Sad Woman

Sad Woman was drawn from life in 2008. It's on paper, about 15"x22."

I spent today at a workshop taught by Steven Saitzyk at Art Center College of Design. The topic was "Mastering Oil Painting," basically a tour through the materials and techniques oil painters use, with thoughtful and informed explanations for why things are done the way they are--and with recommendations for best and safest practices. This was enlightening in many respects and money well spent on my part because it provides a framework for analysis of future painting issues, as well as answering specific, immediate questions about safety, solvents, oils, paints, media, varnishes, and supports.

One question the workshop answered was whether it makes any significant difference to our environment to give up using pigments made from toxic metals. The short answer, I believe at this point, is no, if the paints are used responsibly. Additionally, because of the relatively short history of modern paints that do not use these toxic metals, while there may not be known problems with some of them, this does not mean they are not harmful. The bottom line, I think, is to use what works best for the particular application, but use it as carefully and responsibly as I can.

Three Oil Sketches from Life, 2008

These are oils on 12"x12" squares of cardboard. They were painted from life, in Ron Llanos' painting class at ACAN. Cardboard is a wonderfully soft and textured surface to paint on--and you can frequently get it for free. The obvious drawback is that it probably won't last as long as other supports, but I did gesso (prime) these cardboards before painting on them, so they are somewhat protected.

Adding glazes and modifying Lorena 20"x24"

The portrait of Lorena finally got dry enough for me to try applying some glazes. I used M Graham's non-toxic walnut alkyd medium for oils, mixed with small amounts of paint.







Note: The top photo is of the eyes after I read pasadenaadjacent's comment and re-painted; the lower is of the askew eyes pasadenaadjacent commented upon. The last photo is of the whole portrait, as it now looks.

My 2008 student version of Gustave Courbet's Early Self-Portrait, aka "Is that Johnny Depp in fancy dress?"

Gustave Courbet painted his dramatic self-portrait very early in his career. My copy (from an 81/2"x10" reproduction of the original painting), posted here, is on cardboard in oil paint. The original is astonishingly good--and also astonishing because apparently Johnny Depp has a look-alike in another time and place. (Great jumping off place for a science fiction story).

As general matter, I learned a lot by copying the work of others. This (finding something you liked and copying it in grays in the same size as the original) was an assignment in Ron Llanos' painting class at Art Center at Night. (If you're curious about Ron's critique, he thought it was okay, except for the whites of the eyes, which I made too white. He was absolutely correct. I didn't go back and change the painting, so the error is still visible.)

Getting Some Paint on the Canvas

After the initial sketch, I stopped for several hours. I was intimidated by the white space. Usually, if I am starting a fresh canvas, I start not with a sketch but by putting down an underpainting. Mine is usually some mix of paint colors that are dark. I tend to use paint colors that are less opaque, like ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and Indian yellow, but really it's also just as often whatever I have the most of that is left over on the palette from my last painting. I apply it as fast as I can with the largest brush that I have and usually rub it with a paper towel so that it's uneven and very thin in places, so the white of the canvas shows through. Basically, I mess up the canvas deliberately, so that I can then be fearless about painting on it.

With this painting, I have titanium white, Naples yellow, azo yellow, transparent yellow iron oxide, naphthol red, anthraquinone red, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, manganese blue hue and olive green on my palette. I mixed the paint with a palette knife to get some more neutral colors, then used my three-inch hardware store brush first, then my two-inch hardware store brush, then an approximately one-inch flat hog bristle brush to apply this paint. (I changed brushes mostly so that I could paint quickly, without wiping off the brush in between.) I also used my dark oil bar to paint lines.

Lorena 20"x24": Work in Progress

This oil portrait is much larger than life and presents a new challenge. I'm still working on it and thinking about it, but I feel it is going in a good direction.

I'm trying out some new paints: M Graham, which are walnut-oil-based, rather than linseed-oil; they flow better and stink less. (I learned about these paints from reading another blog, rue Manuel bis, at caseytoussaint.wordpress.com.)

I'm also trying out using oil bars (I have a black and a white) and I'm liking what they can do in terms of mark-making. The oil bars were a suggestion of Anne Saitzyk's. I also was inspired to try them by looking at the blog My Journey With Art, at rjoynerartworks.blogspot.com (he paints in acrylics and uses crayons or a squeeze bottle to make his marks on paintings). (Both blogs I've mentioned are on my blog list, if you want to check them out.)

LA Boy and His Dog

This painting is of a young man hugging his puppy in a Silver Lake coffee house.

I painted from a photo taken by my daughter, Amanda. The support is an approximately 20"x26" oak board, that I primed in clear gesso. This is the first painting using pieces from the 4'x8' board that I got from the hardwood store, and it's the first time I've used clear gesso.

Blue Back

This is another large drawing done from life at Spring Studio in New York in 2008. I used markers and pastel.

The size of the drawings tended to be dictated by what I could comfortably roll up and carry away with me (usually around 18"x24", up to about 2x3 feet). The papers I used were mostly printmaking papers I found at Pearl Paints or Dick Blick. In general, I draw on the most tactilely appealing paper available to me.

LA Day:Red

This is a painting in progress. I started it yesterday and will want to wait a day or two and look at it again to see what I want to add/change. It is on a 16"x20" canvas and has its origin in a cell phone photo I took this winter at the old LA Farmers Market.

Although I paint in oil, I don't use any turps or turps substitute. Clean up is by wiping as much off the brushes as possible and then washing/rubbing with soap and water. The brushes are actually in better condition than when I used Gamsol.