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Oil Paint

Oil Sketching

An exhibit of eighteenth and nineteenth century artworks, Studying Nature:  Oil Sketches from the Thaw Collection, is on display at The Morgan Library & Museum, New York City, through August 30.  More than thirty works in the exhibition chronicle the history of a practice that was used during the late eighteenth century and remained vital until the dawn of Impressionism. (www.themorgan.org)

The works on display include those by late 18^th C. pioneers such as Pierre-Henri Valenciennes, Simon Denis and Francois-Marius Granet and 19^th C. practitioners such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and John Constable.  Representing the late stages of the oil sketch concurrent with the dawn of Impressionism are works by Eugene Isabey and Charles-Francois Daubigny.  French, British, German, Belgian, Scandinavian and Italian artists working in their homelands and abroad as well are featured.

Curiosity about the methods and materials used brought about some interesting information as to the reasons and acceptance of these finished works that began as quick studies.  Because oil painting was the accepted medium of the time, use of that material is not surprising.  The use of oil on paper is considered unusual only because paper was, and remains, considered a less-than-permanent material upon which to paint.  When one realizes that most of these works were studies, ways to capture an image in a short time without worry of longevity or permanence, the artists used what they had on the least expensive ground.  By today’s standards, that makes sense and it did then as well.

Paper is a very absorbent surface and holds well the oil paint applied.  There are several reasons why this is an advantage, especially for field and location work.  The very style of this work is somewhat abbreviated and lacks much of the detail most often associated with finished works in oil.  But because of this spontaneous nature, many of the artists loved doing these preliminary sketches.  Many of the works in the Morgan display are more complete than what is usually considered a sketch. Sketches are usually thought of as an experimental process.  But these works prove that sketches can be acclaimed just as can a finished artwork.  As the works in this exhibition show, many of the more refined oil sketches were small, intimate and drew the viewer close.  This was another aspect that made their use popular.

Curiosity continued to motivate, and research into oil sketching provided some very intriguing details.  In the early 17^th century the oil sketch became widely used.  It continued with considerable practice through the time that Impressionism captured artists’ fancy.  Location work was often hindered by weather changes, winds and other hardships.  Artists used sketches to capture quick studies of their surroundings so that the emotion and feel of the scene could be retrieved for more thorough work at a later time.

Artists such as Rubens used oil sketches heavily to capture the many gestures of the human form.  He had a huge influence on other artists, who used oil sketches for purposes other than finished works.  Printmaking was also part of the oil sketch ethic, as the wet painting could be echoed if pressed before it dried.

Translating the materials and techniques into today’s application, it is a simple thing, indeed, to do oil sketches.  We have many more grounds upon which to work and we have coatings such as acrylic medium to finish the surface.  With such a surface treatment, the oil will not penetrate and is workable for longer periods of time.  Rag papers, illustration boards and the like make great base materials for oil.  Other odd and unusual surfaces can also be prepped to take oil.  Cotton fabric can be adhered with rabbit skin glue to create a unique and versatile surface.

Quick drying oils available today make the oil sketch (especially that done in the field) a very practical recording device.  Studies done in this material will dry quickly enough that you can use a pad or spiral notebook of pages without worry of smearing.  With conventional oils, the paint will remain soft for longer periods; and in some applications, that is good, too.

Try it for yourself.  Oil sketching done outdoors offers a wider window of workability when compared to using acrylics.  And capturing the essence of a moment in time is fun.  With oil you can do it easier and perhaps rekindle a practice enjoyed in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

The Artist’s Marketplace

Strathmore – New Additions to Artist Trading Card Line and New “Greener Options” Cards

With the tremendous success of Strathmore’s Artist Trading Cards, they have received many requests to expand the line.  Now available are Frame Cards, tri-fold white cards that feature a cutout window that accommodates an ATC.  Cards slide easily into the pocket and provide a great way to display or send your trading cards.  These come 6 per package and include envelopes.  Also new are clear, rigid vinyl Sleeves to protect and store your cards, measuring 3” x 4.5”, that come 5 to a pack.

As a pioneer in eco-friendly artist products, Strathmore has announced the addition of Greener Options Blank Cards to their growing selection of earth-friendly offerings.  These environmentally-friendly cards and matching envelopes are made with alternative fibers and/or recycled materials for your unique expression.

Hemp Cards-laid finish, natural—are ideal for use with charcoal, pastel, pencil, pen and ink, rubber stamps and more.

Bamboo Cards—textured, natural—are ideal for use with paints, screen prints, stamps, block prints, collage and more.

Sugar Cane Cards—smooth, ivory—are ideal for use with stamps, pen and ink, die cuts, block prints, collage and more.

Recycled Fiber Cards—smooth, bright white—are ideal for use with stamps, pen and ink, die cuts, block prints and more.

Recycled Fiber Cards—textured, cream and textured, white—are both ideal for use with stamps, die cuts, screen prints, collage and more.

All of the above measure 5” x 7” and come 10 to a pack.  See your retailer and visit www.strathmoreartist.com.

Sculpture

Museum and Garden Exhibitions

Dallas, TX – Nasher Sculpture Center – Highlights from the Nasher Collection, through Sept.6, includes approximately 100 works installed in indoor galleries and the sculpture garden.  View masterworks by artists such as Rodin, Matisse, Giacometti, Arp, Ernst, Miro, Lichtenstein, Judd, Lewitt, and David Smith, among others.  A special feature is the inclusion of Isaac Witkin’s Volution (1964), on loan for a year.  Summer offerings at the Nasher also include movies, concerts, tours and fine cuisine.  When you purchase a $35 Summer Family Pass, you can enjoy free admission for the entire family all summer.  214.242.5100; www.nashersculpturecenter.org.

New York, NY – The Met – Roxy Paine on the Roof:  Maelstrom is a site-specific installation by conceptual artist Roxy Paine created for the 2009 season of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden.  Maelstrom is a 130 ft.-long by 45 ft.-wide stainless-steel sculpture that encompasses the nearly 8,000 sq. ft. Roof Garden and is the largest sculpture to have been installed in that location.  In conjunction, gallery talks will be presented July 7 and 23.  Through Oct. 25, weather permitting.  212.535.7710. www.metmuseum.org.

New York, NY – Museum of Modern Art – Sculpture in Color, this summer’s installation in The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, celebrates the bold use of color in modern and contemporary sculpture.  Highlights include works by Ellsworth Kelly, Anthony Caro and Franz West in addition to those by Guimard, Calder, Giacometti, Picasso and others. 212.708.9400. www.moma.org.

Mountainville, NY – Storm King Art Center – Storm King Wavefield is the largest site-specific earthwork created to date by acclaimed artist and environmentalist Maya Lin.  Occupying an 11-acre site, the work comprises seven rows—each over 300 feet long—of carefully scaled undulating hills that give the appearance of ocean waves.  845.534.3115. www.stormking.org.

Kansas City, MO – The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art – Inventing the Shuttlecocks reveals the creative process (drawings, collages and models) and celebrates the 15^th anniversary of the installation of four Shuttlecocks in the Kansas City Sculpture Park by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.  The sculptures, each weighing 5,500 pounds and 18 ft. tall, have become visual icons for both Kansas City and the Museum.  Through Aug. 16. 816.561.4000. www.nelson-atkins.org.

Los Angeles, CA – The Getty Center – Foundry to Finish:  The Making of a Bronze Sculpture allows viewers to get a rare look at how bronze sculpture is born through the process called lost-wax casting.  Thirteen step-by-step models illustrate the sculpting and casting process.  Ongoing.  Also see Cast in Bronze:  French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution, through Sept. 27.  310.440.7300. www.getty.edu.

Cincinnati, OH – Cincinnati Art Museum – Bessie Potter Vonnoh:  Sculptor of Women features 35 sculptures from 1895 to 1930 and two portraits of the artist by her painter-husband Robert Vonnoh.  This is the first touring exhibition of this esteemed sculptor’s work and celebrates the contribution of women artists to American cultural history.  Through Sept. 6.  www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org.

Stockbridge, MA – Norman Rockwell Museum – Stone’s Throw:  Peter Rockwell, Sculptor features an outstanding collection of the artist’s bronze, marble and limestone sculptures on view on the pastoral landscape in celebration of the Norman Rockwell Museum’s fortieth anniversary.  Peter is the youngest son of legendary American illustrator Norman Rockwell.  Opens July 11 through Oct. 25.  413.298.4100. www.nrm.org.

Printmaking

Solar Plate Printing

Of all artistic disciplines, there is one area of expression that could easily occupy a creative mind for decades.  That would be printmaking.  There are so many ways to create beautiful prints on any subject and in any style you could imagine.  Many prints can be produced quickly and offer the artistic mind acres of space in which to expand, enlarge and further develop any given style.  Some of those printmaking methods cause artists to come in contact with harsh chemicals – substances that may be hazardous and/or difficult to avoid possible contact with.  Taking all of this into consideration and acknowledging that these prints are the most involved, there is something quite pleasing about “pulling” a print, watching the result of your labor lifted off the master plate and seeing your results that first time.  For many, this makes it all worthwhile.

However, for those artists who would like to experiment with relatively low hazard, less involved processes, there are several options.  Many prints can be made as one-of-a-kind artworks.  Such prints might include monoprints (monotypes) made with acrylic or other water based-paints on glass plates.  Direct printing from an inked object to paper, such as the creation of carved linoleum or wood blocks or rubber-based print material, is another choice.  Printing shapes and designs from found objects (halved vegetables, flat Styrofoam shapes, etc.) is very simple but a quite expressive form of printmaking.

The purist in many artists wants to create prints that use the more standard, long accepted forms of print plate making. That usually involves the use of strong chemicals, as mentioned earlier.  Along with the plate creation, usually comes the use of a high pressure, compacting, rolling press of some sort.

As an adjunct to chemically produced plates, we now have the option of using solar plates to create the master from which prints can be made.  This is a plate, usually metal, that arrives at the studio pre-coated with a photo- sensitive coating on one side.  With the addition of a transparency and a sheet of glass, the plate is placed in the sun for a pre-determined length of time.  The solar brightness shines through the glass and through the clear areas of the transparency but is blocked by the dark areas.  The richer the darks, the more clearly the designs will be defined.  All clear areas will remain on the plate as highs, and the dark areas will be removed, thereby creating the lows into which ink is rubbed.  The resulting image will print just as a chemically created plate does.  The low areas hold ink and the high areas are wiped clean.  After running through a press, the resulting print is “pulled” – as with the more traditional style of printing.

There is a type of printmaking for any artist, any age.  It may be the most widely available style of artistic expression.  Now, solar plates offer even the press printmaker a new choice in materials.  See your retailer for your printmaking needs and visit www.graphicchemical.com.

National Gallery of Art Exhibition

Stanley William Hayter: From Surrealism to Abstraction features approximately 55 of the celebrated artist’s most important prints.  The range of work includes his early B/W surrealist engravings, outstanding examples of his technical innovations, unique proofs and color variations, late linear abstractions and fully worked copperplates and plaster casts.  Also included is a select group of prints by some of the best-known artists to work at his print workshop, Atelier 17, including Max Ernst, Joan Miro and Jackson Pollock.  Through Aug. 23.  www.nga.gov.

Art Events

Schedules sometimes change, so please confirm all events.

—ART Santa Fe 2009 will be held July 23-26 in El Museo in the Railyard Art District in downtown Santa Fe, NM.  See the best in contemporary art from the international art community and across the U.S.  In addition to special single-artist installation spaces, a new hands-on demonstration event, “How Things are Made,” will show the step-by-step process of making lithographs.  505.988.8883. www.artsantafe.com.

—The 5^th Annual Milwaukee Artist Marketplace at the MAM on July 25 will explore works by more than 80 emerging and established area artists in a relaxed and informal setting.  Paintings, drawings, jewelry, prints, sculpture, ceramics, wearable artwork and more will be available for purchase. 414.224.3200. http://www.mam.org/calendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=868&year=2009&month=7

—After Hours at the Hirshhorn is Washington’s premier contemporary art event held from 8p.m. to midnight.  Enjoy extended museum hours, curator led gallery tours, live music and special performances.  Tickets for the July 24 event (free to museum members) are sold in advance only and may be purchased online—www.hirshhorn.si.edu/afterhours/; by phone: 202.633.4629 or 877.932.4629; or in person at the Smithsonian IMAX theater box offices located at the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History.

—Morning Yoga in the Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art will be held July 11, Aug. 1, Sept. 5, Oct. 3 and Nov. 7.  Classes are from 8-9 a.m. and all participants must pre-register: 504-456-5000.  Each session is designed to give your mind and body the perfect workout to start your day.

—The 52^nd Annual Gold Coast Art Fair will be held July 31 – Aug. 2 in the River North Neighborhood, Chicago.  More than 300 juried artists from around the world exhibit their work at this festival, which draws visitors from around the world.  847.926.4300. www.amdurproductions.com.

Airbrush

The Dual Action, Internal Mix Airbrush

The dual action (D/A), internal mix airbrush is the type most used by professionals.  It differs greatly in its trigger mechanism and style from the single action (S/A) airbrush.  In the S/A brush, you simply depress the trigger for a pre-set amount of paint; whereas with the D/A brush, you depress the trigger for air and then draw it back for paint.  This enables you to change the width of line and the amount of paint sprayed without having to stop and readjust the airbrush.

The width of spray is determined by the distance between the airbrush and the work surface in conjunction with the amount of paint being sprayed.  A small amount of paint sprayed very close to the surface results in a fine line.  Hold the airbrush further from the surface and draw back further on the trigger to achieve a broader line or spray.

The D/A trigger is spring loaded so that when released, it automatically returns to a shut-off position.  Most D/A airbrushes are equipped with a trigger pre-set.  This, in essence, turns the D/A airbrush into an S/A brush.  The ability to pre-set the spray allows you to conveniently spray a consistent line without concern. Depending on the manufacturer, there may be interchangeable head assemblies and needles that fit a specific airbrush.

D/A internal mix airbrushes are available in three different configurations:  gravity feed, side feed and bottom feed.  Preference for one style over another depends upon the application.

The gravity feed style has a color cup permanently attached to the top of the airbrush.  This cup varies in size from one manufacturer to another.  The side feed style has a color cup that plugs into either the right or left side, depending on which hand the painter uses.  Color cups are available in various sizes and can be swiveled to let you work at any angle with no spillage of paint.  The bottom feed style is adaptable to jars or color cups, both available in different sizes, thus allowing you to work with either small or large amounts of paint.  Sometimes the position of the jar may prevent you from getting close to the work surface; and because of the angle at which the jar or color cup is situated, it may be difficult to spray straight down without paint dripping onto artwork.

Cleaning of the D/A internal mix brush is the same as with all other airbrushes.  The handle must be taken off to remove the needle to wipe clean, and you should flush the airbrush with cleaner from where the paint enters the color reservoir to where it is sprayed out (paint tip).  Never immerse the airbrush in solvent, as it will gum up the internal workings.

Internal mix airbrushes cost more than external mix and D/A airbrushes cost more than S/A.  However, the D/A internal mix airbrush is the most sophisticated and versatile.  And once you learn to use it, you will be comfortable with any style of airbrush.

ArtPourri

U.S. Honored – The Philadelphia Museum of Art, commissioning institution for the U.S. Pavilion at the 53^rd International Art Exhibition-La Biennale di Venezia, announced that the U.S. representation, Bruce Nauman:  Topological Gardens, has been awarded the prestigious Golden Lion for the Best National Participation.  This is the first time since 1990 that the U.S. has received this much-coveted award.

Sketchbook Stolen – A sketchbook of original drawings by Pablo Picasso was stolen from the Picasso Museum in Paris between June 8-9.  Dating from 1917-1924, it has a red cover with the inscription “Album” in gilt letters.  Measuring 16 x 24 cm, the sketchbook contains 33 pencil drawings by Picasso, of which four are on back pages.

INTERPOL is investigating.

NEA News – The NEA has announced the 2009 recipients of the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, the NEA National Heritage Fellowships.  Eleven fellowships, which include a one-time award of $25,000 each, are presented to honorees from eight states and Puerto Rico.  Included are LeRoy Graber, a German-Russian Willow Basketmaker from Freeman, SD, and Teri Rofkar, a Tlingit Weaver and Basketmaker from Sitka, AK.

Stamp News – Maggie Simpson beat her dad, Homer, by more than 8,000 ballots as the favorite Simpsons stamp in an online vote.  Of the more than 916,000 votes cast, Bart came in third, followed by Marge and Lisa.—A new 44-cent U.S. Flag stamp that was photographed by Rick Barrentine of Duluth, GA, has been issued by the Postal Service.  The detail, showing a softly folded flag, features most prominently the starry blue field, with red-and-white stripes occupying the remaining space.  Look for these in booklets of 10.

Auction News – Christie’s New York Post War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale totaled more than $93.7 million.  New world auction records were set for David Hockney, Claes Oldenburg, Douglas Wheeler, Tony Smith and Kerry James Marshall. The Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale realized over $102.7 million for paintings and sculpture with top lots from Picasso, Giacometti and Tamara de Lempicka commanding the highest prices.  A new world auction record was set for Lempicka at $6,130,500. – Sotheby’s sale of Old Master Paintings, European Sculpture & Antiquities brought a total of over $14.2. The top lot of the section of Old Master Paintings and the entire sale was Frans Post’s The Sugar Mill, which more than doubled the high estimate to sell for $1.7 million.

Milestones – Abstract painter Frederick Hammersley has died at age 90.  He is known as one of the Los Angeles-based “Abstract Classicists” whose work gained international attention through the exhibition Four Abstract Classicists at the Los Angeles County Museum in 1959.  The term “hard edge” was coined at the time to describe the geometric, abstract paintings by Hammersley and others

—American figurative painter Robert Colescott has died at age 83. He was the first African-American to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale (1997), and his works can be seen in the collections of many major museums.

July Dates of Interest:
12 - Etch-a-Sketch Introduced (1960)
28 - Beatrix Potter’s Birthday

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 19 No. 9 — July 2009