I quit my day job.

I have resigned from my position at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  When I was first hired in October 2006, my plan was to keep the job for 5 years, prepare myself for self employment as an artist, and study my trade (oil painting) while gaining a better understanding of art history.

My personal goal was to complete my book "The Aesthetics of Composition in Abstract Oil Painting" and it looks like I have done just that.  I am now on a final edit of my book.  I expect to complete the final edit by the end of August.  I started writing this book in 1999.  I have been completing my formal work over the last three years.  It is intended to be a complete study for the student of oil painting.  If everything goes according to plan I will release my book through the iTunes book store sometime in January of the coming year 2013.  If things don't go according to plan I will self publish through a university press.

My 5 year plan became 5 years and 9 months.  Not bad considering that I was out of touch for a year and three months on medical leave after the bike accident.

My wife and I are moving to Maui, Hawaii at the end of August.  We will both be self employed.  I will work as a full time artist.  Athena will be opening "Such Good Dogs"  a dog boarding, kenneling, and training facility.  We are both very excited for the future, and very grateful for our past.

So long...

...and thanks for all the fish.

3.8.1_Improvisation

Since I have been working on improvisational oil paintings as late, I thought that I would post some of my older writing on the subject.  As I paint I write; I write about my thoughts on my own work and experiences.  So some of it might make sense, other parts your just going to have to say "good lord whats wrong with him" and move on to the next section that makes sense to you.  As all of my writings on oil painting was written in the moment, some of it is always going to change over time.

3.8.1  Improvisation.


     The improvisational oil painting is completely honest work, in that it cannot lie, because it does not go through an editing process.  That is not to say the editing process is a lie, but to elaborate on the dependance of immediacy and reaction of the improvisational oil painting.  Improvisations of any kind are the first thought, line, brushstroke, or action, expressed by reacting to one’s environment and creative process.  The improvisation is honest because it is the first unedited reactions to both environment and the work itself.
     The improvisational works an artist completes exposes the work of his character, sense of being, and mastery of the relationship between himself and his chosen medium.  Improvisation is the finest means to tutor the student of oil paintings natural ability for composition as its practice teaches him to be bold, balanced, and visually organized immediately.  Improvisational oil painting instills in the artist the foresight to see bold compositions as they are being revealed in the moment.  Personally for the oil painter improvisation is an unconscious method toward a logical and complete understanding of one’s disposition, finally revealing to the artist the implications following his thoughts.  


     The improvisational oil painting should be completed in a short amount of time.  Timed improvisational study is a good starting point for the student of oil painting.  Timed study, a method of improvisation, is a necessary stage of development in teaching an artist to be immediately resolved.  Set a time limit to work within, such as five or ten minutes, then increase the amount of time allowed for each study as you progress to one hour.  During a timed study the artist cant truly edit for lack of time, and must just simply react to the subject-matter.  This process should cover the course of a few months while increasing the complexity of the subject-matter.  
     The student of oil painting will start with representation, then progress gradually into abstraction of each subject. To be able to render realistic subject-matter improvisationally is a necessity or prerequisite before beginning abstraction. The abstract improvisation becomes a personal experience where once completed, is retrospective to the oil painter, as it was to me. 
     It is not just the act of painting an improvisational work of art; it is the acts of repetitive improvisational thoughts which allow the abstract oil painter to trust their own intuitive nature.  As time progresses the oil painter will transform at ease with his first thoughts and strengthen those initial ideas learned from the practice of improvisational works.  The abstract improvisational oil painting ends up being about paint, and is considered an expressionist work.
     The abstract oil painter should study improvisation all his life.  However, he must not confuse his improvisational works for complete works of art.  Although each improvisational painting may be a great work of art, the improvisation is an incomplete idea that has yet to go through the discipline of editing and should not be its own ends. Although there are works intended for instilling control through immediacy, an improvisational oil painting finds its usefulness merely is in its act of doing, and leads one to new ideas, a deeper understanding of composition, and the resolution of the complicated relationship an artist has with his medium. 

3.5.1_On the study of the still-life and its use as an indirect associative narrative.

3.5.1  On the study of the still-life and its use as an indirect associative narrative.

     A still-life oil painting is a work of art depicting inanimate subject-matter.  Primarily it has developed into a decorative work of art with an implied yet obvious narrative.  The student of oil painting’s study of the still life involves the compositional arrangement of everyday objects as the subject-matter in a manner to study composition, perspective, and mostly light source for the decisions of a future work of art.  My attempt here is to address the still-life as such where the student of oil painting will learn how to work through a still-life from setup to finished work of art.  During this study the oil painter will see how the common objects we own, how we use and present them during our day to day activities, speak profoundly about ourselves and our world defining a portion of our lives.  The still-life is a philosophical work of art, even if it is not obviously so.  The aesthetic composition of these belongings, both the choice of what to use, and their placement within the still-life reveals a part of the artists mind.  In this I say these decisions tell us the secrets behind the artist’s motivation.  From casual observation, these subtleties will be missed entirely and will only be revealed through a deeper, quiet investigation of a work of art.

     It is important to discuss the still-life’s being as a compositional study and decorative item while addressing the still-life’s ability to communicate on many levels at one time.  Let us first focuses on the rudimentary fundamentals of the still-life as a purely pictorial study of compositional elements toward abstraction, and not an end to itself.  The fundamental lessons of the still-life are compositional balance, the use of light-source, the three dimensional content of form, and with that conceptual foresight a sculptural understanding of oil painting itself.  In the beginning of this study the student of oil painting works in monotone color toward rendering a work of art that looks realistic, as a pictorial representation of objects within the still life. 

     Although inanimate objects play a role in our lives, they have their own narrative. One that not only tells us their function, but recites the dialogue of the human drama within their purpose.  With an understanding of that silent narrative the oil painter is obliged to present the still-life as animated, alive, and full of purposeful action born from the vivacity of the human drama and our shared relationship to the inanimate.  While communicating that there is life to that which we define as not alive, the oil painter exposes the recurring history of the human situation.

     The act of designing a still-life teaches the oil painter the elements of spatial arrangement involved in composition, while focusing on balance and the three dimensional context of the objects within the still-life.  When designing a still-life, set up the composition just as you would a stage for a theater.  For the stage itself use a wood or cardboard box with three sides, left, right, a back, and a base.  

     Starting with a simple forward view, so the oil painter can easily see the entire composition, keep in mind that the vantage point you chose is what the oil painting will mimic.  Traditionally the still-life has been painted in settings where the objects within it might belong together, such as a cloth covered table top with a bowl of fruit.  This being a study, we remove all aspects of setting and focus on its fundamentals of process in preparation to reintegrate setting later. 

     For the purpose of this study we want the background to be simple and uniformed in its texture and colored appearance, so as to not distract from the objects of the still-life.  Paint the interior walls and floor of the stage with a basic middle grey, which is the standard in photography for calibrating light and adjusting exposer to capture true color.  This grey will be our reference point and our constant as it exhibits definable separations between the background, shadow and subject.  Middle grays’ stark neutral quality accents the objects individual characteristics of color and shape while allowing those color-forms to be as true as possible.  Middle grey defines all the forms within the still-life itself, easily separating the positive and negative spaces for the artists’ eye.  The use of middle grey as a background color for this study is essential. After the oil painter has completed no less then five works with the simple grey painted walls he can move on to the background as a form itself. 

     Use a sheet of fabric to lay over the stage so it covers all three walls and the base evenly.  Choose a fabric color that will not overpower and dilute the presence of the objects within the still-life.  Using a fabric color that is a complementary color to the objects will define the positive and negative spaces in the same manner as neutral grey does.  The fabric, how it lays in the stage, its wrinkles and texture, becomes a part of the design elements and are as compositionally important as the objects themselves. Hence, it becomes an object and its installation should be considered when choosing the items for the still-life.

     At first select no more than three to five items, keeping them simple but different in their surface texture, color, and shape.  The oil painter must consider these objects as three dimensional color-forms or geometric shapes, and not as what they are, thereby removing the identity of an object so as to see it without a preconceived idea as to its true form.  Because of our experiences, our minds have preconceived ideas about the shape, texture, and purpose of objects.  Subsequently we will represent them pictorially as our mind sees them rather than what our eyes tell us.  Arrange the items so they feel balanced among the stage by following your instincts and placing the items together in as natural an arrangement as possible; maintaining the guidelines of composition. To avoid your works looking contrived, just place the objects where they feel like they belong and do not put too much thought into it.  If you cannot feel balance instinctually, you are not an artist and should stop now, least you poison contemporary art with your desire to do something.  A deeper understanding of compositional balance will come with time, albeit, for the artist composition is as natural and instinctual as breathing; the oil painter need only learn to discipline his inherent talents so he may forget control, and let go to his mind’s voice.

     There are two simple rules to guide the oil painter in the installation of the objects.  First, the division of the painting surface into thirds, and second, the triangular color-form subject-matter placement.  Designing the overall composition with these guidelines regardless of artistic individuality will result in a work of art that is evenly balanced and pleasing to the eye both within content and composition.  The act of setting up a still-life involves all the fundamentals of design.  As a result of those design lessons, setting up the stage of a still-life teaches the oil painter to experience his work outside of the canvas.  With this insight, designing a still-life subconsciously instills a greater understanding of the three dimensional form and content of an objects complete being into the oil painters mind simply by arranging the items.  As the artist handles each item, he unconsciously catalogues their texture and shape, and with that inner sight paints the still-life silently remembering each objects’ total content.  In this way for the process of painting itself, the oil painter conceptually becomes a sculptor.  For oil painting is sculpting, in that the oil painter molds the oil and pigment by working the medium to develop a surface that represents form.

     The use of light-source in the still-life should be considered as a detailed compartmentalized element to the overall composition.  Its use in this study is primarily to develop the three dimensional content of each object.  In the beginning of this study the oil painter will use a single direct light-source, for it is more definable and dramatic than the soft quality of indirect light.  Use a small light fixed to the stage so as to make sure that it won’t move or change its position.  Once the artist has set the light-source up, it must remain in the same position until the painting is finished for the painting to be completed properly.  Light alters color as it reveals the depth and form of an object, in so where the oil painter directs his light source determines the demeanor of an oil painting.  Albeit, the artist treats the effects of light without discrimination, and as a compositional element of the subject-matter itself.  Although restricted in part by the fundamental guidelines of composition, the oil painter will find that he has more freedom to play with the compositional arrangement of light than the other elements of the still-life.  The wide spectrum of human emotion can all be represented by the subtle use of light.  It is lights’ most powerful effect, dramatizing even the most mundane setting with its physical effect on man’s belief structure.

     It is important that all the elements of the still-life are not disturbed so that when the oil painter returns to his work day by day, he sees the stage exactly the same every time until the painting is complete.  Changing any of the elements of the stage after the actual work of art has begun will cause the finished oil painting to end without resolution, have a poorly balanced and distorted composition, and as a result appear contrived.

     Along with altering the stage, the student of oil painting must not change the vantage point from which the still-life is observed; for it will also result in a contrived and disproportionate oil painting.  There must be a defined spot during this study of where to stand, look, and measure the subject-matter in the stage.  Mark a spot on the floor with tape for the desired vantage point of where to stand while looking at the still-life.  It is important that the oil painter only observe the stage from that marked position, separate from where he will view and work on the work of art on the easel.  Mark off a spot where to look and measure the work of art on the easel approximately the same distance as the mark to the stage.  Do not look at the stage while in front of the canvas and vice versa.  Doing so will distort the image in the oil painters mind and upset his actual and inner view of its total composition.  This criteria of observation teaches the student of oil painting how to see, which we all believe we need no instructions on.  Observing the stage and work of art separately allow the oil painting to evolve on its own, distinctly separate from the still-life.  Although it will be a pictorial representation of your still-life, the work of art will become an image with a life-force all its own. 

     A part of the arrangement of the still-life is the selection of its overall composition. Most of this is decided by the boundaries of the stage itself, but if the student of oil painting wishes to use a different frame for his composition, he can bracket off the dimensions of the desired composition where ever he sees fit with a plumb-line.  A plumb-line is a weighted string that is suspended in front of the subject-matter both for reference to accurate measurements and compositional segregation.  Use the plumb-line to mark the center of your stage, hanging it in front of the entire structure.  This method of study, cupeled with a defined vantage point takes the use of a plumb-line, a traditional way of observing the subject-matter and introduces the sight size method of artistic study back to a dogmatic formula.  Dogma can kill an artist’s potential, but for the student of oil painting, he is required to work through these ideas used before him so that he may come to understand his own ideas.  This formula fast looses its right of passage and evolves into an unconscious instinctual way to see, thus becoming unnecessary to adhere to.

     Now that the stage is set, the oil painter may begin his study of the still-life pictorially.  At this point the oil painter starts with a medium tailored for study such as charcoal, pencil, or pen on paper.  After completing several studies of the still-life and familiarizing himself with its visual content, the student of oil painting can then move on to his work in oil paints.  The oil painter should complete one oil painting for each study.   A minimum of five different studies of the still-life are necessary as a preparatory step for the artist to understand the lessons involved, and grasp the conceptual work involved in the study of the still-life.

     Every few years I take on the study of the still-life to its fullest.  It helps reground my mind so that I may continue my work in compositional abstraction.  Because I wish to not be associated with them; I do not sign my completed still-lives and give them away as presents to family and friends.  

3.2.1_On the learning curve of art materials for the student of oil painting.

3.2.1  On the learning curve of art materials for the student of oil painting.

     The student of oil painting, whether aspiring to become a professional or simply doubling as a hobbyist, will benefit from the instruction and experience of using artistic mediums related to the application of oil paint.  We can no longer ignore that the consumer is fast becoming the voice of modern art today.  As a result of the consumers’ new strength within the arts the idea of study and training for the trade need more than ever to be reinforced today.

     The student of oil painting should not rely on oil paint alone to teach him to create works of art.  The student has not yet learned to control his hand to create what his mind already sees, and using oil paints is difficult enough to learn, let alone master.  The student of oil painting needs the training of not so much simple mediums at first, but mediums that are less complicated and involved as oil colors.  For this purpose there is a learning curve that progresses through several mediums before arriving at oil paint.  Typically these mediums are designed to study artistic principles.  Albeit, as a result of artistic innovations they have all found a place as mediums used as fine art.  As you will see, the student of oil painting treats each of these mediums as individual lessons but with the techniques of applying oil paint at the foundation of each medium’s course.  By applying each medium as oil paint is applied, the student of oil painting prepares himself for oil, gaining a much better grasp of its nature.  So for that reason we tailor these courses toward the technique of applying oil paint, where the medium is applied in layers to build a surface.

     Starting with charcoal, the artist moves on to graphite and colored pencil,  then soft and oil pastel sticks, then ink, and finally oil colors.  Through this process of study, the student of oil painting will arrive at oil colors with a firm understanding of basic artistic principles while discovering his own insight and artistic voice.

     The artist’s progressive training of mediums begins with the delicacy of charcoal sticks.  Charcoal is the perfect study medium and is commonly used in timed studies where the student works quickly to create a work of art.  Charcoal is naturally precise for applying dark and light values.  Charcoal is not easy to work with accurately and takes a soft yet resolved hand to master the ease with which it lays dark and light marks on a surface.  Allow the medium itself to teach the student how to use it.  Charcoal is easily disturbed once applied to a surface and it can be altered for good or ill by the slightest of movements.  It marks the surface immediately and although not permanently, its bold characteristics are difficult to erase. 

     Traditionally the contemporary student of oil painting works with vine charcoal sticks on newsprint or paper.  Vine sticks are best used in study because their delicate structure forces the artist to build his surface over time with several applications.  Charcoal is similar to oil paints in that the artist builds a surface with the medium to produce a work of art.  The intended purpose of working with charcoal sticks is so the artist concentrates on the accuracy of form and value, training his hand to be light but resolved.  Indeed the student is silently directed that way as a result of the nature of the medium itself. 

     There are a few simple tools to be used alongside charcoal sticks.  A sandpaper pad is used to sharpen the drawing point of the charcoal stick.  A gum eraser is the best choice to erase with as gum erasers collects larger amounts of medium rather than rubbing it off as other erasers; thereby not scaring the drawing surface.

     The next mediums for artistic development are the graphite and colored pencils.  Working in these different forms of pencil teaches the artist the basics of value, color, and tinting.  Pencils can easily scar the surface of a work of art if applied with too much pressure.  At times that pressure, when controlled, is exactly what the artist wants.  It is doubtless that the artist has used a pencil before.  Regardless of the artists experience now is the time to start from a beginning with no working knowledge of the pencil.  

     Graphite pencil reintroduces the lessons of charcoal, but takes the study of form, line, and the diverse techniques of creating the tonality in shading and grades of depth for contour value and perspective to a more precise form of expression.  Working in graphite pencil the artist refines his talents with the lessons of charcoal.  Pencil is not as easily disturbed as charcoal but can be easily erased, and although the process of editing with the eraser is often an approach to the technique to creating a work of art, it is a technique that devalues the basic lessons gained by using a pencil.  At this point you will erase nothing.  If you are dissatisfied with your work then start a new drawing with a fresh perspective.   

     With a delicately resolved hand the student uses the graphite to build a surface to create forms and values.  The artist needs to learn to control the application of graphite first, then add innovation when confident enough with the medium itself.  The first lesson is to attempt to have all marks go in the same direction.  That is not easy, all marks made includes what would be line, and line tends to go in opposition to the value of forms.

     The commonly known methods of working realistic values such as blending, cross hatching, the use of stipple, and my own scribble style all employ varying marks that are closer together to resemble darker vale, and farther apart for lighter values.  Distance within marks, giving the appearance of different values, is easy when compared to a unified directional pencil strokes.  The difference is that the student is training his eye to see value immediately, instead of creating value spontaneously.  Start by drawing in the darkest values and then working in the lightest.  Focus on the dramatic differences in forms values, then work towards the subtle discrepancies.  When the student of oil painting is comfortable with his ability to instinctually see the value of form, it is time to move on to colored pencils.  

     Colored pencil is commonly overlooked, being considered as a business medium, most commonly used by the designer, architect, and illustrator.  I have even heard color pencil compared to the crayon, and whereas they are both a wax-based medium the comparison is prejudice.  The colored pencil is a world all to itself and indeed is a medium who’s purpose reaches fine art.  As a wax based pigment, the colored pencil has the ability to blend colors in refined layers of lightly applied color.  Wax builds up quickly and the student of oil painting will have to refrain from adding too much too fast.  The student’s hand will have the muscle memory now, after working in charcoal and then graphite pencil, and consequently trained for the delicacy and pressure needed.

     Working with color for the first time as a student will at first be more difficult than expected.  To grasp an understanding of how to work with colored pencil, the student will have to memorize the basic color wheel.  Knowing all the aspects of color mixing and how each color interacts with the other will come in time with practice of this colored wax-based medium.  

     After the introduction of color, the student of oil painting moves on to both soft and oil pastel sticks.  Using pastels combines the lessons from all of the previous studies, while truly preparing the artist for the complications of oil painting.  The technique used within pastels integrates value and color together while foreshadowing the use of a brush.  

     Soft pastels are basically chalk, and similar to charcoal in their application.  I find them distasteful, and hopefully the student of oil painting will avoid them as he avoids the disease of acrylic paints.  Soft pastels mark a paper’s surface, but they do not hold onto paper and more times than not the pigments fall off unless the paper is treated with a fixative before and after your work.  Sandpaper is a perfect drawing surface to use for your soft pastel work of art.  Sandpaper, if quality glue was used in its construction, holds the soft pastel firmly between the grains.  Using sandpaper as a drawing surface solves the majority of your staying issues with soft pastels.  Do not spend too much time on he study of soft pastels.  They have little to give to the study of oil painting except the experience of a new and challenging medium.  

     Oil pastels are the closest relative to oil painting.  Oil pastels are most commonly made with a non-drying oil and wax as vehicles to bind the pigment.  The technical accessibility of oil pastels combined with the lessons of the charcoal, graphite and colored pencil, and soft pastels makes their use a true study material for the oil painter invaluable.  The pigments within oil paints are the same as those in oil pastels and you will notice instantly how when mixing color there is a bit of a grind to it until you work the stick until it is warm.  Oil stick are slightly cured oil paints.

     Because they are oil-based you can use oil based mediums such as linseed oil to create painting-like effects.  I have used WD40 for the effect of sharp textured painterly strokes of color by spraying the WD40 onto a sheet of folded wax paper, and then rolling the tip of oil stick in the medium until it mixes with the color.  The WD40 dissolved the oil pastel stick yet bound the stick to the drawing surface.  Just as oil paint, apply the mixed medium and color to your work of art.  It cannot be erased but it can be covered over or scrapped off the drawing surface.  Oil pastels layer fast and blend easy.   They should be used to study throughout the course of an oil painters life.            

     For the next stage in the learning curve of art materials, the student of oil painting works with ink.  Ink is irrevocably unforgiving and permanent, and like the improvisation the first mark is the final mark.  As a result of the editing limitations of ink, the artist will find that the execution of applying ink is philosophically similar to the improvisation.  Using ink to create works of art teaches the student of oil painting to be comfortable with his intuition and to react to his subject-matter as he replicates it.  By that same limitation, the use of ink familiarizes the artist with the abstract idea of positive and negative space.  The artist will find himself prone to working with the negative space to complete forms of positive space.  Working this way is thinking like a painter.  In oil painting, the painter uses negative space to develop the positive.  The negative space is more important than positive space.  

     The added benefit of studying ink last is removal of color.  Removing color as the student of oil painting adds line and composition brings the mind back to the fundamentals of composition.   I work with ink as often as possible for studying composition for my works.  Oil painting is next.  As you start your first oil painting, work in monotone, simple white to black just as ink.  It will be more difficult than expected.

     All of these artistic mediums are traditional for the student of oil painting and not to be set aside once the artist is working in oils, but to be used alongside oil painting.  For each work of art to be created, the student of oil painting usually starts with one or more of the lesser mediums as a study and sketch for the painting itself.  Eventually the student will develop his own method to study for oil painting.  The oil painter should explore different mediums and methods of creating works of art throughout his entire life.  

3.1_Intro to Chapter III.

3.1  Intro to chapter III.

     The world of abstract thought is as varied as the diversity of life on Earth.  Abstraction is limitless.  There cannot be, indeed there must not be definitions and rules to the creation of an abstract work of art, and yet there must be defining points of accomplishment in the work of an abstract artist’s career.  All artists, regardless of their chosen medium, require a disciplined study of the elements involved within their chosen form of artistic communication. 

     Purely as an artist, the abstract oil painter must become familiar with the different mediums and methods of creating works of art during his study toward abstract oil painting.  The abstract oil painter should be required to study pictorial representation, all of the mediums related to oil painting, and the iconic fundamentals of modern art; those being the still life, the landscape, the figurative, improvisation, the discipline of composition, and color-form theory to allow for the natural development of an artists individual voice within abstract painting.  After pictorial representation has been throughly studied, the oil painter can then investigate his personal ideas of abstraction one subject at a time.  As an artist the oil painter must know his subject matter intimately to have the insight in order to abstract it.  He must first know abstraction and his reason for it.  Albeit, the abstract oil painter intuitively knows his own methodology, and with that knowledge of capability and possibility the abstract oil painter does not reject dogma but embraces its devices and makes them his own.  With that sense of ownership, the abstract oil painter takes responsibility for his study and the future direction of contemporary abstract art itself.  

     Western societies recent focus on the cultural marketability of individualism has fostered a generation of abstract artists that identify with nothing more than the vanity of style, the popularity of image, and immediate expression.  Anyone can express themselves using the term “abstraction” with the hasty ease of its common pictorial results and fabled simplicity of its technical grasp.  Many artists use abstraction as a classification of aesthetic choice, leading themselves to an established Ism to solidify their intent without understanding that creating works of art is more than a look or definition (These artists are not artists but charlatans playing a part in a game of identity that they eventually lose.) Ism.  Regrettable, artists who mimic the pioneers of abstraction through a pictorial choice of ism that represents their short-term identity poison themselves and the art world unknowingly.  Without an understanding or consideration of the general language of abstraction, the emotional fever of the consumer artist, hobbyist, and soul seeker skip the ideas of a disciplined study, and without purpose speechlessly imitate the masters.     

     Although abstract art does not have a defined alphabet it does call for an understanding of its pictorial fundamentals, those being the whole of the language of composition.  Abstraction grants a sense of liberty that is unavailable to any other form of aesthetic simply because it is visually accessible, without rules of appearance or expectation and seemingly easy to invent a theory of intent to sweet-talk past the ability of talent.  Truth is arduous to obtain in abstraction, and it is a discipline built on the traditional rules of technique more difficult to resolve than any of the arts because these traditions are conceptual thoughts physically applied in practical application.  The fundamentals of abstract oil painting are philosophical.  Those traditions while being on stable ground are evolving, changing, and growing as the technology of the materials and tools an artist uses to oil paint do the same.  With the consumer in control of today’s art market we find those traditions abandoned and forgotten.  It is not unfitting for the artist to reject tradition, if at first these ideas in question are inspected throughly and exposed for their flaws, and not simply rejected because of their status as defined traditions.  To do so is to rebel and eventually self destructive. Simply put, any yahoo with a paintbrush can call himself an abstract oil painter as a result of the confinements and unstable anarchy of the postmodern pop-cultural subjectivity as the cause of each amateur.  Innovation first comes from discipline and exploration under the influence of control and not accidents of stylistically pleasing moments.

     The work of the undisciplined abstract oil painter is simply the work of self-discovery.  In saying this, I am not belittling the immature abstract oil painter, nor am I using the word “immature” derogatorily.  I am simply disclosing that the young artist has not developed his mind and medium but works off the immediacy of appearance.  I did, until taught better.  The artist I am speaking of works off emotion and is setting free the needs that a juvenile or a maniac subconsciously desires for a cathartic release and possible moment of self-discovery.  Confusion and intangible communication are not hidden genius.  There is more to the abstract oil painter than inner need.  Albeit, it is inner need that drives the truly ambitious oil painter toward mastering that, which satisfies his being. 

     Since ideas are the nature of abstraction, abstract works of art consist of subjective moments independent of representation other than cultural and generational metaphorical associations.  Abstract works of art cannot be defined, in that there are no rules or set standards to creating an abstract work of art.  Therefore there must be a set of credentials that can define abstract oil painting as a disciplined art form.  Intuitively the oil painter understands that which he wishes to express but needs the proper vocabulary to do so.  A disciplined study of the fine arts traditional fundamentals will grant the oil painter his dictionary.  The oil painter will possibly begin to abstract his subject matter when he has mastered its actual representation.  The truly ambitious and devoted (stoic) oil painter will see the need for understanding the representational forms of the world around him pictorially by the means of a careful examination of his world as a prerequisite to abstraction.  Naturally, the oil painter becomes aware of the world and his position in it during his study and as expected the oil painter progresses toward his own language and ideas on composition, color, intention, methodology and philosophy toward creating works of art. 

     The following chapter is simply an explanation of the path that I followed to become who I am.  It was both passed on to me, and initiated by me.  They are not rules for each artist to pursue but guidelines from my experiences where I discovered them one event at a time.  They are the discipline that I created for myself.  The aesthetic and compositional choices in each work of art the oil painter creates reflect his identity and reveal his mastery over his medium.

     Every work of art has its importance, even the industrial agesi mass produced poster can teach. That is not to say that all works of art are equal.  Each of the arts also has its limits.  The discipline of oil painting has no equal in its variety of representation simply because it has less limitation then the other forms of art.  Nevertheless, do not be fooled by undefined intolerance all art is important and relevant to its creator.

     Oil paintings are not meant to be viewed in a museum where we teach and collect mans’ intellectual history.  Works of art are intended to be looked at, and to communicate.

     Art that has to be in a gallery to be art, is not art.

2.6_The studio environment for the oil painter.

2.6  The studio environment for the oil painter.

     My studio is sacred.  I have it set up exactly as I need it to create as I desire and as my concepts desire.  Everywhere I have lived since 1996 has been or has been converted to an artists studio.  My studio set up is precise and evolves as my works are evolving.  I find that my surroundings where I create have a dramatic effect on how I paint.  We are all effected greatly by our environments.  The color of the walls, a sunny day or rainy day or cold winter day, the placement of objets used and not, the type of light we have in use, and every portion of our daily environment alters each of us in one way or another.  A studio, an intended space to create works of art where you will be spending a great deal of time in should reflect your conceptual goals and momentary philosophical direction as an artist.  I decided to use that to my advantage.  

     I prefer to have the walls of my studio painted to be the bluest white possible.  I use cheap unnatural florescent lighting and have always needed to balance out the yellow quality of that lighting.  I like it bright, with spot lights and overhead lighting.  I typically have three or more working easels in play at once, along with a few drying easels and one glazing easel.  My palette table is set up so it resembles the color wheel.  In that way I can mix colors with ease and avoid accidental blending and bleeding of oil color.  More importantly it unconsciously reminds me of the color wheel.  Everything in my studio has a double purpose, a practical use and a conceptual one, just as my palette table.  My studios change as my conceptual needs change.  I will repaint the studio a certain color to have that in my mind at all times.  I will use charts and printouts stapled to the walls as reminders of my conceptual goal, and I always allow my self to be 100% of my concept 100% of the time.

     Studios are what they are, work spaces.  Each artist will know what they need.  What I use is vastly different than what another will.  Working with oils, I have tailored my studio around their use and storage.  The student of oil painting need only a few basics.  A good easel.  Owning a high quality easel is a necessity for the oil painter.  A table to use as a palette and stand for supplies that are being used during a session of painting.  Good lighting.  The most important item the student of oil painting must have in the studio is a purpose.  Why are you painting is the question the student of oil painting must ask, and then ask again.  Then set your studio environment to coincide with your answer.

2.4.2_On the application of oil paint.

2.4.2  On the application of oil paint.

  All artists have their own method of applying paint to surface.  I propose the painting process to be a meditative experience, where artists learn about Zein and Dasein.  The practice of oil painting for me is somehow magick in that I always learn something about myself, my world and my philosophy.  As it is always different for every artist I can only speak for my own experience within oil painting.  The application process of oil painting is completely a personal choice for the student, and a choice based on conceptual needs for the professional.  

  How the artist creates an oil painting is honestly irrelevant, although understanding the capabilities and limitations of oil paint is a necessary step to become an oil painter.  Essentially a path of experimentation and dogma for the oil painter, and a must.  For the artist running away from dogma and relying on pure intuition can accomplish many great works, but without a deep study of the traditional methods of oil painting that artist will never evolve any farther than their own sense of self.  Through trial and error the oil painter will find the qualities and limitations of each type of oil color.  Oil painting is a philosophical and spiritual undertaking, painting is revealing of the artists character if even only for a moment.  Working with oil paints teaches us our truths.

  Regardless of personal preference, painting with oils does have a few guidelines that an artist should at least know and practice before moving on toward individualism.  The first of those traditional understandings is that oil painting is sculpting.  Oil painting is sculpting in that the artist builds a surface by applying layers of oil color.  Starting with a thin application of oil color by working in the pigment evenly over the canvas, not adding too much paint but working with what small amount that was originally applied.  Now you have to wait.  

  Oil painting is patience.  The application of thin amounts of paint at first and eventually adding more paint give can only happen in the drying process.  You must wait for the first layer of paint to dry on the surface before you can apply subsequent layers.   I suggest you sit back and look on in silence at your work between applications.  Truly investigate your work as it gets closer to completion.  

  You paint with your mind.  All editing and decision making toward a composition is done in your minds eye.  Working with oil paint is a process of underpainting, and overpainting.  While you wait for your painting to dry between working sessions, the real work, conceptually organizing your composition in your mind takes place.  The first few applications of paint are initially filling in the teeth or weave of the canvas surface.  

  Lastly, the application of oil paint depends on the artists ability to sculpt.  traditionally sculpting is the teacher to the student of oil painting.  The oil painter must periodically sculpt, as it reminds him of the full content of the forms, and reestablish the concept of a surface.

  These traditional methods of applying oil paint may have not seamed to be about physically painting at all.  Albeit, they are the traditional means in which the student of oil painting learns how to paint.  Fortunately, the oil painter is born knowing and acts accordingly when reminded by his mentor who was once reminded by his.  

2.4.1_On Oil Paint.

2.4.1  On Oil Paint.

As I have stated many times the definition of an oil painter is that he use oil paint, anything beyond that one simple guideline closes the door of inventiveness on the artist forever.  There can be no substitute for oil paint.  Not acrylic, watercolor, tempera,  gouache, or encaustics can even begin to compare or replace the quality of oil pigments.  The color quality, the depth, the natural appearance of oil paints is remarkable and unmistakeable.  

  There are no other forms of paint that can get the results of true color other than natural non-synthetic oil paints.  Oil paint has a life force.  Simply take an oil painting into the sunlight to see this life within oil colors produced in natural light.  The dramatic difference between synthetic mediums and oil pigments shows itself and comes alive when viewed in natural light.  Where acrylics and other paint types become dull at best, oil paints become vibrant and stunning.  Oil paints last longer, look better, can be worked with more control and accuracy, and appear more natural than any other type of paint.

Oil paints have been in use since the 1300‘s, but were not used mainly by artists until the early 1400‘s.  It is their long lasting quality that make oil paints attractive for use.  Oil paints are a slow drying medium.  They are ground pigments mixed with drying oils.  A large majority of the pigments used in oil paints are toxic, and care must be taken while working with them.  I speak from the experience of getting sick from mixing oil paints, its not pleasant and will effect you in ways you can not expect for a life time.  Oil paints were chosen by artists when the water-based temper paint were found to be insufficient to produce greater realism because of their quick drying nature.  Oil paints do not dry by evaporating as water-based paints do.  Oil paints oxidize into a dry semi-solid.  As the medium is exposed to air it reacts chemically leaving behind the hardened oil and pigment.  Oil paints are not truly dry until a year after their application.  How thick you apply the paint, the temperature and humidity of the air, and the atmospheric pressure of where you are lengthens of quickens the drying process.  I have a humidity gauge in my studio and I have found that the best drying time for my work to be between 35 and 40 percent humidity.  Anything more and your oils dry splotchy, and anything less and your oils dry too quickly.  The oxidization process of oil paint never truly stops, and an oil painting hardens the most during the first six months.  

As a result of the drying process oil paints dry slowly, permitting the artist to work with the paint for several days after its initial application.  Once the surface oil paint has dried, it can be painted over without harming the underpainting.  The ability to completely paint over dried surfaces allows the artist to edit, glaze, or tint his painting like no other painting medium can.  This coverup attribute to oils allows the artist to manipulate his painting with ease, planning ahead for painterly effect.  Sure you can paint over acrylics, but you can always see the underpainting and it is the same with tempera and watercolor.  

I chose to return to using oil paints out of an accident, and I have never looked back.  In 1996 I was working with acrylic paints, and in the spring of 1997 I ran out of acrylics, but I had a shoe box full of oil paints that my grandmother had given me from her collection.  Without oil brushes I chose to start painting with palette knives, spreading the oil paint across the canvas like cake frosting.  Since 1997 my journey with oil colors has been an industrious adventure.  I came to understand my chosen medium, as I believe it understands me as my relationship with oil painting has granted me an understand of its abilities and limitations.  

I have experimented with oil paints extensively.  Attempting varying layers of texture to tool use to methods of drying and application techniques.  I know what each type of oil paint can do and what brands make the best oil color based on my conceptual needs.  I even know how each pigment will look on a surface when thrown from six feet or more away, and how they also appear after lightly brushing them on in a glaze.  I spent a great deal of time testing different brands of oil paint for a multitude of purposes.  Truly Old Holland oil colors are still the finest oil pigments that I have found.  Mostly the selection of oil color is personal preference, but a professional uses professional materials while the hobbyist can use the student grade.    

Oil paints can be sculpted, thrown, applied with any tool (so long as the chosen tool is disciplined), looks better than other types of paint, and we know that it can withstand the test of time.  I thought that I would have more to say being that I am so involved with oil paints, but I believe that simply stating repeatedly that oil paints are better than others is enough.  

2.3.2_How to stretch a canvas.

2.3.2  How to stretch a canvas.

  Regardless if the oil painter choses to work on canvas or panel, or never intends to stretch his own canvas, the student of oil painting is obligated to learn how to stretch a canvas.  Beyond the obvious lessons, knowing how to stretch a canvas teaches the student of oil painting the limitations and potential of the medium.  There are many ways to stretch a canvas.  This step by step illustration is the method I have found to consistently produce the best possible painting surface, with the most longevity.

  The choice of using staples or tacks to fix the canvas to the stretchers has consistently been debated by artists.  Tacks are traditional and painters have used them because tacks were all that was available to them.  Today staples are readily available, they are just as good and sometimes better than tacks.  Cheap staples or tacks will eventually rust, damaging your canvas and eventually causing mold to form between the stretcher and canvas.  If the oil painter choses to use tacks then he must realize that it is for the nostalgic philosophical reasons and not the structural ones.  Todays galvanized staples are every bit as good as tacks, and in most cases better.  Albeit, every oil painter should use tacks at least one time simply to experience of their use.  It is not the use of fixing the canvas to a stretcher that holds great importance, so the choice of tacks or staples is freely yours without consequence to your painting surface.  It is the method in which the artist actually stretches the canvas which is important.

  While fixing a canvas to a stretcher frame always work around the canvas in a counter-clockwise direction.  Working counter clockwise is a natural pattern so let that become a part of your muscle memory when stretching canvas.  Doing so might seam arbitrary, but it assists the pull and relax of the fabrics weave so it lays tight and parallel against the stretcher frame in a manner more according to the weave of the fabric.

  For what we are going to be doing you will need a few tools.  A ruler, scissors, a stapler, staples, hammer, an ink pen or marker, small pliers, and a pair of canvas pliers if you need them. 

Step One:  Build the stretchers making sure all four corners are square.

  The decision to use lightweight or heavy weight stretchers is both one of cost and need. For smaller paintings light weight stretchers are fine, and desirable for works less than 24 inches. Paintings on light-weight stretchers larger than 24 inches tend to warp and “potato chip” during the drying process.  Heavy weight stretchers are by far superior and will hold the canvas better. Modern stretchers are made to expand and slightly re-stretch the canvas though time.  Once the painting is completed, as in your done painting it, place the stretcher wedges in by pounding them into the inside corner slots, one at a time in the same order as stapling the corners of the canvas.  Do not use a glue to fix the stretcher wedges because they need to be moveable so as to help re-stretch the canvas as its weave settles with time. 

Step Two:  Let us start with a un-primed canvas.

  Right now we only want to line up the weave of the fabric to be as parallel to the stretcher bars as possible.  Lay the canvas painting surface down onto a soft surface, like a blanket or sheet, so as to not scratch the surface or cause the pattern of the fabrics weave to be displaced.  I use a large quilt to lay my canvas on.  You don’t have to go to that extent of protection as I do that because the pre-primed linen I use is very smooth and expensive and I don’t want to ruin my surface for applying oil paint.  Place the pre-built stretcher frame on top the back of the canvas then wrap the canvas over the stretchers, aligning the weave of the fabric parallel to the stretcher bars, overlapping the inside edge by an inch.  If your canvas is larger than your stretchers need trim off the excess while sizing.  

  Once you have the fabrics weave lined up with the frame staple the centers of each side pulling the canvas tight but not taunt.  These four staples are temporary, and you will remove them part way through the next step.  Then trim the overlapping canvas to match the inside edge of the frame.  You want there to be enough fabric to evenly lay around the entire stretcher bar and no more.  Then holding the canvas in place, staple the exact center of one of the longest sides.  Then stretching the canvas tight from the opposite side, staple its exact center.  Do the same for the remaining two sides, being sure to pull the canvas tight before you place each staple.  The purpose of this is to simply assure that the alignment of the fabrics weave is parallel to the stretcher bars, and to hold the canvas in place to prepare to stretch it to the stretcher fame.

Step Three:  Stretching the outside corners.  

  With the canvas set in place now start the stretching process with the corners.  You want to start your staples at the bottom line of the adjoining stretcher.  So if your stretchers are two inches thick, you want to start your corner two inches from the actual corner.  Chose one of the longest sides and first staple its left corner, pulling the canvas tight again but not taunt.  The placement of the corner staples should be in the center mass of the stretcher, lined directly with the adjoining stretchers inside edge.  Working in a counter clockwise direction, do the same to the remaining three left sided corners being sure at this point to pull the fabric taunt with each staple.  Repeat the process on the right sided corners of each, again moving counter clockwise around the canvas and pulling the fabric taunt.  

Step Four:  Split the middles.  

  Next remove the first four center staples used to hold the canvas in place, being careful so as not to damage the canvas.  

Then measure the distance between the corner staples on each side, mark the centers and re-staple for what is now the exact centers of each side, again moving in a counter-clockwise direction around the frame.  Pull each side of the canvas taunt before placing the staple.   Being sure that the staples are in the center mass of the stretcher width, keep measuring between all of the staples and mark off all the centers.  Pulling the canvas taunt, staple all the centers one at a time counter clockwise.  If your hands are not strong enough to pull the canvas tight use a canvas pliers to easily pull the canvas to the perfect tautness on the stretcher frame.  

At this point you should have 20 staples into the mix.  Again divide the distance between each staple in half, stapling each half mark between all the staples around the entire frame.  We now have 36 staples in the mix.  Repeating this process again and again until the staples are between two and four inches apart.  

  By dividing the staple points in this way instead of simply going once all the way around the canvas will naturally eliminate warping and ensure that the fabrics weave is stretched evenly as the it is pulled taunt equally over the total surface area while remaining parallel to the stretcher frame.  The more staples used to stretch the canvas the taunter the painting surface will be against the frame.  Do not go OCD on this.  The canvas is good and stretches when the staples are two to four inches apart from one another.  

Step Five:  Folding the corners in.  

  As a final step you will want to fold the excess canvas on the corners to form a forty-five degree flap.  Work in a clockwise direction, folding the corner to your left toward you.  It is extremely important that you fold each corner the same, all going in the same direction and tucking into the canvas in one repeated form.  Pull the material upward while tucking the excess canvas on the corners from the top of the fold under to the bottom edge of the frame.  Repeat the tuck, refolding it into itself then pressing the fold down flush with the exterior side of the frame itself.  Staple the fold to the frame along the folds edge with two or three staples.  This should leave a clean 45 degree corner on the outside edge of the frame with the fold on the back side.  You should end up with one fold per side.  

Step Six:  Letting it breath.

  Lean your finished canvas upright against a wall for a day or more to allow the weave to settle into its new position.  After a few days use a small amount of water on the back of the canvas to tighten it further if needed.  Be careful not to use too much water or the stretchers will warp, and the canvas will be virtually useless having an uneven surface to paint on.  The finished canvas should be taunt like a drum, making a deep reverberating sound when lightly tapped.  

  This method of stretching a canvas is the classical way, that my mentor taught me as it was taught to him.  This technique has been passed on for several generations of oil painters and is an invaluable lesson to learn.  Even if your going to end up slightly lazy as I am and purchase pre-stretched canvases.  I do suggest that the student of oil painting stretch a minimum of twenty canvases, and I bet you will do more than that.  I did.