Painting

Encaustic Painting

Encaustic painting techniques have been performed since the ancient Greeks originally used wax-based pigments to create canvas and mural paintings. Over the years, this medium was displaced by other pigments, such as oil and tempera, to the point where encaustic painting almost became a lost art.

By the 1700's, European mural painters found the need for a medium that would provide an attractive and enduring product that could withstand drastic climatic conditions. Using a wax/pigment amalgam once again seemed tailor-made and, along with its classical Greek roots, encaustic painting began a revival that has lasted to the current day.

The encaustic method consists of painting on a canvas ground (or panel) with paints mixed from dry pigments and molten beeswax, plus a small amount of resin--usually damar. A warm palette is used to keep the waxy medium pliable, but, if greater texture is desired, the palette can be cooled to help stiffen the pigment.

Encaustic medium is usually applied with brush or palette knife, depending upon the desired surface texture. To aid application, the canvas surface can also be heated while pigment is applied. As a final fixative, a heat source is passed over the canvas to bond the pigment into the surface, without altering the image's appearance. This final heat treatment is termed "burning in" (which is further defined by the term "encaustic").

When cooled, the painting's surface may then be lightly polished with a soft cotton pad to produce a dull, satiny surface sheen. Once hardened, the painting's appearance should remain permanent under a variety of conditions, while the canvas is protected from moisture from both the painting's surface and the rear of the canvas.

The appearances that can be achieved with encaustic painting techniques rival those of any easel painting. With this type of waxy pigment, robust impastos can be created without overloading the canvas or panel surface. Also, a range from opaque covering to translucent effects can also be created.

If the canvas surface is kept warm during application, the encaustic pigment will flow freely and may be blended as any oil or enamel pigment. Cooler surfaces will impede pigment flow, allowing colors to remain separate and more brilliant.

Originally, coal-fired heating had to be used to heat the encaustic medium and canvas material. The ancient Greeks used a barrel-shaped container that held hot coals on a flat metal plate to radiate heat. (Later, the Romans called this apparatus a cestrum). Encaustic medium was then applied with a bronze spatula-like instrument.

This cumbersome condition eventually helped turn artists away from employing the encaustic technique of painting. Today, clean, electrically-heated equipment is available to make the process relatively easy.

To warm a canvas or panel, an electric lamp or heating element can be attached and directed at the surface or at the rear area of the canvas. For local work, a heating source may be hand-held while an electric palette heats the waxy pigment.

This type of electrically-heated palette is typically made from aluminum and contains depressions to hold the molten colors. Some resourceful artists have instead used a hot plate or electric stove elements to heat a suspended metal tray. Whichever is used, optimal operating temperatures for this type of heated palette (and colors) is 200 to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

Encaustic medium is available in ready-made color sticks that contain a balanced mix of pigment, wax, and resin. For those so inclined, separate components can also be purchased and easily blended together. Typically, the wax medium and resin are first melted together, and then the finely pulverized pigment is added to the desired intensity.

Molten color is usually applied with a bristle brush or palette knife, along with the assistance of the above-mentioned heating apparatus. When all is prepared, encaustic painting techniques are performed much the same as oil or tempera mediums--except for the temperatures involved.

The final "infusion" (or burning in) is achieved by laying the canvas face up on a tabletop and then slowly and evenly sweeping a reflector or infrared heating lamp above its surface. This action is continued until the entire surface has fused into a singular field that has a uniformly dull, semigloss appearance. Colors will run if overheated, so keep the lamp height and speed consistent.

Once cooled, the surface of the congealed colors can be dented with a fingernail or even scratched, just as oil can. By adjusting the resin mix in the waxy medium, pigment hardness can be increased. Some painters add carnauba wax as a hardener or microcrystalline wax as a plasticizer.

Cleanup is easily performed by heating the apparatus and then wiping off residual pigment with a cloth. Brushes should be reserved for encaustic pigment use; and should a solvent be required, try using mineral spirits. Finished encaustic paintings have the added feature of repelling dust rather than attracting it (unlike oils) and no surface varnishing is required.

Although there are some wax (or wax-resin) versions of oil or tempera paint, few of them possess the physical or visual characteristics of encaustic pigment. Other pigments are prone to potential decay, but encaustic pigment is basically permanent, has a unique thermoplastic flow, and offers a wide range of visual expression.

Encaustic painting translates well into learned painting styles and requires minor expense in special equipment. For the experience, look, and permanence of the paintings that can be produced, it is well worth looking into this ancient, yet still-contemporary, art form.

Art Marketplace

New Colors Added

In an effort to provide artists with the newest in color technology, Liquitex has announced that 18 new colors have been added to the Liquitex line of professional grade acrylic paints; while the BASICS line of student grade paints will now include four new colors to broaden the color palette available to students.

Except for the new Liquitex Iridescent and Acra gold colors, all paints are single-pigment colors, allowing artists more mixing latitude. They are pure and do not suffer the "muddiness" that often results from mixing too many pigments at once. In addition to the new BASICS Alizarine Crimson Hue and Permanent Green Deep, two specialty colors--Iridescent Gold and Iridescent Silver--now offer students value-priced metallic colors.

Both Liquitex and BASICS brands are certified non-toxic, and you may choose from all the new colors at your local art supply store. Visit the web site at http://www.liquitex.com for the latest on product news and programs.

New Book Available

To aid you in your New Year's resolution to actively promote your career as an artist, see the new 1998 paperback edition of the Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market, which contains an improved format that provides more information and listings. It introduces artists to publishers, design firms and other markets looking for original art. You'll find articles about the business of selling fine art, illustration and design; info on art reps, artists' organizations and networking; indices by subject of companies requesting art; and a featured interview with Scott Adams of "Dilbert" fame. Edited by Mary Cox, Writer's Digest Books, 786pp.

Printmaking

A Little History:
M. C. Escher 1898-1972

The graphic works of M.C. Escher have had far-reaching influence in the art world, science community, and international design industry. People the world over still study his perspective designs and debate the apparent relationships, but mostly remain fascinated while enjoying the art of his unique visual concepts.

Escher worked mostly in wood and lino cuts, lithographs, and mezzotint prints. This, in itself, is amazing when you realize the complexity and subtlety of some of his works. For example, his "Metamorphosis" print (1939-40) was created from 29 separate wood blocks that were used to create a print that was about 8 inches wide by 23 feet long. In it, squares turn into lizards, which turn into a honeycomb of bees, which turn into birds, which turn into well, you get the picture.

Escher's artwork displayed similar metamorphosis as his career developed. Originally, his prints were semi-realistic observations of landscapes, architectural studies, and portraits. While masterfully executed, these works telegraphed the unique style, themes, and perspectives of the images yet to come.

Escher went on to explore the "regular divisions of a plane." Classic among this type of work is "Sky and Water" (1938, woodcut), where birds fly down into the water's surface and magically transform into fish below the surface. Using this same concept, Escher explored infinity as his interlocking patterns cascade down a never-ending spiral or wrap around the edges of a globe, while maintaining perfect perspective as they recede. Like peering into two mirrors, the images uniformly diminish into infinity.

Ever experimental, Escher explored the use of unlimited spaces, the relationships of spatial rings and spirals, reflections in water, and spherical reflections. He also used visual inversions in his works and depicted the relativistic conflict between flat and spatial planes.

Perhaps most beguiling are his lithographic series of impossible structures that at first seem normal enough, but ultimately prove to be a visual enigma. This is most apparent in "Belvedere" (1958), where the upper floor of the structure is impossibly perpendicular to the ground floor. Escher further tantalizes with "Ascending and Descending" (1960), where hooded figures are climbing both up and down the same staircase. Similarly, in "Waterfall" (1961), water is seen defying gravity by flowing upward toward the top of the falls.

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in Leeuwarden, Holland, on June 17, 1898, the son of an engineer. He received his first drawing instruction at a secondary school in Arnhem. Here, F.W. van der Haagen helped him develop his graphic aptitude by teaching him linoleum cut design and construction techniques, a medium that M.C. Escher would work in for much of his career.

By 1919, Escher enrolled in the School of Architecture and Ornamental Design in Haarlem to continue his studies in graphic techniques. Here, his tutor was S. Jessurun de Mesquita, whose strong personality greatly influenced Escher's development with bold concepts of design and style.

After completing his formal education in 1922, Escher traveled through Italy and decided to settle in Rome in 1924. During his 10 year stay in Italy he made many study-tours of the region, visiting Abruzzia, the Amalfi coast, Calabria, Sicily, Corsica, and Spain.

While visiting the Alhambra (the Moorish palace in Grenada, Spain), Escher studied its architecture and design of wall and floor mosaics. It was here that he was introduced to the concept of "regular division of planes." The Moors were prevented by Islam to incorporate "craven images" into their art, so all their works consisted purely of abstract geometrical patterns. This limit did not apply to Escher, who advanced this style by introducing naturalistic figures such as birds, fish, reptiles, and humans as design elements.

In perhaps his most famous lithograph, "Reptiles" (1943) is a narrative continuation of the series of "regular plane shapes." From the lower edge of a sketch pad covered with stylized, reptile-like figures, an increasingly three-dimensional reptile emerges. It then crawls over a zoology book and onto other cascading plane objects until it finally comes full circle and reintegrates back into the flat surface of the sketch pad, becoming once again part of the two-dimensional interlocking pattern.

In 1934 Escher left Italy, spent two years in Switzerland and five years in Brussels before settling in Baarn (Holland) in 1941. It was here that he lived and worked until the time of his death on March 27, 1972, at the age of 73.

Toward the end of his life, M.C. Escher became more popular than ever. Baby boomers the world over newly discovered and marveled at the graphics that he had created throughout his career. Some of his works were translated into 1960's psychedelic posters, while other illustrations became pop icons on record album covers and the like.

Many well-received books have been compiled on his life and body of graphic works. Scientific studies have also been conducted on Escher's work in an effort to comprehend the artist's mathematical principals and theories of perspective and symmetry that are evident.

There is no way that words can adequately describe a classic M.C. Escher illustration, since impressions are often influenced by the viewer's own subjective orientation. In short, the viewer tends to describe what he/she believe they are witnessing, which can vary by individual. The only way to fully experience the art of M.C. Escher is to view and study it, and like any great work of art, you will probably discover some new facet each time you look.

Exhibitions

--National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: "M. C. Escher: A Centennial Tribute" is a celebration of the 20th century Dutch artist's works. Through April 26.

--Museum of Modern Art, NYC: "New Concepts in Printmaking 1: Peter Halley" is the first in a series of exhibitions that explore artistic developments which push at the frontiers of traditional printmaking. "From Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec to Andy Warhol: Exploring Techniques" focuses on how artists have used woodcut, etching, lithography, and screenprint to create an extraordinary range of works. Both through February 8.

Competitions

Annual Competition

The Artist's Magazine has issued a Call for Entries for its 1998 Art Competition. The 15th annual competition will recognize more than 200 finalists and award 24 major prizes amounting to more than $12,000.

Open to both amateur and professional artists, work may be entered in four categories: portraits, landscapes, still life and experimental. Top award winners and honorable mentions will be featured in the December 1998 issue of The Artist's Magazine; 12 finalists will be featured as "Artist of the Month" throughout the 1998 issues; and 12 award winners will be featured in The Artist's Magazine's 1999 Calendar.

For rules and entry form, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: The Artists Magazine's 1998 Art Competition, Attn: Leeanna Wesley, Dept. PR, 1507 Dana Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45207; Fax (513) 531-1843, Dept. PR. Entry deadline: May 1, 1998.

Art for the Spirit

Artists are invited to enter the second Art for the Spirit Art Show, a showcase for artists to glorify God through the artistic expression of spiritual, moral, and/or uplifting themes. (Content does not have to be specifically religious.) This one-day show, scheduled for March 14 at the St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Longwood, FL, will include painting, calligraphy, sculpture, photography, woodworking, jewelry, pottery, and other fine art/craft. For further info, call (407) 869-0491; or e-mail Cavrunin@aol.com. Deadline: February 25, 1998.

Pastel Competition

The Pastel Society of the West Coast will present its 12th Annual International Open Exhibition entitled "Pastels USA, 1998." Works in soft pastel only will be accepted. Awards total $9,000 with a Best of Show prize of $1,000. Juror: Elizabeth Mowry PSA, PSWC. For prospectus, send a SASE to: Pastels USA, Roseville Art Center, 424 Oak Street, Roseville, CA 95678. Slide Deadline: February 10, 1998.

Markers

Landscapes with Markers

Today's markers are available in hundreds of colors and have varying tip (nib) configurations and widths. Since they are compact and easy to work with, markers have become a medium of choice for many artists. With this range of color, ease of application, and compatibility with other mediums, markers are a good choice for creating landscape illustrations that display great range and diversity.

Markers can be purchased separately or in sets of various sizes. Tip configurations vary from micro-point to wide widths that allow for large-area coverage. Large markers have generous reservoirs so that pigment can be dispensed in a consistent line.

An interesting technique for landscapes is called glazing. This is achieved by first laying down a bright base color and then coloring over it with thin layers of lighter color(s). The blend is attractive, as the colors pull and create unique shades. Once the glaze colors have been applied, other markers can be used to detail the drawing.

The final appearance of a marker illustration is affected by paper type. For texture, a light-colored charcoal or matte-finish paper should be used. Since the surface of these papers is so uneven, lightly pressed markers tend to skim along the peaks, creating a grainy look. Colored paper will also affect applied marker colors to help create works from monochromatic schemes to vibrant contrasts. Mixing mediums can also be very exciting in marker landscapes; crayons, spattering, and watercolor are among a few that can be effectively employed.

In a landscape scene, objects lose a degree of red and appear more blue as they recede. They also lose value and detail as they appear more unfocused. This phenomenon must be observed when creating landscapes especially for shadows. Foreground shadows benefit from a Prussian blue marker, since it contains the darkest-red pigment. As shadows progress to middle ground, try Dutch blue, which is bluer and lighter. For faraway shadows, Space blue will produce light, diffused tones.

Ambient light in a landscape is an important element that helps set the tone. Since daylight is ever changing, its quality and direction suggests the time of day and the atmospheric conditions. For example, sunrise is brief with long, cool shadows and a sky that typically contains Ultramarine, Sky blue, and pastel colors.

At midday, overhead lighting is stronger with an Ultramarine or Cobalt sky, and shadows are minimized but darker. Clouds become white with a suggestion of warm gray shadow. As sunset approaches, pale orange colors bathe the terrain in long, warm shadows that are tinged with purple. The sky once again darkens with a deeper blue that is laced with pastel streaks. At dusk, the sky appears quite bright against the darkened foreground horizon as all colors deepen.

Night scenes can be illustrated in a variety of ways depending upon the amount of moon, star, or artificial lighting. In all cases, foreground subjects can still have detail but will appear bluer (Space blue) or greener (dark olive) and will possess a tighter range of values. The sky at the horizon should be a lighter Space blue and gradually fade to a darker Indigo or Prussian blue with stars dotted throughout.

To suggest moonlight, try using a Cream of Maize marker over an area of dark color. To accentuate foreground objects, try placing a dark sky against a light subject or the reverse. Artificial light sources--such as an incandescent lamp or the glow of a distant city--have individual qualities, so each should have its properties carefully assessed. Unless it is a floodlight, most artificial light will quickly fade into the night sky.

Illustrating water is more challenging, since it has many properties and is often kinetic. Key to the effective illustration of water is observing and understanding how it moves and reflects light. To help create a "wet" look, apply a marker when it is fully loaded and fresh. To aid the dynamics, use a low-porous paper that will absorb moisture slowly. Working quickly with broad strokes, select compatible colors and let them overlap slightly. The colors will tend to diffuse into each other so try using a cotton swab to feather the edges.

Extreme weather poses unique opportunities and challenges when working with markers. In most cases, a limited range of colors will suffice to capture most effects, since stark contrast helps create more powerful images. For example, instead of hundreds of raindrops, it may help to illustrate a large, dark sky with only a few drops. This helps suggest the birth of a storm on the verge of an imminent deluge. Keep in mind that some raindrops will catch and reflect light while others block it and appear dark. (This holds true for snowflakes as well.)

Snow can be illustrated by using blue and Ice blue markers on white paper, which serves as a base color. Wispy streaks of snow or flakes themselves can be introduced with white dots or smeared streaks from a brush. Cool and basic grays can be used to illustrate dark and angry skies.

Markers are effectively versatile, portable, and fun to use. With all the colors and tip configurations available, just about any type of landscape (or other subject matter) can be faithfully or stylistically illustrated. If you haven't worked with markers yet, try them and see the results for yourself.

Airbrush

Developing Metallic Surfaces

The airbrush is used extensively in the development of different types of surfaces, both in illustration and in painting. Metallic surfaces have traditionally been created with an airbrush because of its ability to render objects in a photographic manner.

There are two basic metallic surfaces to consider: matte, such as steel, rust, or galvanized; and reflective, such as polished stainless steel, chrome, or gold. Both are easily achievable with the airbrush but utilize two completely different types of techniques.

Matte--This surface is dull and non-reflective and is generally developed with a freehand technique utilizing soft masking (hand-held) and a variety of airbrush sprays. On a matte metallic surface, there is an overall coloration that is minimal; it's developed by a vignette that moves from light to dark across the surface. Stippled sprays are used to keep the object matte and to give it texture.

A sheet of steel can be developed with a vignette of blue sprayed in a freehand manner from one side of the object to the other. The natural dot pattern of the airbrush lends to the feel of the steel surface. If the surface is coarser, such as with rusted steel, then a heavier dot pattern (stipple) is utilized to replicate the look of the coarse texture.

Stippling can be accomplished in two different ways. Some airbrushes are adaptable to stippling tips or the tips are removed to spray larger dots. The second method is to restrict the air pressure to one or two pounds (psi) with the air regulator; the airbrush does not spray "properly" and produces larger dots.

If masking techniques are utilized for a matte effect, they are normally of the soft masking variety (hand held without adhesive).

Reflective--When you think of "airbrush art," high-sheen reflective surfaces come to mind, whether they are robots of science fiction illustration or silverware in a sharp-focus realist painting. The unique ability of the airbrush as a tool to depict the realism of a shiny metallic surface is well known. The key to achieving this is to think in terms of painting what is being reflected from within the object, rather than trying to paint only the object's surface.

Normally, in developing this type of surface, the artist will use a combination of freehand spraying and hard masking (self-adhering frisket or acetate). No matter what the shape or object is, to make it appear shiny, it must reflect its environment.

A simple method to accomplish this--particularly for beginners--is to paint warms (e.g. brown) and cools(e.g. blue) adjacently to give the appearance of the environment that is outside the reflected object being reflected in the object. To the surprise of some, you cannot make an object resemble chrome simply by airbrushing it silver.

As an example, draw a square on a sheet of paper and paint a vignette of blue going from light to dark, top to bottom. Let's say that the square is outdoors. After the paint dries, cover with a sheet of frisket film and cut a wavy line going across the center. Lift the top half of the film and airbrush along the line with dark blue (which indicates the sky reflection). Let it dry and reapply the frisket film. Lift the bottom piece and spray along the line with light brown for the reflection of the ground. Remove both pieces of film and there will appear to be a reflection in the square, making it look shiny.

TIP: To develop a concave effect, the sky would be reflected in the bottom and the ground in the top. Remember that reflections are always distorted or abstract, and local color (the color of the object) is muted.

  ArtPourri

Museum Opens--The long-awaited opening of the Getty Center museum complex in Los Angeles has arrived. The opening exhibit is "Beyond Beauty: Antiquities as Evidence," with a collection of ancient sculpture and artifacts. Although there is no admission fee, parking is limited (at $5), so reservations are a must: (310) 440-7300. Or, you can just take the bus.

Winner Announced--The 1997 Turner Prize awarded to a British artist under the age of 50, has been given to Gillian Wearing, an artist who works with photography and video. Three other women finalists competed for the prize.

Photo Collection Expanded--An important collection of 78 19C. British photographs worth $4.5 million has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. San Francisco editor William Rubel assembled the collection, which includes rare examples of major figures in early British photography, in the late 70's.

Retrospective Held--"Cindy Sherman: Retrospective" contains 150 photographs from the artist's career at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, through February 1; then to Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Sherman has expanded to include filmmaking. "Office Killer," directed by Sherman and not rated, did not receive kudos in a review in the New York Times.

Collection Split/Donated--The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has decided to split its entire collection of Warhol's films, videos and TV programs. Recipients include the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the Museum of Modern Art in NY, the UCLA Film and Television Archive in LA, and the Museum of Television and Radio in NY and LA. In addition, the Whitney Museum will receive a grant for research and publication of a catalogue raisonne of films; and MOMA will receive a grant for the preservation of the original films.

Sculpture Debated--Some San Francisco residents want to move on and forget the legendary 1967 "Summer of Love," while others wish to commemorate the era with the construction and placement of "Big Peace," a proposed nearly 25 ft. contemporary stainless steel peace sign by Tony Labat, in Golden Gate Park. The Recreation and Park Commission will be voting on the proposed sculpture.

U.S. Represented--"Robert Colescott: Recent Paintings" includes 19 paintings that represented the U.S. at the Venice Bienale this year. Opening January 25 at the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) through April 5; then travels to Queens Museum, U. of Arizona Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, Sheldon Memorial Gallery (Lincoln, NE) and Site Santa Fe.

New Home Planned--The Museum of American Folk Art has commissioned an architectural firm to design its new building in Manhattan. At an estimated cost of $25 million, the new museum will quadruple its exhibition space to 12,500 sq. ft. and will include a lecture hall, cafeteria, gift shop and amphitheater, as well. To be situated next door to the Museum of Modern Art, it's scheduled to open in the spring of 2000.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 8 No. 3 -- January 1998