Just back from a trip where I was able to take photos to serve as fuel for my next Cinefield®. I lucked out and was able to get so much raw material it will allow me to do two which will lead me right up until next spring ( I won’t work on them back to back, taking a well needed break between which accounts for some of time frame)
While working on my Cinefield®, of course I will still draw every day and do my water soluble graphite work in pocket pads but this will be last painting for a while as my studio will become dominated by tiny confetti like pieces of paper laid out on sheets.
For this piece I wanted to try something a little different. I made the flesh appear without the volume and mass letting the lines tell that story of the body. I was very pleased with the results and enjoyed the challenge of going against my usual preference. That is one way for an artist to avoid falling back on pet-licks for a piece.
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.
“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
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.
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
Paper Life Painting 