Tag: equipment

Drawing

“Color always occupies me, but drawing preoccupies me” Delacroix

“Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter can’t draw but one who draws well can always paint.” Arshille Gorky

I always have a pocket pad on me, usually 3×5 inches, and then a slightly larger one in my ever present book bag. When I travel, what pads and accoutrements I have depends on length of trip, location and what else I will have going on while on the road.

It took me many years of trial and error but I have my trip equipment selection process down pat. For the past month or so I have been writing about equipment given to me by Royal Talens.  My current go to pad is by them, but I had discovered it long before they had sent me anything, Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

You can read my initial impressions:

Pocket Pad

I have never looked at drawing as a second class citizen in comparison to painting. No matter if I have spent the day painting or doing some of my other visual works, I draw an hour a night, every night. This woodshedding is akin to a musician practicing scales, but also one of my greatest pleasures in life.

I initially discovered water soluble graphite by complete happenstance. Once I had the mechanics down, I was able get painterly effects. When I work on my Cinefield® pieces, I can not draw as an under construction Cinefield® piece slowly dominates the space of my studio. But, I also do not want to let too long go without painting, which I end up missing.

Water soluble graphite work is the same as painting but in all greyish black tones. I can use my witting desk and do a piece in one session. I may not be able to paint but this was very close. Unexpectedly, I found that as I added to my graphite technique it helped my painting and vice versa.

I was just on the road and while it was a short trip, I had a lot going on. With this is mind I knew I would have no opportunities to paint. I brought my water soluble kit. Another important aspects of this medium which I like it how compact it is. 2x graphite sticks, a sharpener and one watercolor travel brush. I can literally put it in a coat pocket. If at a cafe I use a mineral water cap, in hotel one of the plastic cups to be found by the gratis bottles of dasni for water to dip brush into.

Here are some latest pieces:

by Wayne Wolfson

Brown Eyes/ Figs

Royal Talen was nice enough to send me equipment to try out (no strings attached). This is the next round of things I tried.

Rembrandt half pan set. The Rembrandt line is professional grade. The pigments are triple ground and suspended in gum arabic. The colors really pop and appear even with every brush stroke.

This set is twelve half pans. They come in a hinged black metal palette box with the logo on the lower left corner. It is compact enough to fit in a coat pocket and has a sturdy build. Two long struts cradle the half pans. Individual metal clamps hold each half pan in place. The entire strut is made to pop out, ease of doing so facilitated by two small handles at either end. This is so that you can replace the cradle once crimps are too loose.

(all pics by me)

Some painters have specific configurations for various subjects and places that they work. They have multiple cradles which they leave loaded up in work specific arrangements. One is popped out or in easily as needed.

There is a hinged metal cover that goes over the half pans when the box is closed. When the palette box is open it lays at an angle. This is a mini paint palette to mix or wet brush. The lid of the palette box can also be used as a larger three section palette or to hold water.

On the underside is a finger loop to hold the box while working plein air. In Paris, on Rue Mouffetard I have seen an aquarellist run a thick elastic through the loop, attaching it to her drawing board.

Some people intentionally want to work from a limited color palette. Others have travel in mind where luggage is often a factor. The size of this kit is perfect to suit either motive. This kit practically demands that one get out there, be it someplace in nature or an out of the way spot on the street, or perhaps a café table and get to work.

I do mostly portraits/ casual faces so some of included colors I would infrequently reached for. I did try all of the colors, they were all noticeably vibrant, easy to darken or lighten using an eye dropper and water (in a porcelain palette).

The kit comes with a travel brush/ A Rembrandt 110 Red Sable. This is a better-quality brush than is often included even with the bigger names in paint companies. It has a cap to protect it when not in use. It cleans up easily with water and watercolor brush soap.

There are water brushes which are a brush with fatter barrels into which you add water. Anyone who does street or café painting could use the kit as is in conjunction with a waterproof pen to create street scenes.

Draw the scene and use one or two colors to stand for in light and shadow (i.e. light blue for the front of a building, dark blue for the side in shadow).

The exciting thing about this kit is the possibilities. Two water brushes, a pocket pad, pencil and the palette box all could easily fit into two jacket pockets or the small section of a backpack.

The thing I have always liked about half pan sets is their portability. It is easy to swap out colors for ones preferred or as they run out, to replace them. Even though not all the colors included in this box were to my preference, I had already been using Rembrandt in my permanent studio set up. All the colors share the same properties and quality.

This set did get me enthused again about doing still life’s which in my body of work had sort of fallen by the wayside.

“Brown Eyes” 9×12 Rembrandt watercolor paper 140 lb cold pressed

“Fig” Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

Amanda

Still not sure when I am going to have a chance to take photos to use as source/fuel for my Cinefield® work. In the interim I have been enjoying painting and drawing in my trusty pocket pad. A few people had commented on noticing I had changed type of pad I use a few months ago.

Always on me now is Talens Art Creation Multi Media 4×4 inches. It stands up to blending I do when watercolor painting and same with water soluble graphite. A small thing, but which makes a big difference for the times I throw it in my bag instead of pocket is that it has an elastic which holds it closed. This means that the pages are never torn nor bent.

This piece is watercolor & multi medium paper 4×4 inches. As always, if you have interesting photo of yourself that I might be interested in drawing, drop me a line

by Wayne Wolfson

Going Under

When I first started seriously painting, I used a French cotton paper. I did not realize it at the time, but it is far less forgiving than the paper which I currently use (which is non-cotton).

I made the switch when the already up there price raised even more. There was much experimentation before I found the paper which became my main one.

In cleaning my tabouret draws, I came upon an unopened block of French Cotton paper. As my skill has increased from when I originally had used it, I was interested to see what I could do with it now.

My preference with cotton paper had always been cold pressed, but even with this, there is more tooth to the paper than what I currently use. This gives a sort of chunky effect when portraying flesh, watercolor impasto.

I enjoyed using this paper and I will work my way through the block but to my surprise I now prefer my current non-cotton paper. The cotton paper does not blend as easy, so getting effects I want with cotton paper will now make it “easier” with my preferred paper.

5×7 Watercolor & cotton Paper

by Wayne Wolfson

February 3

Compulsively, I read biographies on painters/artists and movements. I never restrict myself in regards to medium nor era. I notice that starting at about the time right before the impressionists, there was a common occurrence. A lot of artists had the same life trajectory with variations according to their personal temperaments and artistic voices.

There would be the years of learning followed by chrysalises period from which they would emerge with the base of what would become their distinct individual voice. Often, this would be followed by years of trudging forward while suffering through various slings and arrows of critics and the general public.

If lucky to still be alive, then once through this phase is the first blush of fame. Often times the fame would grow but it becomes sort of a trap. An artist starts to second guess themselves trying to hold onto all their hard fought for gains. This includes the temptation and pressure to merely repeat what had brought them their initial laurels.

From an artists point of view it becomes pandering where one pantomimes the familiar as to hear applause. Galleries don’t want to risk sales by the artist striking off in new direction. There is the danger that critics won’t understand or appreciate any deviation from what they like about an artist.

Even artists who mange to navigate all of this, when you read their biographies or “the letters of” type books they all comment on the same sweet spot of their careers.

It is when enough “fame” has finally happened so that they have met all of life’s basic needs (food, clothes, shelter et al) and can buy art supplies without having to think about the impact of any purchases on the rest of their lifestyle. The long gestated voice is recognized and appreciated but not to the degree that there can be no further evolution to it.

With no distractions from practical considerations towards daily living nor external pressures of audience, gallery or critics the artist is free to explore and follow their own North star.

This golden time is too often recognized only after it has passed.

In an attempt to buck the trend I try to take advantage of it as often as possible. Aside from a way of showing appreciation for my situation, it also fosters evolution.

Rarely do I do studies before doing a painting. This time I decided to, as to play around a little with compositional balance. Also, I decided to greatly increase the size of my work from the usual 11×14 inches to 25×30. when I paint it is usually flat upon my table. Because of the size, this time it was on an easel.

I have a great, heavy wood and brass easel which could be used for massive sized pieces. As I worked on lower sections of this piece, I sat on a stool with my feet on the bottom cross bar of the easel so that it looked like I was a windsurfer.

With my paints I always use half pan sets. I had been given a few tubes as a gift and decided to use those too. they required very much a different touch.

overall, I was very pleased with the results of this piece.

by Wayne Wolfson

(small) Murmured Songs

Tom Verlaine just recently died. His career had the dichotomy of he & his band Television even now constantly being cited as an influence. Yet he never broke big in the way that some of his direct CBGB’s peers like Blondie and the Talking Heads did. This isn’t a bad thing, as it allowed him to always do as he pleased with zero consideration for hits or video’s which would prove popular and remain in rotation.

One of the better remembrances I read was not by an artistic peer or current star who had been inspired by his work. It was an account given by a book seller that resonated with me and seemed one of the most appropriate send offs.

Strand’s Book Store in New York is, at least in America, one of the last of it’s kind. It is an institution. Tom haunted it’s aisles and the bargain carts out front year after year. People might have occasionally nudged one another with their elbows while nodding with their chin as he passed by but other than that he was treated as just another bibliophile on the hunt.

The book seller recounted the diversity of what he bought and cumulatively, the number of books he must now be in possession of.

I saw aspect of myself in all of this. When there is nothing that I need at an art supply store, if I happen to be passing one I will go in and wander around. This always leads to me buying a few pocket pads. I have one whole drawer in one of my tabourets that is full of small, odd sized pocket pads.

I always leave my preferred methodology to shake things up and foster evolution. Different exercises/series done besides my regular work as to learn more.

In my coat pocket or book bag there is always a pocket pad but I tend to use the same brand/size. There is no reason to be saving all the other pads and I am starting to run out of room. So I decided to just start randomly grabbing one and using it.

For my first series I added the challenge of not doing any shading and only using one specific pencil. These drawings are all intentionally executed quickly, often plein air.

125×90 MM

by Wayne Wolfson

Cinefield® Go,Baby Go

My collage work in a very short amount of time became part of who I am. I lamented the fact that for longer trips/residencies I would not be able to do them. I began to investigate ways to perhaps make it happen.

The easiest thing would be to just use magazines/newspapers from wherever I was. This didn’t appeal to me as I have always prided myself on only using images from photos which I personally took. I researched pocket printers.

My Cinefield® are very time consuming and how to get the images aside, I had already had it in my head that were I able to do them on the road I would go far smaller as it would render a trip pointless were I to spend entire time alone in studio working on a piece. I also have other creative things that I want to do while on the road and the way my normal Cinefield® are made would have eliminated that possibility.

Another practical aspect of going smaller is that all the pocket printers I was finding seemed to utilize types of film. I did not want the raw materials to become cost prohibitive in constructing them.

For obvious reasons it was important that the photos not be laminated which eliminated many of the choices.

I found a device which literally fits in jacket pocket and feels solidly built. It connects to phone via blue-tooth which allows me to use any/all my own photos. The film is not exorbitantly priced although I will stick to my normal paper when not on the road.

My in general goal for doing pieces on road is small in size and utilizing no more than one packet of film per piece. Time wise, no more than two days working on it as this will allow me to also paint, write and absorb wherever I am in the world still.

The small size allows me to also do other things for the hour or so at a time that I am pressing a piece (basically laying heavy books atop it to get rid bubbles).

The film required a completely different touch and technique. In general I have only done several smaller pieces. Surprisingly, they are harder to do than normal size. There is less room to create rhythm/tension & release. What were already small piece often need to be made even smaller.

This is my first piece using the pocket printer. As always, it’s only images from photos which I took utilizing my trusty scissors and adhesive applied via brush.

It is 4×5 inches. surprisingly, it only took seven photos (the photos for pocket printer are about the size of a business card) I did it in two days. I was pleased with result and the fact that I pretty much met all the “rules” I had in mind.

addendum:

The news is bleak. The internet is fertile grounds for scams masquerading as charities or people who want to help. A hero of mine, José Andrés has a charity whose goal is to feed those in need. It eschews any politics for the basic notion that you can change the world by feeding everybody. This charity is not solely concerned with the Ukraine, although they are boots on the ground there now. Over the past few years, wherever there have been natural disasters he and his colleagues could be found trying to help out via feeding those who are hungry for whatever the reason.

I recommend to all to at least take a look at their site as it’s worthwhile.

https://wck.org/

“Cinefield® Go,Baby Go” 4×5 inches

by Wayne Wolfson

Lyra

I have specific pens, pencils etc that I use. Of course I constantly challenge myself by using lesser quality equipment, it makes using preferred stuff feel easy. As far as travel kits, i am forever tweaking that, the cases and holders all my equipment goes into. I always have three kits; the one for just bopping around the city. This is the smallest and its just a refillable pocket pad, retractable pencil and in the pocket sleeve of the pad a blender or two. This is used as I sit in cafe or bar locally, just doing quick guerilla sketching. As a side note, this is always within reach of my hand and has been around the world with me. I realized that because of the pandemic, it saw zero action for a year plus! It has sat in drawer of one of my tabourets awaiting its chance to see some action. My other kit is for short trips four days or less of being away from home. This is pocket pad, 5×8 pad few traditional pencils of different degrees of hardness and two types mechanical pencil & blenders. It’s still fairly compact, easily carried in book bag. Short trips, I do not bother bringing any painting accoutrements. My last kit is for longer trips week or more and this includes paints etc. The long trip kit is the one i tweak the most often as it’s important for me to work but very quickly space within a suitcase can be taken up.

I discovered during the pandemic a small company that made cases geared towards road warrior artists. The case was very flat and it came loaded with “free” pencils, erasers and all kinds of other sketching swag. Obviously I have not had chance try it out on road. I did try the pencils and sharpeners. All of it was of such low quality it got thrown out. It contained a small cellophane pouch inside of which was three short, pudgy graphite sticks. It reminded me almost of tailors chalk. I had never used it before, so decided try for hell of it. I enjoyed challenge of it and was actually pleased with pieces i did. My way of thinking was that if I could make something happen with low quality version, then using some made by a quality company would be even better. I started doing some research. One thing i found was that the Lyra graphite sticks were said to be basically the same thing, with benefit of being able to sharpen to a point where as the sticks were basically short rectangles.

I had bought one along with a sharpener ages ago but had not used it. I started messing around with it and found i really liked it, the pieces I did were loose and had a painterly effect. Lyra also makes water solvable ones. I bought one to try. It is a game changer for me. It fits in my pocket and all i need is that and one brush and I can do monochromatic watercolors. This will allow me to paint on short trips and not have to up the equipment i take. The actual process is quicker than my normal painting and best of all, I do not need sunlight and can actually do these at night. Two things not possible with my regular painting.

here are my first tries with it. I am sure that the more I do this, the better i will get but I am already pleased with results.

by Wayne Wolfson

First Her Tears were Purple, Then Blue

I finally had to bite the bullet and get a real camera to photograph my work. This coincides with a greater complexity in my collages. Gone now will be the caveat accompanying images of my work;

“I just used my phone to take the photo, it gives one the gist of the work but not all the dynamics.”

Being a complete luddite, it’s going to take a little bit to become proficient with my camera. The timing of getting it worked out perfectly though as I just completed my most complex work. Ideal thing with which to try out new camera.

As is always the case, the components of the piece are from photos which I personally took. I work no digital magic on the piece, utilizing old school method of scissors & adhesive applied with brush.

I try to alternate between doing my painting and collage. The idea for this one came to me during dinner (the original sketch on back of grocery list pad). I decided to change up my rhythm and do another collage before a painting. Going forward, it will be interesting to see what added vibrancy will be added to my collage as I will be using a far superior camera to photograph my source material.

“First Her Tears Were Purple, Then Blue” 11×17

20200807_10454320200806_12435220200801_133718work in progress

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

by Wayne Wolfson

Time of Legend

I have a pretty good rhythm going in what medium I use. Painting, collage..And regardless of what I am working or just finishing, drawing every night. Within each medium I mix things up to keep it fresh. Different types & sizes of paper.

More often than not I prefer not to give concrete explanations of my work. I would rather each viewer forms their own opinions as to what it’s about/means.

“Time of Legend” is not meant to be mocking nor satire. Originally I had imagined the skin to show more signs of sunburn but thought the splotches of angry red would serve as visual prompts for a program which I did not intend.

“Time of Legend” is about someone completely comfortable in their skin. I am sure that there are moments when the model has dark nights of the soul. Unhappy with his lot in life, angry and sad that he will never get the (beautiful) girl or some other type angst. But for this moment, he was satisfied and living the life.

I imagine at the end of the day, he goes home sleepy from the sun, his phone rings. One of his friends desiring the Joie de vivre which he brings with him to gatherings:

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“I just got back from the park, I had the best sausage sandwich, got some sun.”

“You’re a legend man..”

 

“Time of Legend” 9×12 watercolor & paper

20200723_18465620200723_18471320200724_08332220200728_081916

by Wayne Wolfson