Subtle Changes and Safflower Oil

About a month ago I came across the book Traditional Oil Painting by Virgil Elliott. I refer to it often while experimenting with the technique of glazing over underpaintings.

In Chapter 7, Oil Painting Materials, Elliott suggests using safflower oil for cleaning brushes followed by soap and water rather than using turpentine. I have always used soap and water on all of my brushes, but never thought of using a vegetable oil for the preliminary cleaning. Safflower oil is a common binder in many oil paints. It can also be used judiciously to thin paints while glazing. I was surprised by the successful results as both a cleaner and a medium.

I applied a very thin glaze on the painting illustrated here. I wanted to get a feel for the coloring of the sky before I worked color into the trees. After the first glaze on the sky and a bit on the road, I mixed a cool, dark glaze of alizarin crimson, viridian and a touch of manganese. I glazed over the trees and grassy areas attempting to establish a sense of the clustering of the trees. It is difficult to see the subtle changes of value in these photos. The manganese helps to create a sense of the same atmospheric light. I'll let the painting dry completely before going back into the trees with a greater variety of greens, both warm and cool, the cool being dominant. After establishing the final range of values in the trees as well as a stronger palette for the trees I will glaze another layer onto the sky and the road. I want a sense of rich darkness in the trees, but I want the grass of the medium to be lighter, reflecting more sunlight and sky. The foreground road will be darker; the foreground grass will be lighter. The challenge at this point is finding a suitable hue for the lightest lights in the foreground grass.

What if ......... ?

Though the technique of glazing over a complementary-color underpainting is quite different from throwing, splattering and dripping watercolor onto paper, I discovered yesterday that the labor intensive glazing technique triggers the same thrill of experiencing the unexpected as my watercolor technique. As I gazed at the variety of the underpaintings of the past two days another significant similarity struck me. Both techniques lead to my asking “What if ....... ?”

What if I intensify the values of the underpainting?
What if I use analogous colors in the underpainting?
What if I handle the brush more freely?
What if I draw with strong-valued lines of paint?
What if I use more turpentine, causing the paint to drip in the underpainting?
What if I use that horrid color, cadmium red medium, in the underpainting?
Can I make the color sing by glazing vivid colors over a neutralized underpainting?
What if I do the underpainting in two or three sessions of glazes?

Yesterday I began by digging out my least favorite color, cadmium red medium. As beautiful as cadmium red light is both by itself and mixed with almost anything else, cadmium red medium is dreadfully dull by itself and manages to absorb the life out of any other color it is mixed with. Earlier in the day, while sipping a delicious cup of Dine’s coffee, I mentioned to my dear friend that I would experiment with cad. red medium in the fall after the exhibit at Monsoon is hung. She asked why I didn’t get rid of the paint rather than spoil good canvas and expensive paint trying to make it into something it isn’t. Perhaps the answer is that I’m stubborn and can’t help but believe there is at least one way to use the color successfully. As soon as I climbed the stairs to my studio I knew that there was no reason to put of until October something that I could do immediately.

I squeezed out cadmium red medium, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow medium, cobalt turquoise, pthalo turquoise and french ultramarine blue. After completing one large and one small underpainting I was left with sizable piles of blue paints on my palette. I ended yesterday’s painting session with extreme dark blue of the trees contrasted against a pale sky and ribbons of road.

My animosity toward cadmium red medium diminished significantly. I decided to use only cadmium red medium and viridian in today’s underpaintings. After the first two, I added pthalo turqoise.

There are two tried and true ways to activate color. One is by placing complementary colors next to one another. The second is to place vibrant color against a neutralized color, one that amplifies rather than competes with the color that is meant to sing. Even a less-than-vibrant-color can appear quite lovely against a neutral. I look forward to breathing energy and life into all of these experimental underpaintings.

Glazing Technique

On July 1st, Judy Stines asked "Can you give us any details on your glazing technique?"

The purpose of the series Between Here and There is twofold: to explore the technique of glazing and to create a series of paintings that clearly illustrate the five elements of painting as simplistically as possible. I chose subject matter that presents a common, everyday experience, that of seeing the road cut through the landscape while driving in a car. The subject of these paintings is secondary to the elements of the paintings. The exhibit, Unveiled - The Anatomy of a Painting, will present both representational and abstract paintings. My hope is that the road series will introduce the idea that all paintings are working with the same elements. It is only through the artist's skilled and successful manipulation of these elements that content and meaning are communicated to the viewer.

My experience with this glazing technique has already inspired me to go further with it following the exhibit. In the future I will concentrate more on layered, composite drawings. In the road series, the drawing is extremely simple, stating only basic shapes and only suggestions of more complexity within those shapes.

I begin with a photograph. Hah! I cringe at the thought of working from photographs. In this case, fortunately, I made an exception.

Surface: My surfaces are either prepared birch plywood or stretched canvas. The plywood is sealed on both sides with two coats of acrylic GAC (made by Golden) and four coats of acrylic gesso. I sand the surface before applying the next layer. I also glue a frame made from 1"x2" strips 2" smaller than the board on the back to prevent warping and to provide a way to hang the paintings if they are not framed.

Drawing: Working from the dimensions of the canvases and boards, I crop the photographs and rework them using pastels to achieve the shapes and values that will create strong compositions. Using a projector, I transfer the drawing onto the surface indicating only the basic shapes, avoiding any small details.

Color Palette: My color palette is limited. I want to explore the range of color I can achieve using only White (Zinc White or Permalba White for transparent glazes and Titanium or Flake White for more opaque layering), Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Manganese Blue, Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine Blue.

Mediums: I am using either oil paints or acrylic paints for the underpaintings. I am using only oil paints for the glazes. I am not using a medium with the oil paints for the glazes, only turpentine.

Underpainting: For the underpainting I mix colors that are close to being the complement of the final color and are the same value as the final value. For example, if the sky will be a dark blue, I mix a dark orange. If the trees are going to be a mid-value cool green, I mix a mid-value cool red. I am experimenting with the warm and cool aspects of the underpainting and glazes. I will adjust my technique depending on the results.

Glazes: Each layer must dry completely! I apply the glaze with a brush, sometimes rubbing it into the surface with a cloth or removing parts of it with a brush or cloth. Sometimes I scumble the paint over the surface. I keep the edges soft at this point. Sharp definitions of shapes will come in later layers. I mix colors both on the palette and on the painting, enjoying the nuances that are automatically created by the interaction of the underpainting and the glazes. I allow the underpainting to show through in order to preserve the push and pull that occurs when complementary colors are placed next to one another.

The technique is quite simple. What is hardest for me is to be patient and allow the layers to dry completely before applying the next glaze. I am working on at least eight paintings at a time. That, too, is a new experience for me.

Color Play

Figure 1. illustrates the first layer of glaze on the road in the foreground. Figure 2. illustrates the first layer of glaze on the rest of the underpainting and the second layer of glaze on the road.

The cool reds of the underglaze demand equally cool greens in the glazing. The mood created is wonderfully different from the first few paintings in this series. I continue to be in awe of the ease with which a sense of mood and light can be created by this technique, glazing over an underpainting of complimentary colors. I can only imagine the results of at least half a dozen glazes.

I see experimenting with this series as another turning point in my growth as an artist. What might have been a miserable experience of juggling too many responsibilities and time crunches with preparing for the solo show in October has been transformed into a journey of joy and discovery. Had my time not been so restricted, I would never have chosen this path. I would be outdoors painting.

Last winter I began to prepare for a spring and summer of painting outdoors again. Little did I imagine that my life would change in a way that kept me from that goal. I have watched the most beautiful spring that I have ever experienced in New Jersey, followed by a lush and visually exciting summer. Perhaps next year I will be able to paint outdoors. When I do, my experience will be richer as a result of this study of glazing over underpaintings. The series is appropriately named "Between Here and There".

Links to previous blog entries and images of the progress of this series:
Exhilarating Fun
Underpaintings
Acrylic vs. Oils