My granddaughters introduced me to the lollipops which the children call 'Toxic Waste'. She said: 'First they taste awful, then soooo nice, and they make your tongue a brighter colour than the lollipop!' I can't figure out the moral of the story, but she certainly delighted in the notion of toxicity! In oil painting, or any artist's medium, pigments have various levels of toxicity and thank goodness Flake White (which caused the fatal lead poisoning to JMW Turner's father and later his … [Read more...]
Choosing Oil Paints
The topic of student’s oils vs. artists oils comes up again and again in my classes, so this is an attempt to de-mystify selecting oil paints. Let’s look at the main differences between Artist and student oils: Oil paints are made up of pigment, oil and binder (and sometimes filler). You can make similar colours using cheaper, often synthetic pigments (although some synthetic pigments are fantastic); and you can use cheaper oils and binders/fillers to bulk the paint out, meaning that you … [Read more...]
A few more frames
I have now chosen a few more frames for my skies, large still-life paintings and tiny tree paintings. The sky paintings are 20cm x 20cm and I have flat contemporary frames, with a deep bevel. The frames are 7cm wide. I would describe these frames as 'crisp'. My little tree paintings, 10cm x 10cm needed to keep their sense of miniaturism. The paint is textured and applied really thickly, with delicious globs of pigment. The cradled frames are about 5mm wide on top and 2cm deep on the … [Read more...]
Framing oil paintings
Oils are so much easier to frame than other artworks, because they don't have to have glass or mounts. There are several options to consider with framing: If the oil painting is on stretched canvas, especially if it is deep, or if it is on board with a deep edge, you can 'get away' without a frame. Having said that, a frame almost always makes it look even nicer and protects the edges. However, large works cost a lot to frame properly and this has to be built into the selling price. If you … [Read more...]
Reflections – My year in paintings 2016: part 3
Here are some bits and bobs before I move to part 4 with my landscape studies. While exploring my art direction I toyed with the idea of doing naïve paintings of buildings. The Chilton Post Office was done as a commission at the end of 2015, and the other two in 2016. I enjoyed doing these but they are really labour intensive, so would only work for me as commissions. I also designed a series of cards for the UCARE project. The book 'Your Best year Yet' by Jinny … [Read more...]