Study for Greg

Here is the charcoal drawing of Greg.

Update: Wes

I have been working on the face during my last few studio sessions. I am pretty happy with the results. The painting is getting to a stage where a lot of the hard work is done and the fun part is beginning. Adjusting the drawing and getting the colors just right is the main focus of this work.

Here is a close-up of the face.


I need to work on his body and hands next. This past Saturday I worked on his blue cardigan. I worked to get a sense of volume and form, that there was a body underneath fabric.

Some of the feedback I have gotten on this image is that there needs to be more of the stucco in the background, not just at the top of the image. Some pieces should still be stuck to the bricks below. I am going to experiment with this later.

Next step, the hands. Stay tuned.

study for Up Against the Wall painting of Max

Small preparatory drawing for latest Up Against the Wall painting

I started the drawing in pencil and then began to work over the pencil in pen and ink. I have not finished the ink work. This is the pose for the next Up Against the Wall Painting.

Latest work on the Up Against the Wall paintings

I have been working on the background. I want to have the wall behind to look like a block wall that has lost some of its colored stucco. This is based on a wall I saw in New Mexico. The wall had been patched with different colored stucco over the years and what was left was a mottled quilt of red, gray, and white. I am beginning to put the finishing work on the figure. I will have new pictures of the progress soon.

I am starting two new paintings in the series as well. I have a preparatory drawing of one completed and hope to have the model for the second in the studio soon.

New Studio

I moved into a new studio space in February. I have been very busy teaching and taking classes that I haven't spent as much time in it as I would like.

Here are some shots of the new studio.

Reference Image Archive

An Image Bank for Everyday Revolutionary Life

An Image Bank for Everyday Revolutionary Life is a multi-phase project that begins as an online photographic archive, produced and presented by e-flux, and makes publicly available for the first time over five thousand images from the 20th century. The source for this material is the collection of Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, who compiled the photographs over the course of his own extraordinary life.

Household Hazardous Waste: Hennepin County

Hennepin County, Minnesota offers several Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events throughout the year. Here is their web address.

There is also a drop off facility in Bloomington. Click here for more information.

Artist materials may be considered Household Hazardous Waste. I plan to bring my collection of lead based paints and aeresols to the drop off facility soon.

I will let you know how it goes.

More great books

I am reading a few books on the technique of painting (mostly oil painting). One is a collection of essays by a professor of painting. It was originally published in 1934. This book is filled with rich content on the materials and techniques of the masters from preparing grounds. The book is The Materials of the Artist and their Use in Painting by Max Dörner (or Doerner). It is still in print and available from Amazon. There is a Doerner Institute in Munich that continues the authors work, studying and conserving paintings, artist materials and techniques. The institute is at the Neue Pinakothek (new painting museum) in Munich.

The other book I am reading on technique is Sir Charles Eastlake's Methods and Materials of the Great Schools and Masters. Also still in print even though it was originally published in the middle of the 19th century. This is a history of oil painting. I have only read up to the early renaissance but what I have covered so far has been captivating. If you are interested in painting and its history this is a great read.

I am interested in pursuing this research in the hopes that in my own studies I missed a material or technique that will be useful to me. So far I have found that I have a good studio practice. I have discovered a few things that I want to experiment with. I will post more on those later (increasing the amount of oil in final paint layers ala fat over lean, mediums/dilutents, and the use of a reflective material in my light colors to increase luminosity).

It is scary to read about all of the chemicals that were once considered safe to use: barium, strongtium, lead, cadmium, cobalt, arsenic, etc. Many of these are still used today to make artists colors for all media. While I have worked to eliminate my studio of obvious carcinogens and poisons, I still use cadmium and cobalt colors. I plan to post about what to do when you decide to no longer use the toxic or poisonous materials you have purchased.

I will post more about the techniques and materials that I find useful or extra interesting as I come across them.

Hint hint: if you find yourself wondering what sort of gift to give me on an appropriate gift giving occasion either of these books would be wonderful (I borrowed them from MCAD's library).

Great book: Velazquez: the Technique of Genius

By Jonathan Brown and Carmen Garrido

This book is a scientific look at the painting technique of one of history's greatest painters. The text is written in accessible language and is illustrated with color pictures. 15 of the masters works are investigated. The resulting narrative includes information as to what support was used, how it was prepared, and the pigments and carriers used in his paint.

I was fascinated to learn that he mixed ground calcium carbonate into his paints to increase optical luminosity. I have read that Rembrandt added ground glass into his paints to achieve a similar result. I had a teacher in art school who used the glass beads that make highway signs reflective in his paint. This is something I want to experiment with.

I will post further research soon.

Small watercolor

Here is a small water color that I did in March. This is a memorial portrait of my wife's cat, Lena. It is about 5 x 7 inches.

Study Complete

I have finished the study. This is in acrylic and is approximately 8 by 10 inches. I will work from this, drawings, and phot reference to create a large painitng in oils.

Less toxic and environmentally-friendly art supplies

About 6 years ago I realized tht I was suffering some health problems form the use of turpentine and turpentine-based oil painting supplies. I have tried many turpentine replacement systems and found most lacking.

Without sounding too much like an infomercial I want to share a great resource with you, Eco-House. Eco-House makes a solvent system that works with the painting supplies I already use. I don't have to change my materials just the solvent. Eco-House offers their solvent in a variety of strengths. I use the strong solvent to disolve varnish crystals and wax and the extra mild to thin paints and clean brushes. I have used the products for these 6 years without a problem either with my health or with the paint surfaces.

For more information visit Eco-House at:

http://www.eco-house.com/art_supplies.html

Artist Material of the Week: Cobalt Drier

Cobalt Drier is used with oil paints to reduce the time it takes for the surface of the paint film to dry.

Driers are best used with techniques that call for thin applications of paint, as in glazes. If your technique includes a thick impasto then cobalt driers are not for you. There are other driers that will work with thick bodied paint surfaces.

Pros:

• Reduce the handling time.
• Ease of use.

Cons:

• Not to be used in water based paints or varnishes.
• Can cause wrinkling and cracking when used in excess.

How does it work?

Using a paint drier with a drying oil, such as linseed, accelerates the absorption of oxygen. Drying oils dry through a process called oxidation. The oil molecule has one or two sites on it that bond with oxygen forming a new molecule. As this process occurs, these new molecules bond together in a process called polymerization. A solid film is left when the process is complete. This process will take place without the addition of a drier but will take significantly more time.

How much should you use?

The amount depends on the percentage of active ingredient in the Cobalt Drier solution you purchase. You will need to experiement with the painting medium and oils that you use. Begin by adding just a few drops to the oil and medium as you mix your paints on the pallette.

Warning:

Cobalt is a very toxix substance. In large concentrations it has been shown to be very harmful to one's health. Keep this and all painting materials out of reach of children and use sparingly and with caution. For more information on art materials and safe studio practices watch this site or visit:

The Art and Creative Materials Institute

The Informed Creator

In Ben Shahn's The Shape of Content, there is an essay called the "Biography of a Painting." In this essay Shahn writes about his personal pilgrimage toward expressing his true inner self in his paintings. He wrote of finding his early "academic" work (landscapes, portraits, and studies) competent but devoid of self. He realized that he must discover who he truly was before he could make the kind of art that coincides with that type of person. Part of this process of discovery is developing a working relationship with one's inner critic:

"An artist at work upon a painting must be two people, not one. He must function and act as two people all the time and in several ways. On the one hand, the artist is the imaginer and the producer. But he is also the critic, and here is a critic of such inexorable standards as to have made McBride [a conservative anti-communist art critic] seem liberal even in his most illiberal moment."

Shahn continues, describing the role of the inner critic as one of the obstruction to the creative progress but also as a governor of content:
"So the inner critic has stopped the painting before it has even begun. Then, when the artist strips his idea down to emotional images alone and begins, slowly, falteringly, moving toward some realization, that critic is constantly objecting, constantly chiding, holding the hand back to the image alone, so that the painting remains only that, so that it does not split into two things, one the image, and another, the meaning."

What I have taken from this is that it is not enough that an artist have skill with material and technique. It is necessary that the artist be able to develop the image and its meaning simultaneously. The meaning of the painting must be an expression of self or deeply connected to the artist's way of thinking. The image is a physical manifestation of the thought process from idea to the object or work of art.

Shahn continues to describe the connection between personal thoughts and beliefs and the work:
"It became uncomfortably apparent to me that whatever one thinks as well as whatever one paints must be constantly reexamined, torn apart, if that seems to be indicated, and reassembled in the light of new attitudes or new discovery. If one has set for himself the position that his painting shall not misconstru his personal mode of thinking, then he must be rather unusually alert to just what he does think."

In the ideas that I am turning into images I wonder what of them is a reflection of my beliefs? My images need to contain more of my self. To date my images have been mine because I made them. Often they reflect only my skill with tools and materials. I have been content with that but now I want more.

May Stevens

This morning at work curator, Dennis John, gave a talk on a new exhibition, The Water Remembers Paintings by May Stevens.



May Stevens paints on canvas and paper with acrylic. The color depth is amazing. I hadn't thought acrylics were capable of this. If you are in Minneapolis you should see this show.

In many of her pieces the highlights are words she has written with jel pen. The words are her own or are quotes that compliment the piece.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, US Bank Galleries, June 11, 2005 through July 31, 2005

The work continues

I have continued to work on the study. I don't want to work to much on it as it is just a study. I will work on additional studies to audition other backgrounds and textures. A question I have asked myself is should the background texture have a symbolic meaning/connection to the sitter?

I have started to reread Ben Shahn's the Shape of Content. A humanities professor of mine, Stewart Lawler, gave my copy to me when I was a sophomore in art school. I found it useful then and am looking back to see what I can relearn from it now. I have gained so much since 1989. I am I will interpret these writings differently now.

I will share and comment on what I am reading here as I find useful passages.

Update on study for Up Against the Wall No. 2

I have been working on using color to build form in the face and hands. I will post a better image soon.

New Drawing

Here is a drawing I have been working on. It is a study for the painting Up Against the Wall No. 2. This was drawn from life. I will use this drawing and photo reference to create the final piece.

Study: Up Against the Wall No. 2

Here is a study I am working on for a larger painting. The study, in progress, is about 8 x 10 and done in acrylic. The final piece will be approximately 30 x 40 in oil.

I will post a painting, drawing, or images of the works in progress each day.



This is the second piece in a series of works. Each of these represents a portrait of a friend. Each will be shown in a shallow space against a wall. The wall might be decorated with a pattern as in the first piece or with the texture of a distinct architectural wall, as in this example.