappear under the first thin layer of paint. DO SPRAY IT before you begin painting!

Using a rag while painting

2009-09-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here you see a student of mine painting

with a rag in her hand. It is not a paper

towel, but is a soft cotton absorbent rag.

Good sources for such rags are soft cotton

things such as old t-shirts and nightwear

that has been laundered so often that there

is hardly any lint or fuzz that will come off

on your brushes. Also you don't want

rags that are so thin (like old sheets) that

you get paint all over your hands.

Use of Paper Towels

Basically, I use paper towels for cleaning

my brushes. I don't hold them in my hand

while I am painting the way I hold a rag

in my hand while painting. I have them

on my easel's shelf that is just below the

painting. Or I have a stack of paper towels

set aside and I use them just before I dip

them in the mineral spirits

to wipe off the excess.

Use of rags

But rags are for use while I work on a painting

and am doing things like blending areas of different

colors or tones. What happens is that the brush

will pick up a tone and if you don't wipe the brush

with the rag, the tone (or color) you don't want to

end up in a particular place will end up there!

So just hold a rag in your hand and wipe off the little

bit of paint so you can keep blending without dragging

a color into an area where you don't want it.

I also use a rag for another purpose. When you have

a brush that is a very small size and you have cleaned it in

the thinner, it will have the thinner run down the handle

and not only get your hands yucky (hi-tech word), but

when you go to pick up new paint, it will run down and

dilute what you just picked up. SO! I have a rag on

my easel shelf and always use it to absorb that thinner.

Rags are way more absorbent than paper towels.

How long to use a rag?

First of all, have a good supply of them and when they

get loaded with paint get rid of them. Do not wash them

as it's not worth it. Also, don't keep oily rags around as

it is a safety issue. I put them in the trash in a plastic bag.

Taking photos to paint from

2009-09-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

The main point of this post is to tell you to take lots of photos

of any scene you may want to paint. Take a long shot, take

close up shots, take pictures of what is around the main subject.

You may want to paint something that is essentially a long

shot in a photograph, but if you don't shoot up close, you may

not have enough data.

I didn't post all the photos I took of this wonderful stone

barn, but I hope you get the idea.

The other thing about close up and far away shots is that

sometimes you can't see what is in the shadow areas if you

have a shot with a lot of light colored area like sky. That closes

down your lens (if you are shooting on automatic) and then

the shadow areas will look practically black. If you shoot some

close ups, then the camera lens opens up and allows you to see

what is in those shadow areas.

I hope this helps!

Getting started

2009-08-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

This student work is a great example to show
how to get started with any subject. This is
a challenging one, but the beginning is the
same.

Mix three piles of paint. A middle tone, a dark
tone (not the pure paint out of the tube) and
a light tone (again, not the pure white).

Then put on an overall tone (thin paint, not
thick)that is somewhere between the darkest
and lightest tones you see. You can even use just
a thin coat of raw umber all over with no white
added to it. Take a rag and rub it to look even
all over.

Next put in all the dark areas, then do the light
ones. Keep the shapes VERY simple. You will
do the more complex shapes and blending later
later later!

Most beginning artists go for the details way too
soon!

Signatures

2009-08-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

Signing one's name is a act unto itself! Where to place it for best effect, but not to have it take over the painting!
Does one paint it darker or lighter than the surroundings? Does one block print it or do it in script or find some special symbol? Whistler used a butterfly for his signature and you will often find the old masters have signed their works in an upper corner.

Here's my take on it ~ Sign it where it feels right to you. I don't always sign in the same position, but often use the lower right as in this case. Use a tone that is just somewhat lighter or darker than the surrounding area. As for color, stay in the palette of the piece. You want folks to be able to read your name, but not hit them over the head with it. Sometimes, in very small pieces, I just use only one of my names.

How to do it? Use a very small brush. You may have to rub it out and do it over several times. I did this one about 8 times till I was happy with it!

Great tip for cleaining brushes

2009-08-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

I asked an artist friend I have met via

the internet for help on keeping the

sticky handles of my bristle brushes

clean. (www.carolmarine.blogspot.com)

She generously gave me this fabulous

tip regarding Murphy's oil soap!

I had an ancient bottle of it in my garage

and so put some of it in a small, tall

jar and put in a few brushes AND some

icky palette knives. Voila! Fantastic

results 24 hours later. You can read

the Murphy's label in the gorgeous

clean palette knife.

You'll see the "before" condition of

one I haven't yet cleaned on the right.

I have been painting for many years,

but you can always learn something new.

Also, Carol says she uses it to clean her

brushes on a daily basis. I use Ivory soap

bars...but more on that later.

This was a great help and I thank Carol!

The joy of sketchbooking

2009-08-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

This is a brush and ink sketch out of one of my Mother's

sketchbooks. My Mom did a great deal of sketching

as she was on vacation, or just on a beach outing when

we were young.

I cannot emphasize enough the value of doing this.

It teaches you to SEE!

Putting in order

2009-05-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

Most beginning artists will quickly realize that in

order to work efficiently and effectively, one must

develop a good physical system for one's materials.

Grouping one's colors is an obvious way to work.

Here is a shot of a friend's colored pencils. Paint

tubes can be stored by colors in separate containers

which is what I do. Pastels present a unique challenge

because of their 'dusty' nature. I always have kept

mine in order in the box I have which has something

like 72 colors in it.

The goal is to be able to locate visually what you want

and quickly.

If you have your materials all over the place while working

which I often do, be sure to discipline yourself to put them

all back where they can be easily found for the next time.

Scribbling!

2009-05-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

When you first start a painting, especially one that is

rather large (larger than 12 x 16) it is a good idea to

scribble! Get your tones worked out by just scribbling

in an area to start to give you the idea of how it will

look. Use very thin paint to do this. Don't be all

careful about it, just general areas scribbled in in the

tones and slightly stated color for that area.

Note: This painting will not have much strong color

in it, so the scribbled areas are pretty muted.

More on edges

2009-05-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is a lower area of a recent painting

where arms cross each other. There are

no sharp distinct edges. Sharp edges

draw attention. Here, I am

subduing the edges because this is not

the focal point of the painting. So be

careful where you place hard edges.

Edges

2009-05-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

For me there is an almost instinctive choosing of

what edges I make soft and which ones are painted

with a crisp edge, a sharp demarkation.

Here you see the edges of the arm are soft and the

edges of the fabrics are mostly crisp and sharp. Flesh

is soft and so soft edges make sense in order to convey

this quality. The fabric elements seen here, are rather

flat and are one layer over another, so sharpness of each

edge helps convey that.

Often I will paint an edge 'hard' and then I will use a sable

brush to blend it and soften it up almost imperceptibly.

Sable brushes are mainly for such blending and softening

because the bristles are not stiff and will not move the paint

around much ~ just enough to blend things.

Storing my colors so I can find them!

2009-05-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

There are a number of reasons why I have so much

paint! Of course I purchased a great deal of it myself.

But then I have also inherited some. A friend was

moving and gave me her supply, a neighbor's mother

passed away and she gave me that supply, a former

student's wife gave me his paint supplies after he

died. So now I have somewhere between 100 and

150 tubes of paint!

In order to find what I am looking for, I first did

a color chart which is posted earlier in this blog.

Then I separated the color families and here are

photographs of how they are stored.

It is important not to have too many different

tubes of color on your palette as it is too confusing.

So when I am going to start a new piece, I select what

I want and can find them easily.

I hope you find this helpful!

Warms and cools in the same color

2009-05-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

Each color, as you look around the color wheel,

has a tendency toward warm or cool. Here are

some reds as well as an orange on the left. Cool

reds move toward blue on the wheel. Warm reds

move toward yellow on the wheel. Alizarin crimson

and quinacradone red are cool reds. Cadmium red

light is a warm red. In choosing paint colors for

a painting, look to see if it the colors you choose

are more warm or cool. Sometimes you will need

both. Often you do.

Photographing your set up

2009-04-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

If you have to take down your set-up due to this

or that reason, photograph it from exactly the

same position from which you are painting it.

AND photograph it from above as well. How things

look when only viewed from the front can be

deceiving.

This is the set-up of one of my students. It is

quite the interesting challenge to do a painting

when everything in it is in the same color family.

Well except for the orange marble!

More on Tube Tops

2009-04-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

This is not my original idea, but it sure is a great

one. I got it from an art magazine years ago and

only wish I could acknowledge the clever artist

who shared it.

These are called 'eye hooks'. They are a great

solution for caps that have disappeared. But better

still, they are a great solution for the way the necks

of paint tubes get all loaded with paint and it is

impossible to screw on the caps because the screw

threads are full of dried paint.

You will notice that there are different sized screws.

Different brands of paint have different sized holes.

So experiment by buying several sizes. Even if the

size you have doesn't fill the hole completely, it will

keep a channel open for you to get the paint out

easily.

I have found that I almost never bought a size big

enough when I started doing this years ago.

The artist who wrote about this did this with all

his paint tubes and then hung them from something

he made so he could easily find his paints. I never

did that. Just doing this was a great help.

Paint tube tops

2009-04-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

After an artist has been using tube paints for a while,

the caps can become more difficult to get off. This is

true for all paint mediums that come in tubes, even

watercolor. The two tried and true methods of getting

off stuck caps are plyers and then using a lit match

to soften the hardened paint around the edges of the

cap.

There is still another way to handle this, but that is a

post for another day!

Bottle tops

2009-03-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

When one is doing a still life and there are various

things in it, most of us work to get the shapes and

proportions right. But that is not where it should

end.

After getting all that down in the best way you can,

take care to focus in on the details and really confront

what is there. I have seen many students just sort of

toss on a suggestion a bottle top.

So really confront the contours of it - the perspective

of the cylindrical opening and what part of the back

ring comes around into the curves in the front.

And if the bottle top is below your eye level, as in

this photograph, really get the curves right so it looks

three-dimensional!

Make a personal color chart

2009-03-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

I have so many tubes of oil paint that I finally decided to make the chart you see here.

I got out all my tubes of paint (of course now I have even more!) and laid them out in color groups. I then arranged them in the color order I wanted.

Next I counted them and decided on the size canvas I needed to fit them all in.

This is an 18 x 24 inch canvas and the sections are 2 x 2.

Then I used a small oval shaped painting knife to apply the paint.

There is first the mass tone (the paint straight out of the tube) followed by a middle tone and then a very pale tone of the color. I used Titanium white.

If you have way too many colors to really know what they look like,

do this for reference.

There are about 6 difference brands here, but mostly Winsor and Newton.

I have a key in the lower right hand corner, so do allow for that.

Browns and greys are on a separate canvas.

Painting in one color

2009-03-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

A while ago I decided to set myself a

painting challenge. Paint a set up that

had objects and background of all one

color.

This was the result of that endeavor.

I found that it was more important than

ever to have the tones or values correct.

And then I just couldn't resist little touches

of other colors in adding the marbles.

What do you think?

What to do if you can't leave a set-up up!

2009-03-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

#1 is a front shot of the set-up.

#2 is a shot of the set-up with where the light is.

#3 is an overhead shot of the set-up.

If you can't leave a set-up in place, take these

photos. I do this for my students because they

have to take down their arrangements in between

lessons.

TIPS: Do NOT use a flash. You want to get the

lighting correct in terms of how the set-up

is actually lit.

Put pieces of tape on the floor for each item

(the light, easel and table). You may have to

move them around in between painting sessions.

This way you can mark the positions for easy

re-locating of their original positions. If you need

to, write on the tape which pieces of tape are

for what item!

Do shoot a photo from above so you can see the

distances that things are from each other. It is

difficult to tell when only having made a front

photo shot. When setting up the arrangement

again, lay that photo on the table and make your

things match what you see in the photo!

Remember that these are reference photos, and

are never the same as looking at the real things

with its actual lighting and color. So don't paint

from the photos you took of such a set-up. Paint

from life!

And last of all, know that as carefully as you do this,

the painting gremlins will conspire to have something

not quite as it was, no matter what you do!

Tubes of Paint

2009-03-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

First I have to admit that these are not my paints,

even though I have this many and probably more!

I have amassed quite a large collection and finally

had to do something to help me see what I actually

had so I could use them more effectively. It's a little

like having clothes at the back of your closet that

you never see, and so you never wear them!

I did two things to help me. One is that I made a

big color chart, adding white to each color so I could

really see it's true color. And then I divided each of

6 main color groups up so I could FIND what I was

looking for! (The 3 primaries and the 3 secondary

colors = 6!)

I will speak more on this later. By the way, these

paints belong to one of my students who bought many

of them, if not all, from Ebay for a GREAT price!

Fan Brushes

2009-03-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

Fan brushes have their special uses. You will see from

this photo that there are not only various sizes, but they

are made from different things. The top one is a bristle

brush and because it is stiff (hog bristles are definitely

sturdy and stiff), it will drag more paint. The bottom one

is badger hair and is soft and is great for blending. The one

in the middle is a tiny thing that is just right for small

works. It has synthetic hair and is very soft.

Fan brushes are a sort of novelty when you see them in

the bins at the art store. But what you don't want to see

in your paintings is the tell tale strokes that say 'look,

I used a fan brush!'.

I suggest experimenting with the various types. Get a

stiff bristle one and a soft-haired one. Try out some

things with it. You can get really good effects with just

dabbing the tips, or you can pull paint in a direction that

contributes to making that cloth look as though it is falling

over the table edge.

Brushes - Oil Painting

2009-02-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

Some years ago I attended a master class in portrait painting given by an excellent artist who had painted many famous and wealthy people. She was nearly 80 years old at that time and had been a working artist since her early twenties.

A class member asked her about the oil painting brushes she would recommend to us. At this moment she became very agitated and told us her experience with 'new' brushes. 'I will buy new brushes and then begin to use one and it is just worthless. I get so mad I just break it over my knee and throw it on the floor of my studio.'

I can relate. I own many brushes and there have been some that I love at first use which do not hold up. And I know how to care for them. Many simply do not hold their shape, even with the careful dressing I do with my fingers after cleaning them with non-detergent soap. One artist whose blog I have read will actually clip the brush so that its shape is pressed with stiff paper overnight. That didn't used to be necessary.

What can one do? I have sent disappointing brushes recently purchased back to the manufacturer (a very old and well known company) and they replaced them and also told me that the brushes I returned were, in fact, defective. They also sent me some other goodies I could use in my studio. But they did respond and so if you can take the time, don't break your new brush over your knee, return it. I think it is important to speak up and get the excellence we need to ply our craft!

See the colors of life!

2009-02-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

Most color in the world is really pretty neutral. Lots of

greys and browns. If we took a percentage of how much

color we see that is really pure and bright, it would probably

be quite small.

Every artist is attracted to color. And certainly most people

are. Perhaps that is because it is such a small percentage of

all that is out there. Consider roads, winter landscapes, most

house exteriors, and the sky on an overcast day. These are

just a few examples of vast stretches of space that are not

brightly colored.

So look for the pops of color, but know that when you make a

piece of artwork, the neutral colors are what set off the purity

of a strong spot of red, yellow, blue, etc. If it weren't for the

neutrals, would we notice and appreciate pure color so much?

Palettes for oil painters

2009-02-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

There are basically two choices of location for a palette: one you hold as in this photograph of one of my students at work, or on a taboret or table top. While it is certainly a matter of personal preference, there are reasons for having one that you hold. When an artist is new at his craft, he will tend not to stand back and take a look at what he has got going on the easel. And so when you have a palette in your hand, you are not so tied to the table next to your easel and can move back and forth, painting a bit, then stepping back and taking a look. Long handles on oil painting brushes are also helpful in getting a bit of distance on what you are doing IF you hold it the right way and don't 'choke' the brush up too close to the bristles.

I like using a table next to where I work and as I get older it is more comfortable than using a palette resting on my arm with fingers gripping the hole. But try out both and see what you like.