Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Artwork of the month by Catherine A. Palmer

I met Catherine A. Palmer in 1997 at Cafe Wyrd.  I was exhibiting my latest landscapes and she was commenting on them.  I pretended to not be the artist, she caught me in the lie, and then we talked for several hours about art and life.  
We have been good friends since.  In fact, I would consider her family.

I love her work, and I have been fortunate enough to exhibit with Catherine sine 1997.  Catherine has exhibited everywhere you can think of in Minneapolis since 1997.  Her work is in private collections throughout the U.S. and I happen to own several.  

I love coffee and I love this painting.

I own this painting.  It was one of my favorites, so she gave it to me.


I have a lot of history with Catie, and I can say that she is one of the hardest working artists in Minneapolis.  


"Don't eat the paint."


Tuesday, November 20, 2007

2.3.1_On the choice of surface for the application of oil paint


2.3.1  On the choice of surface for the application of oil paint.
Let's keep this simple, and talk briefly on the types of surfaces that I have painted on.  An oil painter typically choses canvas or panel to work on.  Most see only these two commonly used surfaces as options, and tend to disregard other useful surfaces.  Realistically, if you can imagine a surface, it can be painted on with oil paints with the proper preparations.

Like any tool, the choices of surfaces to paint on, are a preference for the artist to make per concept.  That choice of surface should simply be one of personal preference, but a decision based on the intended concept of the oil painting.  Different ideas demand different surfaces, and some concepts require a rough canvas, where others will ask for the smooth surface of a panel.  Personal preference is everything.  All artists will work with what they identify with, that results in style, as style and singular visions should be avoided.  Making a decision on what type of surface to use is personal and conceptual.  There are an infinite number of choices to paint on, and again the artist will know what surface is best for a work of art.  Compositional oil painting, or communicative oil painting that opens a dialogue with an intended audience, demands that the artist use only the materials that are conceptually important to achieve the end result of the artist’s concept and intended form of communication. 

Both canvas and panel have limits and strengths.  The canvas, if stretched properly, is as firm of a surface as a panel, and although canvas has a slight give to it as the brush eases against its surface, it is taunt enough to easily control.  This give should be barely noticeable, and it aids the painter’s ability with brush control.  Canvas has a bounce to it, and if properly stretched, should sound as a tight drum when tapped on.  I prefer the smooth texture of extra-fine linen.  Linen is stronger and more resilient than canvas.  Linen lasts longer and takes repairs better than canvas.  Linen is by far the best fabric surface to oil paint on far as I am concerned, as my experiences with painting on linen has always been favorable.  Within fabrics there are many selections of the type of weave, from smooth to rough, along with the weight, heavy to light.  The weave of a canvas will determine how your oil paint lays on the surface.

A wood surface is the premium choice of panel for the oil painter.  It is absorbent and strong, with a little flex, which leads to the permanence of the work.  A wood panel is solid, which protects the longevity of the painting; and depending on the type of wood used, the grain shows little of itself through the oils over time.  If prepared properly, the wood grain will never show itself in the face of the painting.   

Oil paints can be painted on metal surfaces like copper, steel, iron, bronze, and aluminum.  Oil paints on metals dry slower than on other more absorbent surfaces, and if the metal surface is not prepared properly, the oil paint will crack and possibly (probably) flake off as the oils cure.  Very few oil paintings done on metal surfaces have not blistered or pealed or flaked off through time.  The oil medium has also been known to simply leak out the front of the painting with nothing to absorb into.  It is best to use enamel paints on metal.  I still feel that there is no real way to know how long oil paint will last on metal surfaces.  In regards to painting on aluminum, I warn the oil painter to simply avoid it.  Oil paint has been proven to not adhere to aluminum unless the surface is first treated by anodizing.  Aluminum must be treated with a heavy coat of aluminum oxide, it is permanent and absorbent enough for oils to stay in place as they cure.  Without treating the aluminum, the oil pigments will fall off once they are dry.  I have used stainless steel once, and it is a better surface than aluminum to paint on, although it reacts much like aluminum, unless treated properly.  I would just simply avoid oil painting on metal, unless your idea is based on the process, simply because oil painting on metal is a pain in the ass.  If you are going to use oil paints on any metal surface, I suggest deeply scratching the surface with a corse sandpaper and sharp tool.  The scratches will give the paint something to cling to as it dries.

I worked on glass once, and it just sucked.  A client commissioned me to paint a landscape on glass in oil paints, so I had to do it.  Painting on glass is much like painting on metal.  Its surface is slick and oils glide regardless of what type of preparation you work into the surface.  Just avoid oil painting on glass...it is stupid, just stupid.

Preparing any surface to paint on varies with each type of material.  Oil painting surfaces must be primed with something.  Oil pigments use a vehicle to bind the pigments together and they normally contain linolenic acid which will destroy the fabric fibers over time.  So primer truly is there to protect the life of an oil painting.  There are two standards:  1) Gesso, and 2) rabbit skin glue.  Rabbit Skin Glue was the preferred method for traditional oil painters during the renaissance.  I used rabbit skin glue as a part of my training as an oil painter, but I truly prefer oil based gesso.  

The way I have applied Gesso is simple and time consuming.  Gesso is liquid plaster that comes in both an oil-based and acrylic water-based medium.  Brush an even coat of Gesso to your chosen surface, allow it to thoroughly dry.  With the finest grade sandpaper, sand down the gesso evenly, and then re-apply a second coat; again sanding the surface down evenly.  Repeat this process as many times as needed to acquire a smooth, even, painting surface.  A better method to apply Gesso to an unprimed surface is to lay your surface on its back.  Mix an oil based gesso and wipe on a very thin coat with a rag, gently rubbing the gesso into the weave of the fabric.  Allow your first coat to dry and repeat two more times.  Preparing your painting surface with Gesso as a base primer to apply oil paints to, is necessary so that the oils have something other than the surface material to absorb into.
Preparing your canvas prior to stretching it is a fools errand.  Unless the canvas comes pre-primed, priming it un-stretched ends in a disaster every time.  The weave of your fabric will shrink unevenly and cause wavy movement in your canvas, and eventually if not immediately, will just crack and flake off after you stretch it.  

Some artists have chosen not to prime their painting surface, applying oil paints directly to the material.  Francis Bacon painted on the backs of pre-primed canvas, where the first intended mark was permanent and virtually unchangeable.  This is fine, but eventually the oils will destroy the fabric.  

I like to use pre-stretched Belgium antwerp linen, portrait grade triple-primed, with oil-based Gesso.  Pre-stretched linen is expensive, but to properly stretch and prime a linen surface is very time consuming.  Time is money and I would rather pay for the consistent surface most art stores offer.  I have stretched my own canvas many times, and although the process is necessary in the training of an artist, it teaches the artist what to look for in a pre stretched canvas.  It is rewarding in the training and knowledge, but its very time consuming.  

When it comes down to it, simply paint on anything you want...
...I like linen.  



Friday, November 16, 2007

Texture Painting 3

Another texture session for you to see.  As my textured oil compositions get closer to complete, I can add larger forms of oil color without worrying about how I might disturb the rest of the composition.  




Those are five 150ml tubes of oil color.


Those are five empty 150ml tubes of oil color.


That is 750ml of oil color.
















I know, pretty cool huh...
...see you next time and thanks for reading my blog.


Sunday, November 11, 2007

Texture Painting 2

The textured oil paintings I work on have to dry before I can add a new layer.  Normally it takes about a month for the oil to be solid enough for me to add more.  This session of painting was probably the 5th session of adding oil color.






















Thanks for reading my blog...
...part three of this post coming soon.


Monday, November 5, 2007

New illustration study

I have been working on this idea for a very long time now.  When I eventually complete this painting I will post the ideas behind the composition.  

BitTorrent study #5 for "Salome with the head of saint john the baptist" 
Ink on paper.  2007.

and oh ya, today is my birthday...
...check back soon for more post birthday artworks.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Texture Painting 1

I had started this on a separate web-server and decided that blogspot.com was the best choice for me.  So this post is backdated, and simply copied from my old blog.

I thought that I would just start off with some pictures of a painting I worked on a while back.  This is the process of oil painting a texture composition.  This was the first of many sessions of adding oil paint to the canvas.  When I work with the texture of oil paint, I start out with a lot of paint, and sculpt it like clay into forms.  After I have established the main composition with the larger forms of oil color, I like to just keep adding oil color with a palette knife.

These paintings, if I could truly afford them, would be what I focus on most of my time.

These pics are of me sculpting the first large forms on the canvas.





















Thanks for reading my blog...