Impressionism--Painting Like A Rebel

The myths around Impressionism often hinder understanding of its techniques. In truth, it is not a united movement with a common theory or method. Critics and art historians defined the connection between Impressionistic theory and its historical chronology long after the period passed. Impressionism is more an attitude, one of personal expression with less affinity between accepted rules and academic study. Artists attempt to create an emotion, a spontaneity of style, freezing one moment in time.

Historically, there were no set materials or methods by practicing impressionists, as they varied depending on the artist, on the year and from painting to painting. The term "impressionist techniques" broadly covers the methods of a wide group of talented individuals. The time period that launched these methods started in the mid-1800's and continued through the end of the 19th century. This "movement" was focused on the activities of a particular group of artists whose most significant common factor was that they knew each other. Their approach, materials, and methods were personal and not tied in any way to another artist's dictate. Some of the artists claimed that the real inspiration for the style change was a decline in painting that brought about a situation where "everybody was busy copying everybody else and nature was lost in the shuffle." Renoir was one of the painters who believed that they were responding to the injustice of the official Salon that blocked anything but the accepted and usual and the inadequacies of the schools.

From the standpoint of materials, today's impressionists using today's oil paints have the knowledge that in theory their paints are identical to the oils used during the latter part of the 19th century. Impressionists of that time would have selected the best quality oils, those employing simplicity in their manufacture and monitored for purity and strength of color. Those same standards govern artists' quality oils created today.

The palette of the impressionists opened up new vistas and brightened the work of those participants. Contemporary oil paints of those early palettes included a rainbow of hues: cadmium yellows and reds, cobalt and cerulean blues, permanent green light and scarlet. The important issue was, and is, to use real pigment colors whenever possible, rather than blends. Some of the pigments used during the birth of impressionism are no longer available (such as true cobalt blue that was created by grinding the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli), but high quality substitutes have been produced so that all artists can benefit from a rich palette and can attain similar results.

Contemporary easels are designed for utility and versatility. The easels used by the original impressionists were designed specific to each of their needs. Many studio painters used massive easels, while field painters used lightweight, folding models that made them far easier to strap to one's back and trek into the wild. Today, both styles are still available in a wide range of sizes and weights.

Brushes used by the original impressionists were often handmade and were limited in the strokes they could create. Early impressionists used brushes to create specific looks and textures and often experimented with brushes used by peers, hoping to replicate the textures that peers had created. Today, we have the distinct advantage of being able to buy any shape, resilience or composition of brush that we feel will best achieve the result we seek.

Impressionism is primarily about painting, but it also involves drawing. Consider the work of Degas where drawing is a major element in the work. Pastel, chalk and conte crayons were widely used by others such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Cassatt, Monet and Manet. The material mattered less than the result. Today's materials offer the contemporary impressionist a wide range of options and can be combined to create mixed media works of superb quality.

Acrylics are a relatively recent upstart, but have increased in popularity from the time they were introduced in the 1950's. Their ease of mixing, simple dilution with water and fast drying qualities make them ideal for many artists' techniques in impressionism. The methods used to create impressionistic oils translate well to acrylics.

Any subject matter can be created in an impressionistic style. It is somewhat like abstraction in that a simplification of detail results from the relaxed approach. Many of the practitioners of impressionism used outlining as a basis for their paintings. Charcoal or pastel and sometimes dark-pigmented oil paint might have been used to draw the image onto the canvas. Then the fill-in and fleshing-out of the work sometimes covered the base drawing or, more often than not, the artist preferred to leave the lines as part of the finished work. Additionally, the canvas was often allowed to peep through, with its raw texture visible in the finished work. Such practices helped to make impressionistic work appear to be more spontaneous and light-hearted than the traditional styles of the late 1800's.

While impressionism may seem to be less studied than other methods of application, it is nevertheless a creation by means of methods and materials, by an artist who "sees" the image long before it appears on canvas. Art was and is the transposition of nature at once forceful and sensitive...not made out of doctrines.

Mounting and Framing Coins and Similar Collectibles

Coin collectors often wish to display their collections in a permanent decor style that will enable others to share their beauty and uniqueness. While there are several different means to achieve display of coins, mounting and framing under glass will afford the coins great visibility while protecting them from excessive handling. Achieving such a framing project is not as difficult as you might think.

Novice framers can easily replicate three styles of presentation. The first style of framing includes mounting the coins onto a solid background surface mat with silicone adhesive. No permanent damage is done to the coins. Second is the use of coin mounts available through any coin shop, and third is the creation of clear Mylar strips and mat windows to showcase the coins.

Style one is the most straightforward. Use silicone adhesive to glue the coins onto a mat that is cut to frame size. This form of mounting is not recommended for valuable coins, although no permanent damage will occur.

In style two, the coins are held by plastic coin mounts (available through coin shops) and then mounted to a solid background mat color. This mat should be cut to the size of the frame prior to mounting the coins. Arrange the layout in a pleasing pattern, attaching with glue (such as 527 Adhesive). Once the holders are dry, clean the glass and put it into the frame. Glue thin strips of foam board to the glass (hidden under the lip of the frame) to keep the glass elevated over the coins. Set the mounted coins (on the mat) into place. Carefully turn the package over to be sure there is no lint or debris under the glass. Return the frame to the facedown position and fasten the package into the frame with small nails, push-in glazier points or a point driver. Attach wire and hang it up!

Style three is a bit more complicated, but is a method used by professional framers. Develop a layout for your coins. Cut windows in a mat selected to show around the coins. When the windows are cut, encase each coin in a "girdle" made of clear Mylar. Cutting a strip of Mylar larger than the coin and about four inches long makes the girdle. Trace the coin in the center of the strip and cut out the exact size of the coin, leaving two strips uncut at the center left and right of the coin. Cut a slit in the background mat at the exact position desired and pull the strips through the slit. With the tabs pulled tight, secure with tape. This will lock the coin in place without any adhesive contact. Finish with glass elevators as above.

Perhaps its time to proudly display your collection of coins (or political buttons, medals, brooches, medallions, etc.).

The Art of Pysanka

The art of the decorated egg, pysanka, comes from the Ukrainian word pysaty or "to write" and dates to around 4,000 BC. Folk stories tell of people who lived in the region now known as Ukraine and worshiped the sun as a source of all life. Eggs decorated with nature symbols were chosen for sun worship ceremonies and became an integral part of rituals. Legends tell that birds were the sun god's chosen creations because they could get nearest to him. Humans could not catch birds, but could collect the eggs that then became magical objects, a source of life.

With the acceptance of Christianity in 988, the decorated pysanka (plural: pysanky) continued to play an important role in Ukrainian rituals of the new religion. Even today, the Hutsuls--Ukrainians who live in Western Ukraine--believe that the fate of the world depends upon the pysanka. As long as the egg decorating custom continues, the world will exist.

Tools are simple: clean white eggs without cracks, dyes, wax, the application tool called a kistka (or one fabricated from a wire extended past the end of a short stick), varnish topcoat, and spoons for retrieving the dyed egg. The designs can be original line patterns or traditional themes like wheat for health, flowers for happiness, deer as symbols of strength, the triangle to symbolize air, or fire and water. Patterns are drawn with the wire tip of the kistka with hot beeswax.

Pysanka design begins by drawing on a plain, white, raw egg with hot beeswax. Those areas will remain white. The egg is then dipped into dye of the lightest color in the planned pattern. The egg is dried. Areas that are to remain the light color are waxed over and then the egg is dipped into the second lightest color. Another drying period, waxing to maintain areas of the second color and so on until the egg is completely colored in the desired pattern. Once the color application is finished, the egg is heated to melt away the wax layers. This is done by warming the egg beside a candle flame (above the flame will overheat it) or by the use of a hair dryer. The resulting sheen and colors are most often intricate, employing vivid colors in symbolic designs.

Display of finished eggs should be in a well-ventilated area. If displayed in closed areas, the eggs are prone to explode; but if they have no cracks and are displayed in an open area, they will last for a very long time. Or it may be preferable to blow out the finished egg prior to wax removal. This is done by piercing a small hole top and bottom and blowing the inside of the egg into a cup. A tool for this purpose is available at some hobby and craft stores. (Do not eat the extracted egg, as it has been exposed to several unsafe temperature changes.) Varnish the finished egg for a high gloss and enjoy for many years to come.

In the Spotlight: Graphic Chemical & Ink Co.

Lithography

The process of lithography has long been associated with near-mystical properties. Artists throughout the decades--since Alois Senefelder developed the lithography process in the late 1700's-- have done little to dispel the mystery and secrecy. In actuality, the principles are simple to understand, but in the case of stone lithography, fairly involved to complete. The process is based on the principle that grease and water do not mix. The artist develops an image with materials that have an affinity to grease. Special etching compounds are used to erode the negative spaces around the drawn subject. The high spots that remain are inked and paper is pressed to this surface. When the paper is removed, the resulting image is what the artist first drew onto the stone.

The stones used are very special, super-smooth lithographic stones that are mined in a specific limestone quarry in Bavaria. There are several stones, designated by color that can be used in different types of litho work. The stones are graded and sized, crated and shipped to retailers around the world. Graphic Chemical & Ink Company in the Chicago area is considered the premier source for the best quality stones. While it requires such a stone to do lithography in the "old world" method, a more contemporary method, one that is accessible to a wider range of artists, can be done on a metal plate or special heavy paper coated with a clay-like substance.

Lithography Stones--When the stone is first quarried, it is damp and soft, but hardens with exposure to the atmosphere. It is the even texture and slightly porous nature of the limestone that makes it perfect for printmaking. Stones that are light yellow to white are usually more porous and work best with large-scale elements lacking sharp detail. Yellow-gray stones and gray stones offer the widest range of characteristics. These are able to reproduce any degree of detail, from fine lines to bold areas of color. Blue-gray stones are the hardest and the most difficult to work. They lack absorbency and tend to have a more brittle surface. Although images can be created on any stone, many artists prefer to select a stone hardness that best suits the styles and subjects they depict.

When selecting a stone, choose one without any lines or small flecks of foreign matter. Cracks and small fissures can cause an over-absorbency or rejection of ink, depending on the nature of the line or crack. Small flecks are actually more troublesome than lines in the stone, as they often flake off after processing and cause a rejection of ink.

A process that must be completed with stone lithography is to make certain the stone surface is perfectly level. You can conduct a test by passing a heavy metal straightedge across the surface. Should any unevenness be present, or if the stone has been used for a previous image that is now to be removed, a painstaking--yet gentle--grinding away of the surface is needed. This is done over a sink with a "graining" stone, where a second stone (always kept wet) is slowly revolved to remove the surface of the printing stone to a perfectly flat surface upon which a new image can be placed.

Metal Plates--Zinc or aluminum can be used to create lithography plates. "Tooth" must be created on the slick, flat plates, giving them the ability to accept and hold inks. This is done on a graining machine, a vibrating table on which the plates are clamped. Aluminum oxide is sprinkled on the surface, and then metal balls are allowed to roll on the plate to grind the oxide into the surface. The grit size determines the finished tooth of the plate. Immediately after graining, the plates are washed and dried to prevent oxidation.

Counter-etching is a final cleaning of the plate, done with a dilute solution of acetic acid. This acid wash completes the removal of any loose particles of grinding powder lodged in the surface grain. Rinse and dry after the acetic acid bath.

Such processed plates are also available from Graphic Chemical & Ink Company. Plates come in larger sizes that can be cut down to any desired size. They can be easily scored with a razor knife or mat knife and broken over the edge of a table. Store prepared plates flat with paper to protect from cuts and scrapes.

To transfer a drawing to the stone, use pencil, carbon paper or conte crayon so that no grease or wax is introduced to the surface. Grease is what the ink adheres to in order to create the image. After the drawing is in place, use a litho crayon or pencils to create the image that will hold the ink. Brushes, tusche (in stick or liquid form that works to hold ink similar to crayon), pens, or etching needles can also be used to soften, scrape or form the drawn images.

Printmaking Paper--Paper is the last issue with lithography. A high grade of paper with a soft surface is recommended. Fibers will be pressed against the slightly elevated areas and will be required to pick up and hold the inked images. Since the investment in energy and time is greater with lithography than with other printing methods, a high quality of paper is wise: damp strength and long life.

Graphic Chemical & Ink Co. is a major source for all printmaking supplies: inks and ink additives, print papers, printmaking plates, chemicals and supplies, tools, hot plates, brayers, color shapers, lithographic stones and supplies, block print supplies, rollers, silk screen supplies, and printmaking books, as well as picture frames. You will find much useful information at www.graphicchemical.com, including an extensive glossary of printmaking terms from "acetate" to "zinc plate."

New Book on Figure Drawing

The Art of Figure Drawing by Clem Robins enables the reader to render accurate human figures in the elegant style of the old masters. Robins provides a comprehensive overview and then illustrates specific techniques with illuminating exercises that range from basic to complex. From shading and light to anatomy and composition, you'll learn how to draw from life. Guidelines for solving the most challenging elements of figure drawing--heads, hands, hair and feet--are also provided. North Light Books, 144pp.

Easter Projects: Papier-mâché Eggs, Mosaics and Place Mats

Create fun, decorated egg shapes for tabletop or mantel decoration or as gifts to share with friends at Easter. They are made with papier-mâché, painted and sealed to last for years.

Papier-mâché Eggs

Materials: * Papier-mâché paste * Balloon * Tape * 1-inch pieces of newspaper, newsprint or paper toweling * Pie tin * Paint brush * Colored tissue paper * Gloss painting medium

Recipe for papier-mâché paste: * 1 cup water * Mix in 1/4 cup flour until thin and runny.

Stir this mixture into 5 cups lightly boiling water and boil gently for 2-3 minutes. Cool until you can safely dip paper into mixture (without burning yourself). When cool, pour into pie tin. Blow up a balloon and tape to a table. Dip strips of newspaper in paste and place carefully on balloon. Continue overlapping pieces of newspaper on balloon. Cover balloon completely and let dry. It may take overnight to dry, particularly if children have used lots of paste. The last two layers can be pastel tissue paper strips smoothed onto the moist newspaper surface. Use very little paste on these layers and make the surface as smooth as possible. Once dry, decorate the dried balloon with stickers, felt markers or painted designs. Finish with painting medium for a shiny, glazed effect.

Eggshell Mosaic

This is a great way to "recycle" the shells of Easter eggs. Children will love breaking up the eggshells to create a priceless keepsake for Mom or Dad.

Materials: * Colored eggshells * Construction paper * Crayon, pen or marker * Glue

Have a child draw a simple design (flower, fish, egg) on a piece of paper. Spread glue in the design area. Carefully place bits of broken eggshells onto the glue. Allow to dry and then hang and enjoy.

Easter Place Mats

Materials: * Old Easter cards * Easter pictures from magazines * Children's drawings * Lightweight cardboard or heavy construction paper * Glue * Contact paper

Gather up Easter cards from past years, pictures from magazines, photographs or your children's favorite drawings. Glue them onto light cardboard or construction paper the size of a place mat. Cover the collage with clear contact paper to seal the place mat. Be sure to have your child date and sign it. These make great gifts for grandparents and other relatives or friends.

Any of these projects is great group fun, so gather the materials, call some friends and be creative on a rainy afternoon. You might also want to make bunny masks using paper plates with eye and mouth holes, pointed ears and whiskers and cover them in cotton balls. For another neat egg decorating idea, wrap thin strips of crepe paper around wet boiled eggs. Allow the strips to dry in place. When removed, the strips leave unusual crinkled patterns around the egg. These are great on white or brown eggs.

Happy Easter!

Web Sites for Kids

NGA Kids at www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm contains many online art activities and projects, as well as a list of upcoming programs, films, and events for kids at the National Gallery of Art. In the newest "Adventures with Art Links," kids play a guessing game online that involves a colorful, mixed media artwork by Frank Stella--"Jarama II"--as they search for clues and try to discover what the artist is saying.

At the White House's web site for kids at www.whitehouse.gov/kids/whlife/index.html, children can download and print out coloring book pages for each U.S. president. Also to be found here are "White House Artists" and a guide and resources for parents and teachers.

Museum Exhibition

They Still Draw Pictures: Children's Art in Wartime is at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, through May 25. This exhibition of more than 50 drawings chronicles children's experience of war, from the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's to more recent conflicts in Poland, Palestine, Croatia and Kosovo, and elsewhere around the world. These drawings, created by children who have experienced the trauma of war, depict both graphic violence and destruction and idyllic representations of peace, often filtered through the nostalgia of memory.

2003 International ChildArt Festival Announced

The International Child Art Foundation will host the 2003 International ChildArt Festival in Washington, D.C, on Sept. 6-13. Every four years, ICAF launches an Arts Olympiad for children that begins with local and national art competitions and culminates in the world's largest international children's celebration, traditionally held on The National Mall. Creative young Americans representing each U.S. state and territory will host national child artists from 100 countries at the festival. The theme is "Me in the New Millennium." Included will be an exhibition of the winning entries, a festival school for educational workshops, an arts and crafts studio, a creativity-tech center, a world cultural exposition, and a world stage for children. Internationally prominent artists will guide the children and make murals with them. See www.icaf.org for more information.

Masking Materials for Airbrush

As opposed to stenciling, masking is a technique used to cover up areas you do not wish to be painted. Overspray from the airbrush naturally drifts, so places on your artwork where you do not want this to settle must be masked. The most common materials used in this preventive technique are paper and tape, a combination that allows the artist to easily cover large areas. Several types of tapes and papers are available for this purpose:

Masking Tape This is the most common tape available and is found in art supply and hardware stores. It is usually tan in color and is available in a number of widths. Masking tape is always found on a roll, and the rolls can fit onto masking dispensers, which are tools that automatically apply tape to the edge of masking paper. This tape is normally translucent, allowing the artist to view a drawing for cutting out shapes. Some manufacturers produce them in varying degrees of tack. Scott numbers theirs from 1 (low tack) to 5 (high tack) and provides information on the packaging in regard to maximum time for safe adherence to surfaces. High-tack tapes are not suitable for paper surfaces, but all tacks may be used on gessoed surfaces.

Drafting Tape This was designed many years ago for the antiquated drafting industry that no longer exists. Drafting tape is light-tack and was developed for use on paper surfaces. It gave the user confidence that there would be no tearing of paper upon removal. Unlike masking tape, drafting tape is limited in the widths available. It can be left on surfaces for a long period of time and will not leave any adhesive residue when removed. Drafting tape is easy to cut with a stencil knife, is translucent, and also comes in a roll that fits a masking dispenser.

Art Tape This is normally a white plastic tape that is available in a few different widths. It is much less flexible than masking tape and won't bend as easily. Because art tape is opaque, a drawing cannot be seen through it. However, when airbrushed along an edge, the effect is razor-sharp. Art tape is well suited for paper surfaces but does not adhere well to gesso. The tack is so light that in some circumstances the tape will simply release from the gessoed surface or lift when sprayed against.

Painter's Tape This is usually found in hardware stores and is made from a roll of Kraft paper that has a lip of adhesive running the entire length. Painter's tape was originally designed for masking around windows and trim, but it also happens to be very handy for artists. The adhesive is low tack but holds well. It works on both paper and gessoed surfaces and is easy to apply. Painter's tape is available in a variety of widths up to 12" wide, allowing for quick application to broad areas.

Masking Paper This is normally Kraft paper, green-brown in color, which is available in rolls from 2" to 36" wide. There is no adhesive on this paper, and it has a thin core that is designed to fit on a masking dispenser. You attach a roll of " masking tape to the applicator and it self-feeds the tape/paper automatically lipped for use as masking material. This beats the old-fashioned taping of newspaper to cover broad areas! These machines can be found in art supply stores, automotive paint supply stores, or in hardware stores and are handy, particularly if you work large with an airbrush or spray gun.

Airbrush artists should always be concerned about overspray. You would be surprised how far paint will drift, and nothing can be more frustrating than discovering overspray on a work of art where it was not intended. It is always better to over-mask than under-mask.

Medals of Arts Awarded--President and Mrs. Bush have awarded the 2002 National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence, to nine recipients. Included among these are Florence Knoll Bassett, designer/architect; Lawrence Halprin, landscape architect/environmental planner; Al Hirschfeld, artist/caricaturist (posthumously); Ming Cho Lee, painter/stage designer; and Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for more than 25 years.

Memorial Planned--Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman have won a competition to design a 9/11 memorial for the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Benches engraved with the names of 184 victims will be the centerpiece of the two-acre memorial, which is targeted for completion by Sept. 11, 2004. The cost--at five to over seven million dollars--will be covered by donations.

Statue to be Unveiled--On April 5th a bronze statue of President Lincoln and his son Tad will be unveiled at the Civil War Visitor Center of the National Park Service in Richmond, VA. The U.S. Historical Society, in commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the pair's visit five days before the end of the Civil War in 1865, commissioned the life-size statue by sculptor David Frech. The statue was cast at the Tallix Art Foundry in Beacon, NY.

Arts and Letters Members Elected--The American Academy of Arts and Letters has elected eight new members to fill vacancies, with a May induction. Included among the artists are Jennifer Bartlett, Yvonne Jacquette, William King, and the late Al Hirschfeld. Selected by their peers, most artists consider admission one of the highest honors they can achieve. The Academy's permanent collection includes 25,000 books and 2,000 original manuscripts, paintings and photos illuminating the lives and work of members.

Sketch Stolen--From Jail!--A 1965 sketch by Salvador Dali has been stolen from the lobby of the men's jail at Rikers Island (NY) and replaced with a copy. The framed 4' x 3' ink and pencil sketch of Jesus Christ had been locked in a display case in an area that was staffed around the clock. An investigation is in progress.

Exhibitions

Denver -- Denver Art Museum -- Fabulous Floral Fabrics showcases more than 15 colorful textiles from America, Europe, and Asia that illustrate identifiable plants as well as fantastic fictitious flowers. Featured is the museum's Pratt Family Quilt, which was made in the 1840's for a Philadelphia family and measures nearly ten feet square. Through May 4.

Chicago -- The Art Institute of Chicago -- A Century of Collecting: African American Art in The Art Institute of Chicago marks the museum's first comprehensive overview of its most important holdings of work by African American artists. More than half of the 60 artists represented in the exhibition are living and still producing work. Through May 18.

Toledo -- Toledo Museum of Art -- Van Gogh: Fields is the first exhibition solely to address the artist's painted renderings of one of his most cherished themes, the representation of the field in its many guises. This tightly focused exhibit features 22 paintings and five drawings and watercolors. Through May 18.

Atlanta High Museum Rodin and French Sculpture of the Late 19th Century features the museum's fourth acquisition by Rodin, a sculpted portrait of Victor Hugo, as well as works by such contemporaries as Medardo Rosso, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, and Jules Dalou. Through May 25.

Roslyn Harbor, NY -- Nassau County Museum of Art -- A Century of Prints: 1900-2000 explores how artists enriched their visual legacy by innovative printmaking techniques and also demonstrates the importance of prints as works of art. Approximately 150 examples of the art of printmaking, spanning the School of Paris to present-day Americans, are included by artists such as Renoir, Bonnard, Chagall, Cassatt, Hopper, Avery, Motherwell, Hockney and more. Through May 25.

Los Angeles -- J. Paul Getty Museum -- Surrealist Muse: Lee Miller, Roland Penrose and Man Ray focuses on Lee Miller's life and role as a source of inspiration for paintings, drawings, mixed media works and photographs by Penrose and Ray and as a creative artist working in photography. Miller herself created a highly inventive and significant body of photographs that embraces Surrealism. Through June 15.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 13 No. 6 -- April 2003