Happy 4th of July

Frederick Childe Hassam - The Avenue in the Rain, oil on canvas, 1917. The White House

(American Painter, 1859-1935)

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

Grapes in Silver Bowl

The manipulation of elements in the picture plane with aerial perspective, is what Leonardo da Vinci called “the perspective of disappearance,” which simply refers to the technique of creating an illusion of depth by depicting distant objects as paler, less detailed, and usually bluer than near objects.

Grapes in Silver Bowl, oil on panel, 11 x14 inched © Jim Serrett

The Old Masters push this concept even further with the painting techniques they developed that used a vast array of surface qualities which highlighted and heighten this sense of illusion, thick and thin paint layers, transparent and translucent passages and veils of colors, the words themselves conjure the thoughts of atmosphere. Everything they did was to convince us of this magical illusion of space.

My interest in this method of painting is that through sequential layers of paint, I can dial in the sense of realism, refining and adjusting the vision I am trying to achieve. The mastery of painting involves a lifelong commitment of learning and observing, setting the bar higher on my personal best to improve with each painting and hopefully create work that resonates with people.

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

In Memory and Appreciation

Robert Genn  (May 15, 1936 - May 27, 2014)

Artist and inspiring author of The Painters Keys.

He'll be missed.

Robert Genn Self-Portrait with Emily Carr Acrylic 24 x30 inches

The Painters Keys

Robert Genn Website

Robert Genn From Wikipedia

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Spring Clearance Sale

It’s spring cleaning time in the studio, and I am offering all 5 x 7 inched framed Pochade Box Paintings for sale at only $99.00 USD each. These small gem oil paintings are a collection of plein air paintings and still life studies painted from life and direct observation, they come framed and ready for display in your collection.  Any of 5 x7 inch painting you find on my websites Jim Serrett Studio and Pochade Box Paintings are included in this offer.

Please visit my online store or contact me about any work you are interested in.

Please visit my online store (click here and below)

or (contact me) about any work you are interested in.

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

Crawdaddy Lure

Alla-prima studies from my Pochade Box.

Alla prima comes from Italian, literally meaning "at once". The French term is premier coup.

This antique fishing lure is one item from a collection of things and heirlooms my wife has held onto of her grandparents. It is just beautifully crafted, hand painted and made of wood, my research finds it is probably from the early 1920’s and made by James Heddon, Dowagiac, Michigan. I love the idea that her grandfather was probably fishing for Walleye or Muskie on the Great Lakes with it, making it a family treasure.

Crawdaddy Lure, 7 x 5 inches, oil on panel © Jim Serrett - Click here to bid.

Pomegranate - Punica granatum

I had to paint a pomegranate, isn't it on every painters bucket list? Certainly an exercise in the color red, with several variations of the red family in warm and cool, and it was more difficult to turn the form then one would expect. 

Punica granatum, 5 x 7 inches, oil on panel © Jim Serrett - Click here to bid.


Links:

James Heddon & Sons Gamefisher Lures

Pomegranate - Punica granatum

Alla-Prima

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

Three Pears

Three Pears 8x10 inches oil on canvas panel Click here to bid.

Here is a bit of what has been going on in the studio since I returned home from my Caribbean vacation.

I have been working on some alla-prima pieces, more direct, freer and quicker paintings like I do on my Pochade Box Blog that features mostly Plein Air work. The Three Pears were painted in one sitting, wet into wet (alla-prima).  I am looking at this as a process to get in more paintbrush time and put something out there every day.  Bring a little discipline to my studio time and be more constructive and productive. However my main focus is and will remain with the Venetian and Flemish schools and the traditional indirect painting methods. 

Pochade Box painting alla prima.

The majority of my works are done in-direct, the method that is the technique of painting in layers, where the painting is built up gradually in several layers, with the use of both transparent and semi-transparent paint, glazes and scrumbles. The grapes still life piece is at the dead layer stage of underpainting. I did a preliminary drawing, working out the proportions and composition drawing on paper and transferred it to a panel. I am working through the grisaille very slowly, going for a very refined underpainting paying great detail to the edges and values.

When I was doing commercial art I would produce three to five illustrations a week, I was glad to leave that behind me. Since then I have concentrated on the art of seeing, taking the time to slow down and really digest a idea/concept/picture and truly enjoy the process of painting. Painting has a transcendent power to connect a shared experience, to bring back an emotional connection with the sublime. The familiar and the everyday hold great beauty when we open our eyes. So for me paintings are meditations on and reflections of life. My theory of paintings is that by developing the skill of observing/seeing based on the live experience creates the most powerful form of realism.

However too much contemplation can lead to analysis paralysis, not to support any Contemporary art stereotypes but artists can be real procrastinators when left to their own devices. Someone once referred to procrastination as “the thief of time”. So I feel I need to turn up the volume a bit. Sounds simple enough, I just have to do two things; create work and put it out there. To that end I have added an online store which I can offer work for sale through auction at Daily Paintworks.

Since we are on the subject I might as well put an end to a couple of other stereotypical ideas, the misconceptions that art is easy, that artist do not plan ahead, that it is all freewheeling, easy Jamaica fun time when artist are creating. I think if most people knew how much work goes into being an artist they would be amazed and very disappointed, all of the artist I admire are dedicated professionals who work very hard. But then hell, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Art takes dedication, persistence, patience, talent, a thick skin, and hard work.

And my favorite artist myth is of the tortured creative, bohemian self-destructive soul that is lost in his art like in the movie Lust for Life (the story of Vincent van Gogh's obsessive devotion to his art as it engulfs, consumes, and finally destroys him.) Whacking his ear off, chasing prostitutes, drinking to excess and getting into knife fights with other famous artists like Paul Gaugin.

We should pay attention to this one, because we have lost so many creative people to this scenario, all types of artist, get cast into this role when they are unable to take criticism, and have some delusional idea of perfectionism. This self-sabotage, I suspect is fear, the fear of success and/or the fear of failure. The fear of criticism, economics, sales, acceptance, of putting yourself out there. If you allow these things to get a hold they will choke the life out of creativity. It can kill inspiration, imagination and invention.  And procrastination is just an aspect of fear and self-sabotage, it is a self-fulfilling prophesy of the worst thing we worry about. So the truth is most artists are just procrastinator, why?

Because art is hard work.

Fear is the enemy.

Be brave.
FILDI   ............... Ze Franks explains this best in video below.

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

Links:

Video - The Ze Frank Show

Film -  "Lust for Life"

Quote - Harold Ross, The New Yorker Magazine

Glossary:

Analysis Paralysis

Grisaille

Underpainting

Allaprima

FILDI

Feather and Egg

I have posted already a couple of times about this painting, one dealing with my compositional thoughts and later talking about the creative process. I guess what I have to add to this conversation is painting, that is to say - art is never stagnate. 

Feather and Egg – On the easel, this piece was a real problem to photograph just 

so much glare from the texture on the panel and glazes. I will re-shoot it later but 

the two photos will give you a feel for what it looks like in the real.

You may paint the same subject matter a thousand times or struggle with a painting for a thousand hours, every piece changes you, your perspective, and understanding of your craft. Sometimes those changes come fast and sometimes slowly, the real epiphanies or eureka moments seem to happen in those long – slow –deliberate studies. I see and appreciate this in the works of the Old Masters, that long deep study of visual language. And that to acquire such skills and to paint such works of art is a long slow process.

I describe my work as realism, because I am interested in depicting the subjects I choose to paint as I see them in nature. I am fascinated by the way things look, painting is for me about seeing. It forces me to study and understand a thing or an idea, to spend so much time with something that I can really begin to see it and explain the subject with as much clarity as I can. Observing those things that might otherwise might be overlooked. I hope to seduce the viewer into the painting and if they meditate on it for a while, they may discover deeper, more specific layers of meaning.

Feather and Egg - Oil on panel - 9 x 12 in.  -  © Jim Serrett

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Eureka Effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_effect

Thanks For Listening 2013

As the year closes, let me take a moment to express my gratitude and appreciation to all of you that have made this such a great year. 

For those of you that took the time to comment and share your thoughts on art, I cannot express how important your input has been. If I did not reply directly to your comment I assure you that my lack of response was either circumstances or procrastination. Whichever case, I value each and every comment. Again my sincerest gratitude.

Have a happy and prosperous New Year,  Jim

For my loving wife, no words can express my appreciation for you, the source of my greatest happiness. How lucky a man I am. I am extremely lucky, and extremely thankful… for you.

All my love, Happy Anniversary

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

Join Creative Commons, http://creativecommons.org/

Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

This work by Jim Serrett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at www.jimserrettstudio.com.

Rust Never Sleeps

We often talk about the Elements of Art,

Line

Shape

Color

Texture

Space

Value,

But Passion is the most important element of Art and life.

It is so simple: do the thing you love.

For an artist, well for anyone, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker.

Desire and determination are the key.

You have to be creatively alive in every situation.

At times you just have go for it and make things happen, other times you go with the flow.
and see where things lead.

My study Feather and Egg has progressed slowly. It takes me some time to settle down and enjoy the artistic process, the start of a painting is usually fairly easy, the finish can be torture, too much here – too little there, a lot of critiquing and corrections.

However I am on the last pass of paint and just a few tweaks and it will be done.

It’s better to burn out, ’cause rust never sleeps.

The meaning of the phrase "Rust Never Sleeps" is quite ambiguous. Some consider the term to be a metaphor for artistic vitality. In other words, by staying the same, one is vulnerable to the corrosive effects of aging and obsolescence. By moving forward and innovating, one can try and stay ahead of the relentless onslaught of time, remain vital and "rust free".

 From Thrasher's Wheat - a Neil Young Archives

Link: Thrasher's Wheat Org

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

I love the smell of turpentine in the mornings.

The characteristic piney licorice aroma always conjures up fond memories of my art school days. As soon as you got to the second floor the bouquet of turpentine, linseed oil and charcoal told your senses that you had arrived in the painting studio and something creative was happening.

Nostalgia aside the main reason I have turps in my studio is that I still feel it to be the best diluent for the type of oil painting I do and wish to pursue. I like the “open time” speed of evaporation and how it works with a painting medium of oil and varnish. Being a stronger solvent, I tend to use less in my medium mixtures.

So let’s talk a bit about solvents especially turpentine and why there is so much conversations about it's use. Solvents are used to thin or dilute oil color in the making of painting mediums, and the cleaning of brushes. No matter what type of solvent you use, it should be used with care and exposure should be kept to a minimal. There are some ordinary, common sense precautions that you can take to reduce your risks.

Solvent Protocols

1. Just because you do not smell it, do not assume it is safer.
2. Just put a lid on it. Keeping solvents covered will reduce the amount of harmful vapors in the air. Cover all containers, bush jars, medium cups, and cap the bottle. Even if it is for a short period of time.
3. While cleaning brushes use as little as possible, less solvent means less fumes. I use Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS) to clean brushes and Distilled Turpentine in my painting mediums. Using a small metal brush washer with a lid or a small narrow mouth jar will work. Unless you’re painting with large brushes why have a coffee can of solvents open? I wipe the excess paint off my brushes before immersing and swishing them in my brush wash. Rinse, Repeat… If you can, use two small containers, one for “gunk” a dirty first rinse and a second cleaner rinse. You will be surprised how much cleaner your brushes stay. This keeps the solvent strength up longer because it is less diluted with paint residue.
4. While painting, again use as little as possible. Avoid large “washes” of pigment with solvents, too much solvent will cause a poorly binded paint film that may not adhere to its support or to additional layers of paint. Over thinning can be avoided by the use of mediums in addition to solvents.
5. Ventilation, set your studio up where you can open a window and get some type of cross draft going, if needed use a box fan to exchange the air in the room.
6. If you use OMS or Turps, buy art quality solvents, they are more refined and usually less odorous.
7. And finally do not bath in it, drink it or wear it like a cologne.

I had to add in number seven because I am just not sure what people are doing with solvents, especially turpentine that makes it a recurring topic of concern in art forums and blogs. I recognize that there are those individuals that are sensitive to turpentine, and there are manufacturers with alternative products that want to grab some part of the art materials market. But the truth I feel, that the issue is with protocol number four, the confusion of solvents with painting mediums.

Oil paint is essentially one or more pigments combined with a binder (the oil) and a diluent (such as turpentine). Using solvents alone to thin oil paint you run the risk of under binding your paint, leaving a dry matte finish that may not adhered to its support and additional layers of paint. You can paint using oil alone but it is a rather sticky surface to deal with in successive layers of paint. Even for the initial lay in of a painting, it best to use a combination of oil and solvent and use the smallest amount of medium at all stages of a paintings development. I think I will save the topic of mediums for later.

 "Don't be afraid to use pigment.  Avoid excessive

turpentine and varnish."                                                                                                             Aldro T. Hibbard

Solvents for Oil Paints

Turpentine – Pure Gum Spirit Turpentine is distilled from the sap of pine trees, used in the production of oil paintings, as a diluent for oil paint, as a ingredient in painting mediums and as a diluent in varnishes.  Notice the use of the word diluent as in “thinning” meaning to make more fluid and brush more readily. Anything we add to paint is about changing it's viscosity to change its flow and handling. While (most importantly) without over thinning the mixture so that we maintain a paint film when the pigment goes through its chemical changes that we refer to as “Drying”.

Evaporates completely, excellent solvent for resins such as dammar.

Mineral Spirits - Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS), White Spirits, are all a petroleum based product, used as a cleaner for tools and brushes. They have a slight to no odor but still contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and should be used with adequate ventilation. Odorless mineral spirits does not dissolve dammar varnish, so it will not dilute dammar varnish mediums. It is suitable for thinning oil colors and cleaning brushes, can be used in making and thinning painting mediums that contain stand and sun-thickened oils. However I would recommend artist grade OMS for making oil mediums such as Turpenoid from Weber, Sansodor from Winsor & Newton and Gamsol from Gamblin Colors are quality low odor solvents that evaporate slowly and increases blending time. 

If you decide to go with the hardware store solvents just be aware that paint thinner and mineral spirits are not the same thing.  Paint thinner is mineral spirits, but in a less refined form. It is usually washed or reclaimed solvent that may contains other types of solvents and additives which makes it a lot smellier and more volatile. Back in my sign painting and billboard days we avoided painter thinner altogether because it caused enamels and oils to become gummy and drag when brushing. I don’t even use it to clean brushes because of my experiences with it as a paint reducer in lettering enamels. Truly the last thing anyone would want in the paint film of an object of art.

Oil of Spike Lavender - A colorless or yellowish aromatic oil extracted from the European broad-leaved lavender, or aspic (Lavendula Spica). It is used as a diluting in oil paints and in the making of painting mediums. It's use historically dates back to the 15^th century. I have had no experience with this solvent but have read about it many times and I'm curious.

Citrus Based Solvents – Are an alternative to mineral spirits and odorless mineral spirits.

They are listed as made from food-grade citrus peel oil and can used to clean brushes and dilutes oil paint. It is considered a non-toxic, non-flammable solvent. My experience with this product was brief, it's reaction as a solvent was very weak but mainly I disliked the orange smell so much I decided I'd much rather become a Turp Huffing Zombie.

Solvent Free - It is possible to eliminate turpentine and paint thinner from the studio all together. You can dilute and manipulate oil paints viscosity with oil alone as a medium, Linseed, Poppy or Walnut Oil work well. Oil paint can be used just as it is, no additives and depending on your painting style this may be the perfect solution.  I recommend if you’re a beginner with oils just keep it very simple and work with paints only and the bare minimum of solvents and mediums to start. After all, we are oil painter’s not medium painters?

Oiling Brushes - After art school, I happened into a career painting pictorials for the outdoor industry, mural sized images on billboards. We worked in oil colors (I loved the artist oils of Dana-colors, produced and developed by Charles Dana a scenic and mural artist) and bulletin colors, a high quality sign enamel.

 As I went through training in their studios I was surprised to learn the method of producing these images was with tradition artist oils and techniques, on large panels and later vinyl canvas of 14 feet tall by 48 feet long.  It was traditional painting and illustration at a industrial scale, portraits ten feet tall and landscapes forty eight feet long, where you often found yourself literally standing inside of a maze of abstract patterns, passages of colors and splashes of paint. We mixed oil colors by the quart and gallon and used high quality hogs hair brushes, I especially liked Scharff finches and Corona sign cutters. Many of more delicate lettering brushes, grey squirrel quills and sable flats would run up to a small fortune.

Bulletin Pictorial oil and enamel paint on metal panels 14x48 feet © Jim Serrett
Advertiser United Colors of Benetton USA 

I produced literally thousands of pieces of advertising art this way and never cleaned a single brush. The method was to give them a good rinse in OMS and then oil the brushes, lay them flat in trays or roller pans containing oil. We used several different oils, mineral oil, castor oil, olive oil, baby oil, just about any light-bodied oils would work as long as it would rinse out entirely with your solvent. I used non-detergent motor oil for years without any ill effect, these days there are so many strong detergents and other additives put in oil I have to hunt for one I can use. Traditionally sign-writers stored brushes in lard oil which had a tendency to attract pests. The idea is that once you rinsed out your dirty brush you would stoke it through the oil then shape and lay then down in the pan covering only the bristles with oil until next needed. It is still the best way I have found to preserve brushes, walnut or mineral oil are probably the best option today, and there are a few niche commercial products like Xcaliber and Sapphire Brush Oil which are actually formulated for this use.

Medicinal Elixir A brief History of Turpentine - Turpentine has been used by artist in oil painting for nearly 700 years. What most people do not know is that turpentine has been used medicinally since ancient times, as both topical and sometimes internal remedies. Some very fraudulent and others quite genuine such as Vicks Vapor Rub still contain turpentine in their formula. The majority of these products from the turn of the century fall into the category of “Snake Oil” concoctions, tonics, elixirs, liniments and salves all of which claim some restorative, rejuvenating power or cure-all often supported by pseudo-scientific evidence. Most were combinations of grain alcohol, turpentine, and kerosene with sugar, molasses or honey used to mask the taste. A product called “Turpo” sold as a cold remedy advertised, “ Snuff a little Turpo up the nostril several times a day and the flu germ will have little chance of getting a lodging and breeding place.”

One of my favorite is Hamlin's Wizard Oil Medical Elixir.

Hamlin's Wizard Oil was an American patent medicine sold as a cure-all under the slogan "There is no Sore it will Not Heal, No Pain it will not Subdue." Taken internally it was used as treatment for intestinal parasites because of its alleged antiseptic and diuretic properties, and a general cure-all. It was made of 50%-70% alcohol containing camphor, ammonia, chloroform, sassafras, cloves, and turpentine, and was said to be usable both internally and topically. So to run down the history of turpentine, it has been used as chest rub, inhaler for nasal and throat ailments, as a treatment for head and body lice, whooping cough, asthma, bronchitis, sore throat, dyspepsia, a topical for abrasions and wounds, taken internally in all forms and formulas professing all sorts of benefits. 

Oh, how times have changed.

Come on, who doesn't want Wizard Oil in the studio?

I will reiterate, all solvents have inherent risks, use reasonable precautions and avoid unreasonable fear. Studio safety is about good habits and methods.

 Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim

I have several links for this topic, anyone interested in oil painting and its methods should spend some time looking at the resources at Winsor Newton, and  Gamblin. Artist Colors.

These are quick links to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the major solvents we have been talking about.

Odorless Mineral Spirits MSDS

Gamsol MSDS

Distilled Turpentine MSDS

Turpenoid