Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter can’t draw, but one who draws well can always paint. Arshile Gorky
Drawing is the intellectual basis for painting. Matisse
As I continue to work on my novella & paint, i also draw daily. This always gives me great joy. It need not be a work others will see nor even one i will keep. A pencil nubbin on a scrap of paper, serving the process in this humble way excites me as much as one of my serious framed works.
I have a mission in what I want to do, convey emotions so that the viewer comes away feeling something. However, there are not specific parameters of what I will draw/paint to meet this goal.
I prefer the real, which to me is always beautiful, over the conventional notion of beauty. I am fortunate to have a stable of people who model for me, trusting me so that what I get is not the studied, academic poses but rather the more real.
Mostly I used Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches This is a mix of pencil pieces and water soluble graphite.
Fall is unarguably here. I am once again in process of becoming familiar with when the ambient sunlight is where I need it to be for painting.
As I continue writing my novella I paint, changing up the size and style of paper for each piece. This one is done on Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches .
I am currently working on a novella and so will devote my allotted time for visual works towards painting. At the end of the day of working in full sized painting currently underway I had a little bit of paint left in my palettes.
I used it to do a smaller work. I did this for same reason I use pencil extenders when down to nubbins, not out of cheapness but as further sign of deep affection for serving the process. (I will say though, for someone who is constantly drawing etc, it does add up)
“Reflexive” This piece was done in my trusty Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches
Also few spontaneous photos I took as I worked, the poetics of the everyday.
Addendum: “How not to Look Like an Ass While Living History”
Yesterday, regardless of what side one might feel they are on or even what country residing in, was historic. While I do not begrudge someone not wanting to make a statement or gesture via their social media sites, in such cases the best thing to do is silence.
It looks tonally weird (and deaf) for some huge thing to be occurring and in the midst of it trying to rack up likes or views for what one does as if just another day.
No one’s career has ever been made via one blog post nor tweet. It can wait a day, I assure you. To think it doesn’t matter if one does not live in the country in which a thing is occurring is to get it wrong too. We, all of humanity are connected. Ironically, this notion seems to be forgotten more and more even as it becomes easier to interact with those afar from us.
It is not our duty necessarily to provide commentary or messaging on an event as it occurs, but it definitely is weird to ignore an event by acting as if it’s not happening. Years down the corridor of time:
“What were you doing when the regime fell grandpa” or “What were you doing when this huge thing happened Grandpa?”
“Me? Well Billy I was trying to get at least fifty likes for my latest blog post/I was trying to get people to listen to my band’s cover of a cure song on youtube.”
Still deep into working on my latest Cinefield®. Locked into a groove, my studio has been overrun by sheets of paper upon which rests tiny confetti like pieces of paper.
In the interim, I continue to draw every night. I have mainly been using my trusty Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches while also finishing the other pads in varying states of completion I have on my desk.
Here are some of what I have been doing, the joy for me serving the process even if only with a pencil nubbin on a scrap piece of paper:
In case you missed it I got a nice showcase which goes into my modus operandi:
The painter Phillip Guston said that when one paints, at first everyone you know is in the studio with you and one by one they drop away until you are left only with the painting. I understand that, the pleasure of serving the process, everything else is temporarily suspended, where will the painting end up etc etc.
I am in the middle of typing up all my notes & stories from Europe. The visual work that I do, it is work but it isn’t. I have been going at a steady clip with my paintings but not because of any specifically set tempo. The visual work becomes a respite from the challenges of other things. Ideally, if nothing else my work offers people a brief cessation from the doomy bleakness of the news.
My paint palettes are now exactly as I want them, incorporating professional grade half pans from several companies.
This piece is 9×12 watercolor & Rembrandt cold press/fin grain 140 lb
An amazingly busy but rewarding week. I decided to do two small paintings. My paint set up in the studio is now a mix of several companies professionally rated half pans.
Once one is at a certain point quality wise, it becomes a matter of preference which is dictated by the artist’s style but also the inherent properties of the equipment. In explaining this concept to a fellow jazz-head I gave the analogy that it is the equivalent of Miles and his horns. No matter what he played on, his distinctive voice was ever present. However, he did have certain horns he used for ballads, for cookers et al. In this way it is a collaborative effort between artist in equipment. So it is with the various papers and the set up of watercolor half pans I utilize.
Both these pieces are done on Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches
Unfortunately with my last trip, I did not get any photos which would serve as the raw material for my Cinefield® work. I legitimately miss working on them, which lasts until I am two weeks into one and I start to see little pieces of paper confetti in my dreams.
I continue on with painting. This piece is 9×12 Rembrandt paper which was given to me by Royal Talens. It is professional grade cold pressed 100% cotton. I have often used French cotton paper and that absorbs pigment quicker which makes it less forgiving in regards to blending or correcting a spot. As with all professional grade equipment, it becomes less which is better and more a matter of personal preferences.
Just in time to once again hit the road, I have now integrated the new paints which I had been trying out permanently into my studio & travel palettes.
Of course I have note added all of them but that is just matter of color preferences in what I use for my work. I have found that once a thing, be it whisky, paint et al is of a certain quality it is not a matter of which is better but more personal preference.
Certain brand’s colors are better for specific things than others i.e one brand’s red or pink better for base coats in showing skin while another better for showing bruises, capillaries et al.
Now that I know the new paints, i have started experimenting with them on all different types of paper.
Annabeth first time using tan paper w/my new set up. Strathmore Toned Tan Mixed Media Paper 11×14 184 lbs
Croc ClipTalen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches
If interested in what comprises my new paints see previous four posts which give details
Royal Talens were nice enough to give me some supplies to try out (no strings attached). My initial, more technical posts can be found on these two links:
For these two pieces, I used half pans from the two sets sent to me which I previously wrote about, incorporating them into my preexisting palettes which include half-pans by Sennelier, Schmincke Horadam and Charvin.
Once at the professional level paint quality/grade wise, it is not about which is better. It is not even necessarily about brand preferences. I have found each brand had specific qualities and properties which dictate what I will use. I equate it to cooking. One can have favorite spices, but it would not make sense to use them in certain dishes.
The new paint sets have certain colors which regardless of brands I do not find myself reaching for often. For the colors most utilized, I have absorbed in the hues from these new sets into my palette boxes.
These two pieces illustrate how seamlessly they work when mixed with other brands on a painting.
Bath 9×12 Rembrandt watercolor paper 140 lb cold press. Fin
Lucky Shirt Talen Art Creations Multi Media pocket Pad 4×4 inches
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
Paper Life Painting 