Painters Thread

Abbie, I like your panting... like the one I'm posting below, it's deliberately unfinished. I like to do figure drawing, in pencil, from live models. Most of the pencil sketches are, to be frank, visually boring. This one's a copy, in paint, of one of my drawings... with color added to create more contrast and visual interest. I left some parts unfinished, on purpose, to expose the process. The pastel-colored canvas toning paint, with the overpainting unfinished helped the composition and contrast a lot. The roughly blocked in shapes & contours of the hands & arms gave the image more texture & gesture. Not everyone is going to like this painting, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Does anyone else leave their artwork unfinished, because it's more interesting that way?

What do my pallettes look like?

Some years ago I installed a oak laminate flooring for a client. I kept all the offcuts over about 12 inches long (they are about 8 inches wide) and I use these as pallettes.

They last a long time, because when I finish a painting I scrape off the excess and give it a wipe with white spirits. However sometimes they are left too long and are thrown away.

Hi Andy,
That would work. I use white plastic disposable plates. Acrylic paints stay wet for a long time -- sometimes more than a week -- if you spray them with water and store them in a sealed gallon size ziplock bag.

I like that idea of exposing the work Cheryl. Good idea :D

Andy ... that sounds a great way of using the offcuts. Mine are very boring.

I use an old plate and tin foil. I use one foil for say the greens of the trees, then another for the main colours. When the painting is over I crumple them up and throw them away

Well... you exposed your work, the drawing, the blocked in colors of the boat...
... which gave me the idea of posting "Unfinished Blonde."

I take it you don't tone your canvas (start with a neutral value wash) before you start to paint. It's hard to tell in an onscreen image, but the white area looks like raw canvas, with pencil.

I don't use pencil, sometimes the graphite gets into my paint *after* I've started brushing on the canvas -- the gray streaks that can get into in the wet paint are super annoying... I just draw with paint, and once the lines are dry, they don't mix with the next layer of wet paint.

Cheryl, isn't there something you can use to seal the pencil before painting with oils? For acrylics, Mat medium can work but then it changes the properties of the canvas. That's why I don't use pencil anymore either.

Vanessa, that's a good question, whether a sealant would work. I could probably just spray it over with clear acrylic... that acrylic floor shine (can't remember the brand name right now) should work. I also read some articles that suggest using a pencil with very hard graphite, not a No. 2 pencil or softer drawing pencil. I just went with drawing with paint.

Cheryl, you can use fixative to seal the drawing,

When I need to use pencil, I use colored pencils. No graphite smears.

I used to use glass for palettes. Back in the day, acrylic was much more plastic and you could peel the dried paint off. No water needed.
You can still use a single edged razor

I prefer disposable everything. Plastic plates, dollar store tablecloths instead of tarps. Fast cleanup.

Best tip for the ladies: acrylic nails. Paint just slides off and your finger tips and don't ever look gross.

RE: colored palettes.
I've used aluminum foil... the grey color is a mixed blessing... sometimes it helps with getting the values of the colors right -- I can gauge the value by comparing how dark the paint is with the grey... other times it screws me up, the colors look different on the canvas than they do on the grey aluminum.

It messes with my color perception, like those optical illusions, where you put two different colors next to each other, and depending on which colors/values are next to each other, you can change how you perceive the color.

Andy: Does the brown surface of the oak affect how accurate you are with mixing colors?

"Please add images where you can (f you do not know how to add an image without having to upload here, please [[read this ]] '

This is what I got when I clicked on read this:
Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?
It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Hyoye,
Do you use the fixative with acrylic paints?

I do use pencil with watercolors, it's the acrylics that seem to sometimes pick up the graphite.

Marlene,
Colored pencil. I'll have to try that when I want to get detail into the preliminary sketch.

I also use glass table with heavy glass, I attached white paper under the glass so I can see the color better. That is my palette, so easy to clean with joint compound knife. I also have coated paper plate I got them from the dollar store. They are in my drawer at all time. I use them frequently

Cheryl, this might work for you: with glass, you can slide/tape a piece of paper underneath with one color and swap it out with white later.

My palette for acrylics is a Masterson Sta-Wet palette box with a piece of glass in the bottom that's been painted gray on the backside. I prefer mixing on something smooth and solid like glass. I just mist the paint piles every now and then with an atomizer to keep them from skinning over and just before putting the lid on to store them. I've kept paint piles usable for weeks this way.

I just ordered a ceramic palette for the watercolors yesterday, will be here some time next week. It was pricey but I believe I'll love it.

Graphite smearing doesn't bother me because I use the paint thickly, even in the beginning since I use glazing medium rather than water to dilute the paint. Lately though I'm finding I don't really need to do an underdrawing, it gets obliterated after the first couple layers anyway and I start out painting so fast and loose that underdrawings really weren't helping much anyway.

Hi, Cheryl so good to see you and Vanessa here. I was wondering.
I don't do Acrylic that often but you should try fixative. it should work. i love fixative it dries fast.

Vanessa,
Yes, I could get some different gray papers, and swap them out. Or use a clear plastic... anything, plastic plate, thoroughly washed clear plastic food container from the grocery store...

I don't like using glass... I feel compelled to tape the edges so nobody gets cut if an edge chips or something. The edges of the plastic plate mostly keep the plastic zip-lock bag from touching the wet paint.

I have a lot of pieces of glass that I removed from commercial picture frames that I used to frame canvas-board paintings... remove glass, insert painted canvas board. Replace painted canvas board as needed.

I keep the glass stacked on a shelf, pre-cut glass in standard frame sizes could come in handy some day. I'm pretty careful not to leave them lying around... kids, cats, spouses...

Hyoye,
Drying fast is good (-:

David,
Yes, the underdrawing goes away pretty quick once you start applying paint. It might be nice to occasionally reconstruct a detailed part... draw on top of whatever layers of paint have already been applied...

Marlene's colored pencils could be good for that because if I were doing, for example, some grapes, I could choose a colored pancil that is similar to the grapes & if I wasn't careful to paint on top of every bit of line in the pencil drawing, it wouldn't show much.

Although once I'm into the painting part, I don't really want to change art supplies... I just want to keep going with the paint.

Cheryl - "Andy: Does the brown surface of the oak affect how accurate you are with mixing colors?"

No more so than if I used one of those expensive wooden pallettes from the art shops. I've used them for so long now that I must have become seasoned to them.

I find that the room lighting is more of a problem. Our living room (where I paint) is a sort of peach colour, in the evenings with artificial lighting everything has a slightly orange hue and that I find very off-putting.

Andy,
I paint in our dining room -- my husband hasn't succeeded in evicting me from using the dining room as a de facto studio (yet). It matters what time of day I paint, sometimes I get sideways light in through the window, & it changes how everything looks. I have to wait until the sun moves.

Cheryl, I have one Acrylic painting here in the FAA. As you know it dries really fast, so if you make mistakes you just do it over on top.. Mythoi garden I did that is an Acrylic I didn't do drawing at all. That is truly a spontaneous painting.

Andy, Room color does make things different. My studio was blue but now I have changed to white. I am very happy. I can see the color much better.

This one is loose and expressive -- I didn't do any drawing.



This one I really had to do a drawing, it matters if, for example, the angle of the pitcher's handle or the perspective on the coffee grinder isn't right.

I really like that garden. That style is beautiful !

Thank you! It's a completely imaginary place... Mythoi Garden is lovely, I love the bridge and the hint of fish in the water.

Floyd try now

VIVA -
I finally got back to your Silver Fire paintings. They're wonderful... I liked them anyway, but I like them even better when I click on them through your profile, making them bigger on the computer screen shows how you left the under-painting / raw canvas / parts of the drawing exposed, as part of the composition. I really like the sea green under-painting in "Silver Fire 1." Unusual and very effective.

Sorry it took me so long to go back to get a closer look at these. {-:

********
Alfred:
There are advantages and disadvantages to the whole world being able to see everything online ! (lol)

Actually I can not imagine under what scenario it would be actionable to sketch a stranger. UNLESS one put their image on products for commercial sale. One off works of art are protected. So say all the "legal" scholars here and on the net. If it's on the internet it must be true. BTW most I have been able to contact or have found me are flattered. So, there is that.

Kevin, the strangest thing happened to me, perhaps you should read my earlier post:

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2485147

Speaking of sketching strangers,
I will be doing just that tomorrow for 4.5 hours.
I have to go to bad girl's driving school. i sure hope the class is filled with interesting people!

I'm looking for creative ideas for storing finished art. Sad to say I have quite a bit of it.

Karyn, I saw a brilliant studio somewhere. Im trying to find it again for ideas as I also am inundated with canvasses right now, some I have to keep for a while, safe

Just came back to this discussion and see where some are discussing sketching strangers, etc.

I have been doing a lot of this when my wife and I are at the book store reading and after I've looked thru all of the good art magazines.

I take my Ipad and sketch other people reading, working on their lap tops, or waiting in line for coffee. Also I do "paintings" with the Ipad.

Both sketches and paintings are done in ArtRage.

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

Karyn Robinson
"I'm looking for creative ideas for storing finished art. Sad to say I have quite a bit of it."

Welcome to the club! LOL

Marlene-
"I have to go to bad girl's driving school. i sure hope the class is filled with interesting people!"

Marlene, probably the most interesting person will be the one at the front teaching the class... you know...the one who decides if you pass or fail. Good luck. :-)

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

Adjustable on wheels art storage system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6duggCsHmA

Bill,
its just a money making business here in Tucson...photo radar $337 ticket or $239 to go to school.
1/2 mile further down the road and photo radar is outlawed in the county where i live.
No quizzes, no tests...just show up and fork over the cash. There's an approved school in Phoenix that has a comedian teach the class....

Natalie, that looks great.

Actually, I think I have an idea that I may try this weekend.

I started painting small about a year ago and I paint on gesso board. Most of my pieces range in size from 8 x 10, 11 x 14, or 12 x 16. I wonder if I could use a file cabinet and place the pieces in hanging files in the cabinet. Hmmmm.... I have an unused cabinet in my closet, time to give it a try.

what about under the bed art?
I have high ceilings and am able to stack canvasses on the closet shelves standing up....about 8 deep.

Watercolor takes up less space!

That's one reason why I paint mostly on 1/8" panels, though above 16"x20" I find they need to be cradled to be stiff enough for the way I work so they lose their thickness (and price) advantage then, I don't often work that large though.

Edit: I see you have been painting on panels now. I just put mine in a box, leaning vertically against each other sitting on a table with more boxes under the table. Can't really stack the boxes when paintings stick up out the top of them. Anyway, that arrangement makes it easy for me to thumb through them if I need to.

@Alfred,
and SOLD ones, take up even less!!! ;0

yes, Marlene, the sold watercolor is easy and cheaper to ship, just roll up in a tube.

http://youtu.be/1H58VvBHWXk

I hope this link works. Fellow artist Erin Hanson at work. Intresting palette!

I just finished this image - I had been working on it off and on for 2 years.. whenever I had the energy it needed.. it is a combination of pencil, watercolour, and oils. It is a drawing of my higher self (I am a spiritual leader) an I feel there is a lot of positive energy that comes off of it.

When I do art I funnel energy into it - either my own or energy from another source. I often listen to the type of music that has the energy I wish to funnel into an artwork when I work on it - I find it changes how I work on the art which helps give it an energy :)

enjoy!



---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

Talking of palettes - I was at an art fair and one artist there used a blank white canvas as his palette. At the end of the day he scraped off the residual paint so he could use the "prepared" canvas as underpainting for his next painting.

That's a clever idea, won't work with acrylics though.

Andy, I use to use white canvas for a palette. it works good, produced many abstracts after words, My husband likes keep those.

Does if this is true? I came across it in a google search for oiling out.

"Writing on Back of Canvas

....the information should not be written on the back of the canvas. The pressure of the writing instrument will put stresses on the painting which will eventually appear on the front of the painting. Also chemicals in the ink can have an effect on sizing and ground reducing the ability of the paint to stay attached to the canvas."

I always sign my paintings on the back of the canvas with a sharpie pen. I put the title and medium.

I keep any kind of markers away from paintings, you never know what they'll do to them over time, they like to bleed through. I instead make labels printed on cardstock on my computer with the name and size of the painting and my name printed out. Then I sign the label, (sharpie is okay for this.) then I use varnish to glue and seal the label to the back of the painting.

Interesting idea. Wonder how a label with lines for the info would work or a pr-printed label. Like COA

That's a fun idea, except the label could be peeled off by someone later on..

As far as storage problems go, that is one reason I have switched to using colored pencil so often. When I was working in paint all the time there was one year that I did over 130 paintings. Colored pencil is easier to store and it is also naturally a slower medium so I can't accumulate as many so fast. I still love my paint though and go back to it a lot.

"That's a fun idea, except the label could be peeled off by someone later on.."

This is why I glue and seal them with varnish, they won't come off without a certain amount of destruction, definitely not on their own!