Poll results about in...
That was a good idea after all!
"Its better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation." - Herman Melville
Thanks to everyone who took a minute to post a comment and/ or vote on the poll questions. There are only 2 days left, but at this writing, it looks like videos greater than 5 minutes vs shorter than 5 minutes lead 2:1. The poll about subject matter of the videos is about evenly split. From the comments I’ve received, thank you for those, the majority of people who voted for 5 minutes or longer had a limit to that of about 7-10 minutes. That seems about right to me too. Not to worry for those that get drowsy faster, I will still be posting occasional shorts. The poll about subject matter leaves my options wide open, a good thing. I wouldn’t want to bore everyone with some sort of ‘follow along while I paint’ video if what they’d like to know is how to prepare an MDF board for painting on with acrylics vs oils. I pledge to cover a variety of subjects!
I hope to be able to start posting some videos before too long.
Below is a screen shot of the poll results as of tonight, March 22nd.
STUDIO NOTES…
Today I stretched up a 48” x 60” linen canvas for a painting that will be heading to Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon sometime before December. I’m part of a show there that will feature artists Silas Thompson, Shanna Kunz, Tad Retz, Mitch Baird and myself. That’s a long way, and a ton of $$$, to send such a large painting. So it will eventually be taken off of the stretcher bars when I’m finished, rolled up and shipped in a 5’ tube, to be re-stretched when it gets to Oregon. I have one there of the same size, that hasn’t sold, so that one will be returned to me, and this new one will take it’s place in the existing frame. This makes the most sense economically, even if it’s still expensive to ship and re-stretch it. Shipping a framed, flat piece of that size, is bank breaking these days. This is easier to do being that this new one will be acrylic. Rolling it up on an acrylic primed linen leaves me with little worry about the ground or the paint surface cracking.
The linen I’m painting this on is Claessens Type 160, a beautiful linen for any paint, but for acrylic it’s nicer to work in than any of the others that I’ve tried, to date. I’m sure there are probably others that would be as nice, I just haven’t seen them yet. I have painted a few large pieces on this ( 5’ to 6’), for the cost (not too bad), and for the handling of the paint, this is (Goldilocks Principle here again)… just right!
A big find at Ace Hardware this morning is the Dewalt Carbon Fiber Composite Staple gun! It weighs in a .014 lbs. I barely noticed it in my hand. It has a lighting fast delivery, good penetration, even on heavy duty 1/2” staples, and is easy to squeeze the handle. I have pneumatic and electric staple guns. But who wants to haul a compressor (must be vented for carbon monoxide reasons) or a long extension cord around the studio, being noisy and getting all tangled up? It also shoots 1/2”-5/8” brads. I love this thing!
I’ll keep you posted on how the painting goes.
The making of everything green is over… but what a couple of weeks it’s been! Tybee’s Irish Heritage Parade was on 3/11, Savannah’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade was on the 17th. Dottie’s kids, cousins, nieces and nephews were on Tybee, as they are for every St. Patty’s Day, for a week or two. I was at the Tybee Irish Heritage Parade, but missed the Savannah parade due to some nasty, chesty, respiratory crud. So I was puppy warden for the day. I hope you all had a great one too!
Cheers,
Marc
Hello Marc,
I highly recommend using primed masonite or oil board instead of canvas.
Canvas moves for many reasons and cracklure eventually happens which restorers love.
Masonite stays as is forever and is really cheap. Use a roller for thinly applied gesso to get a matte finish.
Then lightly sand. I put a red acrylic base on that is the same as the base for gold leaf with the same effect.
For me, I don't like seeing any weave underneath.
Masonite can also be cut to any size unlike stretchers.
It comes in 1/4 or 1/8 ply.
And taking canvas off, rolling and restretching is really hard on dried oils because the tension is different.
Henk Helmantel, the great Dutch painter always uses masonite.
Good luck and I love your work!
Cindy O.
Thanks for the great photos. Wondering if there is any Canadian outlet where I can find that linen. So disappointed in one place that sent me cradled linen with rippling! Still waiting for costumer service which seems to be a long lost art.