Also please check out my second blog, The Painting Archives to see older (pre-2004) paintings for sale.
Friday, July 23, 2010
process
I wrote the following as a description of what I teach during my Oil and Wax Workshops, but it's also about my own work:
This is a process-oriented approach to painting, ultimately a balance between spontaneity and control-- though the control is something that comes with practice and experience.... the basic idea is to observe and react to what develops in front of you...as the painting evolves, the best attitude is to be selective in what to emphasize and pull out for the final version, while at the same time, maintain an attitude of non-attachment and free experimentation. With these techniques, changes can be made rapidly...and while at times your work may seem to go from good to bad, nothing is really lost, and change is always possible.
Since I've been working with various cold wax and oil techniques for quite a few years now, I feel I've gained a very satisfying degree of control over the painting, but it can still be a wild ride with plenty of surprises--which keeps things interesting. The painting above, Coiled (24"x18" oil and wax on panel) is a case in point. I had completely covered the surface of the panel in sepia (perhaps in frustration--I don't remember now.) When I went back into it with a solvent-soaked brush and squeegee, I was excited to see the multiple layers of pattern and color that emerged. (The layers below had also been built up with layers of solid color cut through with solvents.) A bit of selective tweaking of the surface, in order to create some variation in its thickness, and some additional scratching completed the painting. ¶ 1:30 PM
I wrote the following as a description of what I teach during my Oil and Wax Workshops, but it's also about my own work:
This is a process-oriented approach to painting, ultimately a balance between spontaneity and control-- though the control is something that comes with practice and experience.... the basic idea is to observe and react to what develops in front of you...as the painting evolves, the best attitude is to be selective in what to emphasize and pull out for the final version, while at the same time, maintain an attitude of non-attachment and free experimentation. With these techniques, changes can be made rapidly...and while at times your work may seem to go from good to bad, nothing is really lost, and change is always possible.
Since I've been working with various cold wax and oil techniques for quite a few years now, I feel I've gained a very satisfying degree of control over the painting, but it can still be a wild ride with plenty of surprises--which keeps things interesting. The painting above, Coiled (24"x18" oil and wax on panel) is a case in point. I had completely covered the surface of the panel in sepia (perhaps in frustration--I don't remember now.) When I went back into it with a solvent-soaked brush and squeegee, I was excited to see the multiple layers of pattern and color that emerged. (The layers below had also been built up with layers of solid color cut through with solvents.) A bit of selective tweaking of the surface, in order to create some variation in its thickness, and some additional scratching completed the painting. ¶ 1:30 PM
Comments:
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Rebecca, This is one of my favorite pieces you've done lately. It has that old world feeling of master's paintings like Rembrandt, et. al.
Rich...very rich...
must go get a drool bib...
Rich...very rich...
must go get a drool bib...
Hi Rebecca, thank you for publishing your info-rich blog and tons of inspiring work. I've got a question about Dorland's wax. I'm working with a mix of Dorland's and Plextol 480 with powdered pigments. Plextol is designed to be quite adhering and I recently started using it instead of acrylic medium. I would like to build up a painting with a Dorland's base, with layers of plextol applied on top of the Dorland's. Do you have any idea as to how successfully this would adhere? Any suggestion or insight would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Scott
Thanks!
Scott
DJ and Scott, thanks for your interesting comments. Scott, I don't feel qualified to answer this but I'll take a stab at it, based on what I know--which is that the manufacturers of Dorlands (the Jacquard Company) do not advise mixing the wax with any acrylic products, nor with any other water-based media.
I also know that while Dorlands may be applied over the top of acrylic media, it apparently does not work the other way around.
But really the best thing for you to do would be to email service@jacquardproducts.com with your question. Good luck--
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I also know that while Dorlands may be applied over the top of acrylic media, it apparently does not work the other way around.
But really the best thing for you to do would be to email service@jacquardproducts.com with your question. Good luck--
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