Inspiration, Summer Painting and Meyer Medium

It's July, when most of you are either relaxing in the sun, painting in your studios, waiting for the results from the major juried shows, or planning the goals for fall.  You probably aren't into reading the blogs, so I thought it would be a good time for some summer inspiration and to share my process on a painting that just came off my easel. 

 I wanted to try information from a recent  FASO BrushBuzz comment thread on Keith Bond's article about ways to keep colors fresh: Jack White suggested coating the gessoed canvas with a thin layer of acrylic.  He recommended doing this because gesso has a tendency to pull the oil from the paint, causing it to dry "flat."   (Sorry I can't find the link to the full article, but the solutions to dull colors caused by oil being absorbed by the ground were: coat the gessoed canvas with a thin layer of acrylic, oiling in - a thin layer of oil brushed on the dry paint and then wiped off with a soft cloth before continuing with your painting, or the use of a medium such a liquin, also brushed on thin and wiped off) I used a thin layer of an acrylic color called "parchment" ( a coolish off-white) on my gessoed canvas, and was happy with the results.

I also used a tip from one of Richard Schmid's DVDs,titled White Pine, where he suggests using Meyer Medium - 5 parts turp or OMS, 1 part stand oil, and 1 part damar.  This medium can be used in small amounts with the darks to keep them from drying flat (it also allows the paint to dry faster).  I've always had a tendency to lose the darks, so I gave this a try.  In the image above left, you see the first lay in, over my charcoal lines.  The colors are sap green, ultramarine blue, and a favorite color from Rembrandt called burnt carmine.  I kept the colors separate on the palette and scrubbed them in using a touch of the Meyer Medium and a number 4 round hogs hair brush.  Note: the Meyer Medium has a strong odor so be sure you have good ventilation.

The next day the initial layer was dry to the touch - which meant I would not be picking up the darks and making mud.  I began to build up the primary area of interest - what was most important to "get right" - the rock, the log, and the suggestion of the tree that would be there.  I kept my palette to a limited range of colors:

Yellows: nickel azo yellow, transparent yellow oxide, raw sienna, yellow ochre light, verona gold ocher, and Utrecht's cad yellow lemon.

The other colors used: sap green, chromatic black, transparent oxide red, ultramarine blue, ultramarine violet, cerulean blue, Gamblin's radiant blue, a touch of phthalo turquoise and the burnt carmine.

I'm painting with #4 and #6 rounds (hog), and #6 and #8 brights (soft bristles), and a palette knife.  (yes, I know a few months ago I said I was painting entirely with a palette knife, but I eventually realized I needed brushes to soften the edges and subdue the knife work  - old dogs, new tricks sort of thing)

At this point I put a touch of the water color next to the darkest dark to check values (see in above image).  I give the credit to the Meyer Medium here, as the darks remained clean and vibrant, not muddy.  A big "woo-hoo" since there's no one in the studio to hear me except the dogs and they promised not to tell.  But then I completely forgot to take any more progress photos until the painting was done.  What I can tell you is that the water was painted almost entirely using the palette knife and the remainder of the painting was painted almost entirely with the brushes.  I also used the knife to scrape on or scrape off colors to create the layers of texture, and q-tips to draw into the wet paint, soften edges, and actually apply color. 

 

Rapids, Santiam River, 24 x 24 © the artist

 

Enjoy your summer, find inspiration wherever you are, learn what you can, and believe in yourself. 

I am very pleased to report that my painting, Creek, Early Snow, was accepted into the National Oil and Acrylic Painters' Society (NOAPS) 2011 exhibition "Best in America," to be held September 11 through October 28, 2011, at Dunnegan Gallery in Bolivar Mo.  It is an honor to be included with so many talented artists.

Creek, Early Snow, 16 x 20 © the artist

Comments

[Painter And Decorators]

Wonderful painting on environment and nature. I also like enjoy these painting with having a much more large group of friend. Thanks for sharing a good painting photos.

[bridget hunter]

Congratulations! And a very interesting Blog post.