Black Is (And Isn't) A Color

James Gurney has just published the best explanation of the properties of black that I have ever seen. He has done a four part examination of its use as a pigment, in composition, and properties as a color...or not.  This last installment was my favorite.  As it turns out, it depends on the context of the discussion, and its relation to other colors.  This man is a heck of an educator!

If you don't read his blog yet, I highly recommend it.  GurneyJourney.blogspot.com

Sargent's Methods

I've been reading the book John Sargent, by Evan Charteris.  Sargent is one of the greats of portraiture, and my work has been leaning that direction lately, so I've been doing my research.  This book was written shortly after his death, by someone who knew him personally.  It contains statements from his students, and is generally a close look at his life.  Most important, it talks about his methods, not just examines his work.

In the last couple of pages I read, I learned that he preferred to work on the mid tones, and lift the lights and deepen the shadows from there.  Let me tell you, this is a GREAT way to work!  It's my favorite way to work on drawings, in fact.  So why have I never tried that in a painting?  I haven't a clue.  But I'm going to now!  Can't wait to share the results!

I've also recently started posting photos to my Blue Canvas account.  I found it through the magazine first.  It's one of my favorites, and features a wide variety of mediums and styles of art.

Check me out here!

Inducing Creativity

Wednesday night, I went to a concert to see Gypsyhawk and Kadavar.  I was tired, it was a long drive, and we paid $20 to park, thanks to the Cleveland Indians game that night.  It was worth the trip - it always is - and I also had an interesting experience.

While listening to Kadavar, I kind of spaced out.  I found myself closing my eyes, and envisioning a painting I'm developing.  I'm just in the sketch phase, at this point, but I could see it come to life in my mind, and I really wanted to drive the 2.5 hours back home just to work on it.

So was it the laid back, jam-style of the music that stimulated the artsy parts of my brain?  Was it just the late hours that I don't often see, thanks to my work schedule?  Was it just exhaustion?  It warrants some experimentation... on myself....  What can I do to induce the most creative state?

Watching Paint Dry

I have learned an important lesson.  Not all brands of oil paint have the same dry time.  I had a bit of a false start on a painting, and covered the whole thing with white.  It is a brand new tube, and a brand I hadn't used before.  I expected it to dry in a day or two, but parts of it were soupy after a week!  Wen I've mixed it with other colors, it has dried much more quickly.

In order to finish this painting on time, I'm going to have to add some cobalt drier.  You have to be careful when using drying additives.  If the paint dries too quickly, it can crack.  The additive itself is dark blue-purple, so it can discolor the paint, too.  I'm going to start making test cards just for dry time on new paint!

Unfortunately, there is no way to really accelerate the process.  Oil paint doesn't dry by evaporation like water-based paints do.  Rather, the paint oxidizes, which causes it to solidify.  Once you've got it on canvas, you pretty much just have to wait it out.

I like to have a couple of pieces going at the same time.  I can work on one painting while the others dry, and have them on a sort of rotation.  It also helps each painting stay fresh for me.  It's a system that has treated me very well.

The Iron Lady

It seems like I need two tries to get these portraits right.  I get no less preactice by painting the same face twice.  That's why s o many artists have zillions of self portraits!

Margaret Thatcher

Rendr Sketchbook

Because I have been practicing capturing likenesses, I decided that I wanted a sketchbook for that alone.  I've also been using wet mediums much more, so I needed a sketchbook that would allow for that.  Wandering through my local art supply store, I found this Rendr sketchbook, which claims to have no show-through pages.

We all know that traditional sketchbooks cannot begin to claim that.  Rendr achieves it!

Here's the sketch I did of Kelly MacDonald in gouache.  The pages curl, but that can be remedied by just closing the book for a while.  But does the paint show through? 

No.  Not at all!  I'm impressed! 

What other sketchbooks would you recommend for this type of work?  Do you keep sketchbooks for separate subjects?

Painting with the Shortcut

The other day, I bought an angled brush with a stubby rubber handle, and wished I had done it sooner.  May I introduce to you the Wooster Shortcut.  

I get a nice clean line edging, and the handle is easy on my hand.  It makes for a very fast paint job.  I highly reccomend this, if you're painting your house!  

Oil Painting Paper?!

I have this feeling that I'm late to the party, but there's apparently paper designed for oil paint!  I love painting on the smooth surface of board as opposed to the texture of canvas.  This might change my world forever.  Seriously folks, FOREVER!