Art Materials

Selection of Materials for Advanced Art Education 

The decision to major in art is not an easy one.  There are many details that have to be considered; yet, it is one of the most exciting and challenging adventures one can undertake.  There are many small elements that add up to a total “student” with reference to being a full-time artist.  Good preparation is the key and that should begin long before you enter the college classroom.

Use of the best materials to create your art is always a good idea.  Oh, yes, there will be many exercises done on newsprint or spiral-bound sketch pads--thousands of doodles and sketches on whatever is lying about.  But, most of the time, you should use high quality papers and implements to do your drawing and painting.  The reasons for this are two- fold.  First, your work should be something you consider worth doing on the best paper or canvas.  If you don’t think enough of it to use good materials, how or why is anyone else going to?  Secondly, longevity of your art is assured if the ground upon which you work is top quality.

There will be times when your skills and knowledge improve to a degree that you might want to toss your old work.  That would be a sad day indeed.  All artists need to revisit the work of their past, at least occasionally, to realize their progress and growth.  Good quality materials allow you the opportunity to keep work for very long periods of time without fear of deterioration.

The markers, pens and inks, pencils, charcoals…all should be artist quality rather than student grade.  After all, you are building a foundation that will support your future efforts as an artist.

Good things to consider when looking for materials are the content of their makeup as well as the cost.  If you see a top-of-the-line pencil set or collection, one graded by degrees of softness, you might want to spring for that rather than selecting individual items.  They are often the best bargain and offer more choice when you are at work.  The best materials have fewer fillers, more archival content (in the case of paper it is essential for long-term whiteness and clarity) and less binder material (pastels and colored pencils), which often dilutes the pigment quality.  Paints that are better grade will be made with components that will allow them to hold their pigment without changing, cracking, getting chalky or flaking.

We are indeed fortunate to have such a wide range of materials available and in a good range of prices.  Buy the best you can today and you will be glad you did later.  Start off with the idea of long-lasting quality.

Other things that can help include items such as light boxes, portfolios, painter’s boxes, easels, painting bridges (investigate Artool’s display), airbrushes and air compressors (Iwata Airbrush, Silentaire Technology and Sparmax offer great selections) and special art panels.  (Ampersand has some neat choices – even panels with dimension – awesome!).  The list could go on and on.  But, you want to select the materials that will best aid you in your quest to create your own personal style.

Once you are on your way, you will want to start collecting the work that you feel best exemplifies your skill and expertise.  By keeping your best examples in a portfolio, you will have it at your fingertips, ready to sort and organize should you decide to enter a Masters or graphics program.  Things you might consider include not only slides of your best works, but several actual samples.  A portfolio is the perfect transport for your collection.

Now is the time to get ready for the coming semester by collecting materials and supplies.  See your local art materials retailer for many choices, great variety and more ideas as well as expert recommendations.

The Artist’s Marketplace

General Pencil Company – Drawing Kit Wins “Best Green Product” Award

For the fourth year, Stevanne Auerbach, PhD/”Dr. Toy” has recognized the Best Green Toys and Children’s Products, which provides attention to the innovative products and companies that are working toward making a difference in playthings and reducing the impact of production.  This year, General Pencil Company’s new How to Draw Cartoon Flip Books kit has been recognized as one of the “Best Green Toys”!

General Pencil and Matthew Luhn, Story Artist/Animator from PIXAR Animation Studios, partnered to create a one-of-a-kind series of How to Draw Cartoons Kits:  How to Draw Cartoons and How to Draw Cartoon Flip books.   These unique kits include all the General’s Drawing Tools needed in addition to two easy-to-follow books created by Luhn.  Filled with techniques and lessons including shapes, shading, perspective, dimension, developing style, writing stories and creating morphing effects in flip books, these books and kits are ideal for teachers, students, aspiring cartoonists and people of all ages wanting to brush up on drawing and cartooning skills.

General Pencil Company has been manufacturing drawing materials in the USA for over 121 years, and green initiatives have contributed to their thriving for six generations.  For fun drawing projects, tips and techniques, visit www.GeneralPencil.com.

Artograph – New Digital Projector

Art projectors have proven to be an invaluable tool for artists and designers for over 300 years, and the changes in their design technology have been primarily in illumination, lens systems, and construction materials. However, the rapid transition to digital technology in photography and design has warranted projectors to follow suit. Recently, Artograph did just that by introducing their LED digital version (the LED200) to their line of projectors. This new offering boasts a quantum leap in image quality, flexibility, and performance.

Inspiration without limits! Introducing the Digital Art Projector LED200 from Artograph. Designed exclusively for artists, it features custom layout grids, precise color controls and color to B&W feature right away. With multiple input options, you’ll be able to access digital images from almost any source—computers, SD cards, digital cameras or smartphones. The maintenance-free LED lamp provides a crystal clear and accurate image reproduction up to 80” in almost any lighting condition, making it ideal for custom on-site work and presentations.

The new Digital Art Projector LED200 from Artograph. How will it inspire you?

A Little Art History

Sidewalk Art

It is called many things: 3D street painting, 3D pavement art, 3D chalk art, 3D sidewalk art, Madonnari or just plain old urban sidewalk art.  Whatever it is called, temporary sidewalk painting is one of the most intriguing and exciting forms of art expression.  Who would ever think that an everyday, utilitarian, non-artistic surface such as pavement could be changed into a dramatic, mature and exceptionally detailed art form?  Most of the images created in 3D chalk/pastel art are anamorphic art.  That means that the art creates startlingly real-looking, distorted images that must be viewed from a specific angle or reflected in a curved mirror or some other optical device.  These drawings are actually mathematical extensions of the centuries-old skill of acute perspective.

The very first Italian street painters in Europe are thought to have plied their skills starting during the 16^th century.  These vagabond artists would travel from festival to festival functioning as the visual equivalents of minstrels.  Supported only by the coins tossed by passers-by, they often worked on packed earth or the small amount of pavement near churches or town squares.  They employed things like colored stones, brick and charcoal as their medium.  Most of the work done at this time was religious in nature and often in response to a request by a patron of a church.  During World War II these artists suffered hardships and their numbers dwindled.  But in recent years one festival – The International Street Painting Festival in Grazie di Curtatone in northern Italy -- has revitalized the interest and support for such paintings and those who create them.

Most well known of all 3D street painters of today is Kurt Wenner.  In 1982 he drew his first sidewalk chalk art on the streets of Rome and, in doing so, converted pavement into modern, nearly unbelievable images.  He revitalized the ancient practice of impermanent or ephemeral art.  To do this, Wenner took the principles of his classical architecture training, complex geometry, technical drawing and design to the sidewalk and transformed those surfaces into this remarkable art form.

Such outdoor artists are known by many names across the globe.  A madonnaro (chalk artist) in Italy is known as a strassenmaler in Germany, a pavement artist in Britain and a sidewalk artist in the U.S., but each transforms pavement, if even for a short while, into scenes beyond all reality.  Today, festivals and contests for groups of artists draw huge crowds that stand in awe of what they see drawn on the flat surface before them.

It has taken decadess from those first drawings on the sidewalks of Rome for artists to be able to duplicate such drama on the flat surface of pavement, and they are now often aided by computers.  However, Kurt Wenner did not have the aid of a computer to create his works.   Although less complicated initially, his work has become a pinnacle to which newer chalk painters like Julian Beever, Manfred Stader, Edgar Muller and others have aspired.  So revered is Wenner’s work that it is often mimicked.  See images of his sidewalk paintings at www.snopes.com/photos/arts/sidewalk.asp.

Art Competitions & Opportunities 

―Visitor-Curated Target First Saturday - Brooklyn Museum – For the first time the Museum has invited visitors to get directly involved in choosing the programs that will be presented at its popular Target First Saturdays event.  The public has nominated performers, musicians, films, books and DJs related to the exhibition Extended Family:  Contemporary Connections that they would like to see featured at the Oct. 2 First Saturday. You now have the opportunity to vote for finalists from August 1-15.  http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/shoutoutbrooklyn/.

―Teen Studio Saturdays – Printmaking:  Edvard Munch – National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC – Aug., 14, 10a.m.-3:30p.m.  How can love, jealousy, anxiety and sorrow be captured using line and color?  Explore the exhibition Edvard Munch:  Master Prints and experiment with printmaking techniques to create your own expressive work.  Lunch and all materials provided.  Teens in grades 9 – 12 are invited to participate.  Free but preregistration is required:  http://www.nga.gov/programs/teens/saturdays_register.shtm.

―Art Fair San Francisco – Concourse Exhibition Center – Nov. 19-21- This event features most categories of contemporary fine art—2- and 3-dimensional painting, photography, digital art, sculpture, glass art, etc.  The mission is to bring contemporary fine art from today’s emerging young talent as well as established artists all under one roof.  Submit five images of your work for judging. There are a limited number of booth spaces per category.  Deadline:  Sept. 1.  http://artfairsanfrancisco.com/submission.html.

―The Allied Artists of America—97^th Annual Exhibition 2010 – National Arts Club Galleries, NYC, Nov. 12-30 – Open to all artists.  Works eligible include paintings in oil, watermedia, pastel and graphics; sculpture in the round or relief.  All subjects and styles are eligible:  traditional, contemporary and abstract.  $24,000 in cash awards and medals.  Deadline:  Sept. 13.  http://alliedartistsofamerica.org/prospectus.htm.

―Spectra 2010 – National Photography Triennial - Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT – Nov. 14-Dec. 23.  Residents of the U.S. only are eligible and may submit original photography completed since Jan. 2007.  $1,000 Best in Show plus additional awards.  Deadline:  Sept. 14.  203.966.9700, Ext. 26; http://silvermineart.org/files/call_for_entries/Prospectus.pdf.

―Where do You Draw the Line? – Workshop –National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – Wednesdays from 2-3 p.m. until September 15 – Drop-in drawing workshop for adult beginners inspired by classes run by young British artists Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas in 1990’s London.  Let your inhibitions go and allow your creativity to take over while you explore works from the Gallery’s collection in a new way.  Workshops are bilingual and last 60 minutes.  Free with Gallery admission. http://www.gallery.ca/poplife/workshops.htm?submenuheader=2.

―6^th Annual Learning & Product Expo: ART! – Juried Art Show/Workshops/Exhibit Hall – Pasadena Conference Center (CA) – Oct. 22-24 – This Expo is a 4-day event that consists of a workshop program of 200 art classes in all mediums and techniques as well as an exhibit hall of art material manufacturers.  Learn about art products directly from the manufacturers and see free demonstrations.  The Juried Art Show is growing into a prestigious venue for artists and is open to all fine artists over the age of 18 and able to hand-deliver their artwork to the Conference Center on Oct. 20.  All works must be originals conceived and created entirely by the entrant.  Cash and product awards.  Deadline:  Sept. 17.  www.learningproductexpo.com.

―Grants for 2011 Arts Projects – The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council has announced guidelines for 2011.  Each year LMCC awards grants in every artistic discipline, across Manhattan’s neighborhoods, through The Fund for Creative Communities and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund.  Both of these programs provide grants of up to $5,000 to arts organizations and individual artists for quality arts projects.  Deadline:  Sept. 21. www.lmcc.net.

―Christian Marclay:  Festival – Photo/Video Pool – Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC.  Visitors are invited to participate in the collective documentation of the exhibition by taking photos and videos in the performance space on the fourth floor.  Join the Festival Flickr group and upload your images and video to the pool for a chance to see them featured on whitney.org as the exhibition grows and changes via daily live performances.  Through Sept. 26.  www.whitney.org/Exhibitions/ChristianMarclay.

―Sugarloaf Craft Festivals – Artist applications for Spring 2011 shows are now available online.  Exhibitors at Sugarloaf Festivals are jury-selected based on the quality, craftsmanship and uniqueness of their designs in the following mediums:  clothing and textiles, fine arts, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, paintings and prints, photography, pottery, wood, miscellaneous and mixed media and specialty foods.  www.SugarloafCrafts.com/becomeex.html.

Airbrush

Mediums for Airbrush
Part 2-Oil-Based Media:
Alkyd and Water-Miscible Oils

When you consider airbrushing oil-based mediums, there are two types of paint to also bear in mind:  alkyds because they are the fastest drying; and water-miscible oils because they are the lowest in toxicity.  Everything that holds true for painting with artist oil colors--gounds (gesso), supports (canvas), varnishing--also holds true for these two paints.

Alkyd is an artist oil paint or color that has a synthetic alkyd resin, rather than a natural plant resin like that used in traditional oil paints.  This synthetic resin is a mixture of alcohols and acids with a bit of oil (such as linseed) that produces the binder.  Alkyds were originally made for use as an industrial and house paint and were later modified and formulated for artist painting.

One of the advantages of using alkyds in airbrush technique is that they dry fairly quickly—not as quickly as artist acrylic colors, but significantly faster than traditional oils.  In normal paint brush use the paint can be reworked in 2-6 hours and will dry in 12-24 hours.  Glazes can be applied two hours apart.  In airbrush technique, this drying time is sped up by the fact that the airbrush applies a very thin layer of paint.  Note that the drying time will also be affected by the amount of solvent added to thin the paint for spraying—more solvent=less time.

Although alkyds are compatible with traditional oils and oil mediums, combining them will slow drying.  Also, with alkyds, paintings can be varnished sooner and they have fewer tendencies to yellow.

With Da Vinci Paints’ Fast Dry Alkyd Oil there is no compromise in pigment load and no strong alkyd smell.  With brush painting, the thin film dries in 12-48 hours, depending on the pigment.  The collection of 60 colors is mixable with traditional linseed-based oil paints and can be thinned with paint thinner or turpentine to lower viscosity and increase transparency.  Visit http://www.davincipaints.com/dyn_category.php?k=114368.

Water-miscible oils are unique because they are mixed, thinned and cleaned up with water instead of solvents.  These appear like and behave in the same manner as traditional oil paints with the same drying time but are low in toxicity because of the lack of solvents—which makes them ideal for artists who may be sensitive to chemical fumes.  This is particularly important when you are airbrushing or spraying paint.  As with all paints, applying thin layers with the airbrush aids in quicker drying.  Grumbacher Max Oils is a professional quality line of 60 colors and, therefore, not intended to be used by children.  Tubes are available individually, in assortments and in sets.  Visit http://www.grumbacherart.com/products/colors/oils/max/index.html.

Consider these two alternatives to traditional oil paints when airbrushing—quicker drying time, ease of thinning and more!

New Free Issue of AirbrushTalk

See the latest issue of AirbrushTalk at www.aibrushtalk.com for the following articles and more:  Market to Potential Clients Efficiently and Cost Effectively by Donn Shanteau; Oh Yeah! Kool Made Shoes by Thomas Adams; Casting a New Light by Janean S. Thompson; Dracula in Armor by Wes Hawkins and more.  Sign up for your FREE copy!

ArtPourri

Auction Record Set – Sotheby’s summer sales of Old Master & British Pictures in London brought a total of $94.5 million, a 39% increase over last July.  Leading the sale was J. M. W. Turner’s masterpiece Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino at $44.9 million, setting a record for the artist at auction, and now at a new home—the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA.

Cultural Awards ― 2010 marks the first decade of the National Museum of American Illustration opening to the public.  In celebration they recently hosted a gala event in Newport, RI, that included the inaugural American Civilization Awards honoring individuals and institutions who have significantly contributed to our popular culture—our American Civilization.  Honored laureates included The National Arts Club.

Finalists Announced – The 2010 Knight Arts Challenge finalists have been announced in the third round of an annual contest that aims to bring together South Florida’s diverse community through the arts.  Forty-one finalists were chosen from a wide-ranging field of applicants with a broad spectrum of ideas.  Project descriptions are available at www.KnightArts.org.  Winners of the matching arts grants will be announced in the fall.

Final Bow Taken – Little Orphan Annie, the renowned comic strip, has ended its newspaper syndication run—which began in 1924.  But, fear not, the “sun will come out tomorrow.”  A new round of 21^st century opportunities is being explored in digital and entertainment media form for Annie, her pet pooch Sandy and Daddy Warbucks.

Museum Attendance Up – The Met (NYC) has announced that visitors numbered 5,240,000 as of June 30, the end of the fiscal year.  This is the first year since 2001 that attendance has exceeded five million.  Among the most popular exhibitions were Vermeer’s Masterpiece The Milkmaid, Picasso
in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (on view through Aug. 15), Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof:  Big Bambu (through Oct. 31) and American Woman:  Fashioning a National Identity (through Aug. 15). Memberships also increased to a record high and visitors to the Museum’s website increased
by 14%.

Recovery Effort Praised – The head of INTERPOL has praised police authorities in Germany and Ukraine for their “exemplary international collaboration” in a recent operation in which a stolen Caravaggio painting was recovered and an alleged international art theft gang broken up.  The painting, known as the “Taking of Christ” or the “Kiss of Judas” and reportedly worth tens of millions of Euros, is considered a national treasure in Ukraine.  It was stolen two years ago from the Museum of Western European and Oriental Art in Odessa.

NEA News – A new report, Audience 2.0:  How Technology Influences Arts Participation looks at who is participating in the arts through electronic media, what factors affect their participation and the relationship between media-based arts, activities, live attendance and personal arts creation.

See http://www.arts.gov/research/new-media-report/index.html

―A new class of NEA lifetime achievement recipients has been announced.  This award is the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

Visit http://www.nea.gov/news/news10/New-NEA-Lifetime-Honorees.html.

New Postage Stamps – The U.S. Postal Service celebrates five newspaper comic strips with the debut of Sunday Funnies stamps.  The 44-cent first-class stamps honor Archie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes.  Art director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, selected the images appearing on the stamps.

New Director/Curator Announced ― The Board of Directors of the Linda Pace Foundation, San Antonio, TX,  has announced the appointment of Steven Evans as its Executive Director and Curator effective this month.  Evans had a 20-year tenure with the Dia Art Foundation and was most recently Managing Director of Dia:Beacon, where he played an integral part in establishing the museum.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 20 No. 10 — August 2010