Still Life Underway

It has taken a while to get going... The first obstacle was choosing and finding an appropriate "canvas" to paint on. Store-bought primed and stretched canvas, while cheap, proved to be disappointing (made in China). I stretched my own canvas and primed it 3 more times, and the result was much better... But then I was persuaded to try painting on the best possible linen, primed with lead white (which won't flake or yellow)and mounted on archival-quality panels.

I bought and imported 2 ready-made boards from the States (New Traditions Panels), shown below. The first is baltic birch, sealed on the back with a triple coat of Polyurethane to keep the moisture out and minimize warping. The second is Dibond, a sturdy archival aluminum composite material made of two lightweight sheets with a thermal plastic core. Conservators recommend this panel because it's not supposed to warp.



The second obstacle was getting the canopy installed above the objects to create the shadows I want. Once that was done, I was able to finish the cartoon. Although I could have drawn directly on the panel with paint, I wasn't entirely certain how I would end up positioning the drawing. And so a paper cartoon gave me a chance to make changes without consequences. In the end, I made the drawing vertical and chose new dimensions: 12" wide by 16" tall.

In the photo below, the red squares represent the "Frame". After I snapped the picture, I noticed that tape holding up the red cloth behind the tea pot had fallen off, so the cloth is flatter than it should be...



As an experiment, I tried a different approach to transferring the cartoon to the panel. I first coated the paper with raw umber. The oil in the paint was soon absorbed, leaving only the pigment. I then positioned the cartoon over the panel and retraced the drawing with a knitting needle. The end result is below. It's cleaner than if I had used charcoal (the usual approach).

Varnishing Demo

November 23rd: I finally witnessed a demonstration of varnishing, given by Juan Martinez at the school.

The painting had been left to dry for over a year, although only 6 months is needed. Any earlier than that and there's a risk that the varnish will bond with the uppermost paint layers. And the lowest layers may not have settled yet.

Juan washed his painting gently with a damp cloth on a flat surface. Then he opened up a box of Gamblin's Gambar varnish and mixed the 2 components -- resin chemicals dissolved with solvent. GAMBLIN's is the best brand becase it does not yellow over time and remains easy to remove with mild solvents for cleaning in the future (so that the paint layers won't be harmed). Adding it as the top layer of a painting saturates the colors and intensifies the transparency of glazes.

Wearing rubber gloves, Juan mixed only what he needed and poured it into a flat pan. The varnish can't be stored for long once mixed. If it's kept longer than 6 weeks, the varnish loses its UV protection and other qualities.

Re: application.... Instead of a brush, he picked up a sponge edger (for house painting), dipped it in a pan of varnish, wiped off the excess, and then applied a single thin coat to the entire painting.



It looks like a coat of water. But the mineral spirits soon dissolve, leaving a glossy finish. After drying for 24 hours, the painting can be given a second coat to make it glossier. Only 2 layers are necessary.

I found an online demo from Gamblin here.

Old Iris Painting, new thoughts on composition

In 1986, I made this watercolour of a blue iris called "Victoria Falls". I wish I'd known more about composition at the time.

Here are some first principles I could have applied then (source: Michael John Angel's Pictoral Composition article on www.artrenewal.org)
-- a figurative element (even a flower) looks better when placed slightly-off centre
-- all things equal, the eye will go to the centre, or to that area of greatest contrast closest to the centre
-- the eye has a tendency to rise: when two elements are placed one above the other, the eye will eventually rise to the upper one.
-- elements need to be arranged in a comprehensible order, with a dominant element and secondary/tertiary elements ancillary to it.
-- there needs to be unity and variety. Unity (sameness) gives character; Variety (contrast) gives vivacity and life.
-- an anomaly (like a stray branch or flower) can call out to the viewer for attention, but if it's not the main focus, then it needs to be balanced with more anomalies placed around the dominant element. When the repetitions of the anomaly balance the dominant element(s), counterpoint results.
-- pure symmetry becomes boring in a small painting. Elements can be arranged asymmetrically, but balance is important -- lack of equilibrium makes us uncomfortable.
-- Asymmetrical symmetry is the most interesting form of arrangement whereby, for example, you can have a dominant element sitting on the vertical centre line and flanked by the same number of elements on each side, only arranged differently for variation (think of each side of a maple leaf).



So what would I do differently now? Make the central flower larger. Shrink the lower flowers and make them different sizes, placed at different heights, and use the bud as the equilizer (the balancer on a see-saw).