Artwork of the month: True beauty.

This marble sculpture is one of the most beautiful marble busts that I have ever seen. It is on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  It will surprise you with its perfection if you let it.  

Jean Antoine Houdon

French, 1741-1828

"Portrait of Madame de Sérilly"

1780, marble

"Positively, my social philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: liberty, equality and fraternity.  Let no one however say that I have borrowed my philosophy from the French Revolution.  I have not.  My philosophy has its roots in religion and not in political science.  I have derived them from the teachings of my master, the Buddha."
-B. R. Ambedkar (founder of the Indian constitution)

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.

2.5.1_On mediums.

2.5.1  On mediums.

     Solvents and Mediums are used to dilute and cary color, increase gloss and transparency, reduce drying time, and avoid over-thinning.  There are many mediums that the oil painter may use.  I have taken my notes from the past on the mediums that I have worked with, given you a definition and my thoughts on each.  I found mediums useful to create many different appearances while exploring oil painting over the years.

     Poppy oil:  Poppy oil is a little thicker than linseed oil, and is very pale in its color.  Its better than linseed oil because it has longer non yellowing abilities, but poppy oil will crack and become brittle with age faster than linseed oil.  The abstract oil painter should just stay the hell away from poppy oil.  It’s delicate nature after it hardens has a tendency to crack easily and splinter into a multitude of cracks if used too heavily.  If you are looking for a cracked appearance in the long run, then use poppy oil.  

     Rectified turpentine:  Rectified turpentine, along with venetian turpentine are two of the best thinners for oil paint.  Or so I was told by a traditional realist while I was taking classes in classical realism.  I personally do not like it, as it is expensive and I can get the same effects with Gamblin Gamsol an odorless mineral spirit with a much lower price tag.  Rectified turpentine does have an ability to pull paint out of the bristles of a brush more effectively than other thinners.  

     Walnut oil:  Walnut oil is very thin when compared to linseed oil.  And will distort the consistency of oil paint, also it is one of the weaker mediums.  Think of a vanilla and chocolate swirl cake and thats what you end up with most of the time even if you are very careful.  Walnut oil will slow the drying time, and because of that I feel it has no place in the use of abstract art.

     Linseed oil:  There are many forms to linseed oil and it is probably the most popular oil painting medium out there.  It is affordable, has may uses, and is mostly consistent in its application.  I like it, if i do chose to use a medium then linseed oil is the one I prefer.  

     Cold pressed linseed oil:  It increases the transparency and gloss of paint, and slows the drying time.  It is best to use it alone, or the drying time will drastically speed up.

     Refined linseed oil:  It is the same as cold pressed, but heat and steam are added to the process to extrude more oil.  It is weaker than cold pressed.  The one quality that I love about refined linseed oil is that it magically removes brushstrokes.  It has the remarkable quality of reducing the marks of the tool you are using; a paint brush, palette knife or whatever you chose that day.  

     Sun thickened linseed oil:  This is simply raw linseed oil mixed with water and then set in the sun for a year or more.  It has an enamel like ability, and dries faster than the other linseed oil processes.  It is best used in glazes because of its ability to resist cracking and yellowing with age.  It is very expensive and unless you really need it, just go with a stand oil turpentine mix.  But again as a professional, the use of sun thickened linseed oil is a part of the heavy costs of being an oil painter.  It is worth the price-tag.

     Stand oil:  Stand oil is by far the most difficult and best medium an artist can learn to use.  Treating linseed oil with heat until a slight polymerization occurs creates stand oil.  It has a very thick consistency like that of honey, and is a pale or transparent amber color.  Its intended use is for the artist to thin the stand oil with a solvent before he mixes it with oil paint.  Stand oil is the strongest painting medium and will resist yellowing or cracking with age better than other mediums.  Stand oil also when used can reduce and sometimes erase all traces that a tool was used to apply the paint.  And because of that ability to rid a painting of the signs of brush stroke, it is best used in transparent glazing.  It takes forever to dry, and I mean forever.  

     My personal favorite is a mix of three mediums.  I found the use of 1/3 stand oil, 1/3linseed oil, and 1/3 damar varnish with a tiny amount (approximately 1 tenth of the total mix) of unbleached titanium oil paint, mixed evenly has the best overall effects in control of both the consistency of paint and the use of the brush.  Mix this in a blender until it becomes a froth, and then cover the medium and let is stand until the air bubbles are gone.  it will take about three days for the mix to settle.  When this mix is added to oil paint it becomes like a creamy soup, and is always consistent.  If your end result doesn't look and act like gravy then its not mixed properly.  

     As far as solvents go just simply use whatever you can find that works.  I like gamsol but I have used many others.  Whatever is on sale is what I buy.  Solvents are mainly used to clean your tools with, so there is really no need to spend big money on something that you intend to pour down the drain.

     I have experimented with non-painting intended solvents and oils for mediums.  I have used WD40 for the effect of sharp textured painterly strokes of color with oil sticks and oil pastels.  It was probably the best experiment so far simply because it didn't fall off the canvas in a year.  I take that as a successful test.  

     I do not use mediums at the moment.  I have found that if I work my oil-color on the palette I end up with a consistency that I like to work with.  Working purely with oil paints has its limitations, but we can go over that later.  As it goes with all for the arts, the use of mediums and solvents are a personal choice that only you can make.  

Artwork of the month: The most popular item at the MIA.

If there is one thing that I can count on at while working at the Minneapolis Institute of arts is that someone will ask me where the "Veiled Lady" is.

The Veiled Lady is the most popular work of art at the MIA. There is a good reason for it, it is simply amazing.   The marble was sculpted to look as if the woman was wearing a veil, and it truly captures the illusion.  This is a magnificent work of art.  Albeit, this type of sculpture was extremely popular in Italy during the late 1800's.  Regardless of this type of sculpture being common, this is a masterwork.

Raffaelo Manti

Italian, 1818-1881

"Veiled Lady"

1860, marble

Come down to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts...

...ask a security guard where it is.

Artwork of the month: Kandinsky's "Composition #8"

I discovered Wassily Kandinsky in 1996.  It was a portion in my life when I learning how to oil paint.  My work at the time were expressionistic abstract oils, all improvisational and without any preconceived thought.  After Kandinsky I began my work toward compositional oil painting.  Compositional oil painting is not simply working with the surface area of an oil painting, it is a philosophy.

I have traveled to the Guggenheim art Museum in New York seven times now simply to view this one oil painting.  Composition #8 is Kandinsky's peak, it was his best and although his work continued to progress ever forward conceptually, he was never able to reach that height again.

Wassily Kandinsky
Russian, 1866-1914
"Composition #8"
1923, oil on canvas

From this digital picture the lines look hard and solidly defined.  Standing in front of this you can see that they are also delicate and completed the first time the brush hit canvas.  Composition #8 is a treasured work of art and one that I will go spend some time with again very soon.


I should be painting instead of blogging...
...but you are reading so I keep writing.

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.  

My favorite picture from an exhibit.

This image is from the art major opening night.  The exhibit lasted 2 months, it was fun and i was able to acquire some commissions.

This is my favorite picture from opening night.

Thanks for checking in...

...more to come soon.

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.  

Artwork of the month: Prayer.

This oil painting at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is simply pleasing to look at.  It has no real light source, she is simply bathed in light within the darkness.  

Joos Van Cleve

Netherlands, died 1540 or 41

"The virgin on prayer"

1520-1530, oil on panel

Go to the Museum and spend some time with this...

,,,it is pleasant to look at.

Rabbititus studies.

I like this direction...

...now to work on movement.