Green Onions

Green Onions
16 x 20, oil on linen on panel
@the artist

I haven't been painting the small daily paintings for weeks, now - first, because my work hours increased (which is good) leaving me precious little time to paint ( which is bad). And secondly, I realized that by concentrating only on the small format, I risked losing compositional skills necessary for larger works.

"Green Onions" is on one of the linen panels I documented in an earlier post titled "How To Make Your Own Painting Panels." I really enjoy working on the oil ground, although it takes getting used to - it's not as absorbent as the acrylic grounds. At first I had a hard time with the "brushy" aspect of the first layers of paint, but I've been studying an excellent book by Bob Rohm, titled "The Painterly Approach," and I'm starting to understand how to use the surface to my advantage.

This painting underwent several major changes as I went along, including scraping off several red onions from the foreground. It will probably never venture out of my studio, but I enjoyed the learning process and will most likely paint a version of this composition again.

Copper Pot with Lemons, Before and After

Katherine Tyrrell has an interesting post today about how artists learn their craft. It seems that artists aren't all that different from each other, or anyone else for that matter, as we all learn by a relatively simple variation of the same idea - learning to see what we have created, comparing that to what we wanted to create, and then discovering the techniques, approaches, or materials that will bring those two ideas closer together.

I am constantly learning, and while I one day would love to be able to take workshops from artists I admire, right now I have to find alternatives. One of the most effective methods for me has been to purchase instructional dvd's. I purchase rather than rent because, one, the artist benefits from the sale, and two, I can watch it over and over, when it's convenient for me. And because, since there is so much information provided, I may not realize I need to understand a certain concept until much later, so it's wonderful to be able to go back to watch something again when I'm not concerned with questions like "what color is he using."

However, not every dvd has information of value to me, so I have had to be more selective. Many of the dvd's made more than a few years ago have a different approach (more basic instruction) from those made more recently( mid to experienced artist ). My most recent additions include "In the Studio With...Sherrie McGraw."



This is one of the first still life paintings I did last year, when I decided to try something new. I liked it well enough. I thought the drawing was good and the overall composition pleased me. But I felt that the painting lacked weight, or presence, or...artistic craft. There. I said it. The painting kind of sucked.

So, after I watched Sherrie McGraw, I realized that I could take a second shot at this painting. McGraw had mentioned that she loved the actual painting process - as do I - and sometimes worked on a painting for several weeks until she was satisfied.

This was a form of "permission" to me, to let go of my fear of "overworking" - that dreaded comment so frequently thrown out to beginners at critiques. I decided that the painting would never see the light of day as it was, so why not? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a palette knife and scraped back the paint and started again.



As you can see, I added the lovely branches in the pot, with their dried berries. I scattered a few leaves into the foreground because I realized that I needed interest there to move the eye. I also knew I could suggest the forms and paint abstractly as a compliment to the lemons. I worked on the movement of light across and into the forms. I discovered new approaches to applying the paint. When I was nearly finished, but still stuck on how to best describe the light flowing over the copper pot, I stumbled on a solution. I turned off the overhead lights in my studio and painted using only the north light, with my spotlight on the still life set-up. Suddenly I could clearly see the play of light and shadow.

I am a lot happier with this improved version of Copper Pot with Lemons. I learned additional techniques, I discovered some strengths I hadn't full appreciated, and I can see progress. All in all, it was a good day.

Studio Tip for January

Keeping my studio neat and clean is always a challenge: there are aspects of painting that just demand mess, and I'd rather spend most of my time messing around in the stuff than cleaning it up.

But there are some useful strategies that I use consistently.



Here is an image of my painting set-up - and no, it isn't really slanted, I'm just photo challenged at times. I recently arranged my easel and palette in this configuration because, well, I think I saw where some really famous artist painted this way so I thought if I did, too, some of the creative talent would rub off...I digress....

I decided to try painting with my palette in front of me and between my body and my easel. I have a tendency to get too close to my painting surface and not step back enough, so I logically concluded that by putting a barrier here that would cure me.

I actually like the set-up now that I'm used to it. I discovered that with my still life setups, I am able to maintain proper perspective instead of looking from one position and then trying to paint and compare from another position. Maybe Cezanne would have sympathy for this predicament.

My studio tip, though, has nothing to do with all the above. I'm just feeling chatty today and writing about perfectly inane things.

There's the tip, actually two tips:

to cover my black table (seen here beneath my palette) I use adhesive, clear shelf paper. I pull it off when the surface gets too grungy and put on a fresh piece. Sometimes the left-over adhesive - from when I pull the old piece off -- remains on the surface but I clean that off with some Simple Green and careful use of a razor blade. I really don't know if it matters whether you use clear or solid shelf paper, I just like the black table to show through because it helps me with values.

On my watercolor tables (which I use for flat work) I cover them with freezer paper, shiny side face up, taped down. I use the clear packing tape because artist's blue tape doesn't hold very well on the shiny surface, and I like this side up because it cleans easily and keeps stuff from sinking in to the paper. Then whenever I want a clean workspace, I replace my papers.

Tips from my Studio

Here is another tip I recently discovered.

In cleaning up after several days of painting, I discovered that Mr. Clean's magic sponge makes it easy to get my palette knives back to shiny new and works well on the dried gunk that ends up around my brush cleaning jar and the edges of my palette. I use a razor blade scraper and "Simple Green" spray cleaner on the palette itself, then wipe clean with paper towels. The Magic Sponge works nicely if you get a bit of oil paint on your hand, too, although repeated scrubbing does tend to chap the skin, so if you have a lot of paint to remove, use baby oil and then soap. (Usually I wear latex gloves to paint, but sometimes I get lazy, or I pick up a dirty rag or paper towel. And my brush handles have been known to get messy, too.)

Always be sure you have plenty of ventilation in your studio. I have a box fan in one window that I use to exhaust the air, and another in a different window that sucks in fresh air. I also have an air purifier but I know that eventually I will have to upgrade to one of the ones made specifically for artists. At least the air quality is better than that I experienced in art school.

Best Summer Tip So Far

I read about this tip on the Daily-Painters group that David R Darrow hosts. I've tried it and it works.

To keep your oil paints wet on the palette for a long time, mix a drop of clove oil into the paint. You can get clove oil at any health food store. Not only did it keep my paints "skin-free" for over 2 weeks, the clove smell is a wonderful alternative to "oil paint" and I didn't notice any problems with the drying times for the paint once it was on the canvas.