Spaces Between The Gaps: artists guide

Setting Up an Art Fair or Market Stall

Thursday, November 03, 2011

The stall of WhereFishSing aka artist Fiona Morgan at the Ballarat Artisan Fair 2011

Set up of my stall in progress for the Ballarat Artisan Fair

Ballarat Artisan Fair. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday 4th, 5th & 6th November 2011. The Mining Exchange, 8 Lydiard St, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia (just a few doors down from the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery). 10am - 4pm each day. Some forty or so regional artists will be displaying and selling their creations, along with music, coffee, nibbles, artists talks and demonstrations. Come along if you can.

Today has been consumed with the set up of my stall at the Ballarat Artisan Fair. This is the first time I've prepared for an art fair. It's taken several weeks to get everything together, from varnishing all the (70+) paintings, to sourcing gift bags (that never arrived!) to printing promotional material. Below is a list of everything I've been able to think of to take along or have prepared. I'll append it afterwards as there are bound to be new insights gained from participating in the event.

Table

Trestle table or two
Many markets require a white table cover, so get a white sheet or two, or something nicer such as velvet (not velveteen as it looks cheap) or satin or canvas
Large butterfly clips for clipping tablecloth to table, and gaffa tape the same colour as the table cover for hiding the clips
Clamps for backup clipping tablecloth to table
A bucket or box as a bin for under your table is rather handy

Promotional material

Business name banner with rope & eyelets and gaffa tape for hanging options
Business cards
Email list signup sheet on clipboard (essential!!)
Pens for signup sheet, attached by string
Postcards of artwork
Photo books of artwork - show off more than you can bring on the day as interested people may ask for a commission based on what they see you are capable of
Photo board of artwork - lots of artwork to choose from on the day but too many paintings to display at once? Show photo samples of your full range. Individual artworks can be shown on request.
Artist statement for display, possibly laminated
Price tags, ready and blank (who knows what will happen on the day and how many you will need)
Nice paper to print out price tags and artist statement and any other small signage

Displaying artwork

Figure out the stall design and layout first
Builders level for getting frames hung straight (so good)
Wire/hooks/picture hooks (a roll of fencing wire, some pliers and tin snips are super handy to make hooks of any size or strength)
Framing wire (make sure it's rated to cope with more than double the weight your work weighs)
Fishing wire to make a washing line artwork display (useful for giftcards and other small lightweight works)
Sinkers to weight down display wire to make it stay taught
Small bulldog clips x 24 for hanging unframed artwork washing line style (these are super handy)
Cotton gloves for handling artwork
Frames, ready to hang
Pliers - fat and thin
Hammer
Wirecutters (tinsnips are far more effective than the scissor part of pliers)
Screwdrivers - an assortment
Masking tape
Scissors
Gaffa tape / cloth tape in colours to match your display elements
Blu-tack
Double sided tape
Backboard/screen on which to hang artwork
Window cleaner and paper towels for cleaning the glass & frames - essential

Storing artwork

Portable box storage system
Glassine paper for unframed artwork

Looking after me

Portable music
Lunch - no heating required, not messy
Snacks - nuts, fruit, quick, not messy
Water - have two litres
Coffee, tea, hot drink in thermos or hot water plus bags/containers, milk
Camping chair or something to sit on, plus a cover to make this presentable

Selling artwork

Change from bank for cash sales
Cash storage - bumbag or tin or wallet
Credit card payment facilities - if not provided, take a laptop with easy access to the Paypal site, laptop power supply, powerboard and extension cord
Certificates of authenticity - ready to print (take printer, extension cord and spare ink) or already printed out in doubles and take carbon paper
Clip board with attached pen for filling out the COA's - very handy
Packaging for sold artwork - precut cardboard sleeves / boxes or gift bags and bubble wrap
Phone, charged up
Red dot stickers
Paintings, varnished and framed
Pencils
Pens
Notepads
Packing tape
Regular stickytape / sellotape

If you're an artist and have useful notes to add from your experiences of art fairs, please enlighten the rest of us in the comments.

Petrus Spronk – Be Aware, Pay Attention

Friday, July 29, 2011

art

Technical Articles for Artists

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Photo thanks to Seattle Municipal Archives

This page is the place where all my technically inclined articles on art and painting are archived. The topics range from details on painting materials, to the business of art, to specific art techniques.

As this blog has grown it has become more and more difficult to easily find these, which are published about once a month. This is a shame as these are often the most useful and popular posts. There is now a direct link to this page from all areas of my site, on the sidebar.

As part of my continuous learning I go in-depth on a topic that interests me at the time and write up what I have learned. For me this is a way of consolidating the knowledge for myself, putting it in one place that I can refer to again in the future, and sharing my findings. I am quite particular and go to some lengths to get the information right, so I trust it will be of good use to more people than just myself. Each article also contains links to the most useful resources I have found during my investigations.

This post is part of an annual blog feature over at The Altered Page called 'Buried Treasure'. There you will find links to unearth the top posts on many art blogs.

Learn & enjoy and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at my life as an artist on Facebook.

To use this page - First give the script that collects all the relevant posts a moment or two to load. It should be done by the time you get down to reading this sentence. If not, close your eyes, tap your heels together three times, and that should do the trick.

There is a short preview of each post when you hover the cursor over the title.
Titles are in alphabetical order, but you can click on the date column header, 'POST DATE', to sort in ascending or descending order.
Click on a specific label (not the column header) to display only the posts tagged with that label ie. art techniques
To go back to the full list, just click the column header, 'LABELS'.

If you want to do a plain search of this blog, use the Blogger search box which is at the very, very top of this page on the LHS, next to the B outlined in orange.

Hide TOC

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6x6

6x6 Blog Tour - the art world paradigm in this new internet era

Thursday, July 07, 2011

September 8 - October 20, 2011

6x6, a series of six, back to back, one week only art exhibitions in New York City starting Thursday September 8, 2011.

6x6 is an art version of a music festival highlighting a line-up of twelve international artists run by Baang and Burne Contemporary, an unconventional art gallery.

Artists, if you're looking for a way forward in this new internet era, check out what Kesha Bruce and Charlie Grosso are up to.

Appreciators of art, if you might be interested in an alternative to traditional galleries, check these two out. It's all very excitement.

I interviewed Kesha who is a successful professional artist. She is thriving while controlling her own career and achieving this by making the most of the new possibilites now available thanks to the interwebs.

Read on to find out how she does it and why no art snobs are allowed...

People's perceptions of the art world is that it is a closed elitist club. The existence of the internet means that artists are no longer forced to go through the traditional gallery system which is so off-putting to many art viewers. This is a golden, once in a generation paradigm shift of opportunity for artists. From your personal experience, how are people finding your work given that you are not part of a conventional walk-in-off-the-street gallery?

First things first, let’s dispel a common misconception that a lot of artist have: Most galleries do NOT make their sales from walk-in-off- the-street sales. Instead sales are made based on relationships they have spent time building and nurturing with people who have expressed interest in their artists work. By the time someone decides they want to spend that amount of money, usually they have done their research, have been following the artist’s work, and have decided well in advance that they want to buy a piece.

Once you understand that you don’t need “foot traffic” to make sales, you can focus on what actually works. Building your mailing list and staying in touch with people who like your work. Most of the people who have bought my work recently are people who have met me through my blog. I had been in contact with some of them for years before they became “collectors” of my work.

You have 'no art snobs' written fairly prominently on your website. Why do you encourage regular people to get interested in and buy your artwork? Surely chasing known collectors and uber wealthy people would be a better strategy?

Actually, chasing down rich people would be a disastrous strategy and an enormous waste of time and energy! You might even get arrested for stalking.

I always tell my consulting clients: “Stop hunting Unicorns!” By that I mean--understand that most “art collectors” don’t walk around calling themselves “art collectors”. It’s not a job title. Most of them aren’t rich, or snobby, or well-known.

The people who consistently buy my work are normal people. They are nurses, hair stylists, car mechanics, and even supermarket cashiers. These people buy my work and keep my bills paid. This idea that “collectors” are these mythological creatures that must be hunted down is actually a very harmful one. It’s precisely that limiting belief that prevents them from seeing possible sales that are right in front of them.

Artists need to make a habit of consistently staying in touch my e-mail and by snail mail with every single person that has ever shown interest in their work. These people are your future collectors!

Traditional galleries have the reputation of being intimidating and sometimes even clinical environments regardless of whether they are commercial or artist run galleries. There are already artists running pop-up galleries and going the D.I.Y. route but your events are billed as creating real excitement and having the spirit of an indie rock band. That's an entirely different concept, pushing the D.I.Y event to another level again. I'm curious why you chose to push so far past the comfortingly familiar art event?

Does anybody really, truly enjoy austere and highbrow? Charlie Grosso and I based the creation of Baang and Burne and the line-up of artists and events for 6x6 on what we personally would love to attend. Art can be serious and fun at the same time (Fi's emphasis). 6x6 is exactly the type of art event I’ve been waiting to be invited to my entire life.

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To learn more about 6x6, read Kesha’s weekly articles on art, art marketing, and creativity and to download a free copy of her guide “The 5 Step Art Career Make-Over” visit her blog at www.KeshaBrucestudio.com.

acrylic painting

Photographing Paintings For Artists Records

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Photo by Arty Smokes

So the paintings are finished and ready to go to new homes and you want to record your work for posterity. How to do this professionally at home without needing studio lights.

What you will need

Your dry artwork, unvarnished
A bright overcast day - yes outdoors in diffuse sunlight is actually the best solution to photographing shiny oil paintings if you don't have a studio setup
A camera, preferably digital (does anyone even use film cameras any more?) and even better, DSLR - check that the megapixel capability of your camera is sufficient for the size of print that you may want for your records. Here is a useful megapixel to print size chart
A good camera lens without any distortion or vignetting
A polarizing filter for your camera lens - this is to cut out glare from highlights
A tripod
A grey card - this will make your colour correcting a breeze (yes this is an affiliate link)
A sturdy support for your painting
A dark piece of cloth or paper - this is to minimise or prevent a colour cast from the surroundings

The photography setup

Wait until your painting dries.

You will get the best photos of dry or nearly dry oil paintings. If the oil is still wet, it will shine in areas and the oil remaining in the painting will reflect light differently than the dry areas of the painting.

Go outside on a bright overcast day.
This is crucial. I've tried bright sun. I've tried shade. I've tried bright days and dull days and I swear every combination in between. I can say from experience that the best conditions to get beautiful rich colour and no glare on your painting is a bright overcast day. What's that? Basically a sunny day with lots of clouds. Colours around you should appear normal, not dull. Shadows should not exist or if they do they have soft edges. Once the edges of the shadows turn hard, it's too bright and you will get glare spots on your paintings.

Position the painting at 45 degrees to the sky, facing the sun (ie north here in Australia, or south for most everyone else).
I think both perfectly upright and laying flat on the ground also work too, but this is the setup I found was ideal for me. Place a sturdy support (helps eliminate shake from small and not so small breezes) at 45 degrees to the sky, cover with a black cloth to reduce color interference, and put the painting on this.

Point the camera straight at the painting.
Fill the camera view with the painting as much as possible. Use every pixel possible! Remember to tilt the camera slightly down to match the angle that the artwork is leaning - this will help minimize distortion. Check in the viewfinder to see if all the sides of your painting are parallel to the viewing edge. If not, your camera is at a different angle than the painting. Fiddle until you get this right. Also, remember to set the tripod up so that your shadow is not on the painting as you stand over it!

Trouble with your artwork looking like a big bulge?
That’s to do with the lens. Use the zoom on your camera to zoom in until the bulge effect disappears and the painting edges are parallel with the viewing edges, while simultaneously backing away from your artwork so it fits the viewing space. Or use a standard 50mm lens.

Camera tips

Use the largest image setting possible for your camera to get the highest resolution images
Set your camera's ISO to its lowest native setting to ensure the least amount of image 'noise' - aim for 50 ISO
If you can, lock the SLR mirror up as this will reduce camera shake as the shutter fires
Use a self timer if you can to eliminate any camera shake as you press the shutter button
Always bracket exposures - huh? Take shots slightly on either side of what your camera says is the ideal exposure as it's not always right for each picture
Don't rely on auto focus to get it right, sometimes a small manual tweak does the trick

Shooting

Shoot the grey card first.
This is to get a standard for the lighting and will make your colour correcting easy peasy. Then shoot your paintings. Try and have some of the grey card in the shot, to the side of the painting too.

Post processing in your digital darkroom, aka Photoshop

Once your shots are off your camera and on your computer, compare them at full size for colour, focus/blur, contrast etc to choose the best one.

If none of the images are quite right, take the time to re-shoot your painting. This is your archive. It's worth getting right. Once the paintings have gone to their new homes it's next to impossible to borrow them back to re-shoot them.

With editing, often you will find that a small increase in contrast is all they need. Sometimes a small amount of colour correcting can go a long way, too. This is where that grey card shot comes in extremely handy. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel - download this free and super helpful kick ass pdf by one Michael King on how to use a grey card to colour correct artwork.

Always save your images as tiff or psd for maximum information retention. Only save them as a jpeg for emailing once all edits have been done as the jpg format is so small because it throws out fine detail information. Always keep a tiff or psd version somewhere so you can archive your image without any loss of information and re-edit in the future.

Useful links to peruse

http://artlinkswap.org/photographing_art.shtml

http://emptyeasel.com/2007/01/19/how-to-photograph-your-artwork-for-a-portfolio-or-the-internet/

http://michaelking.ca/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Grey_Card_Tutorial.pdf

Varnishing Oil Paintings

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Picture courtesy of John Kannenberg

A go-to overview of why and which to help you figure out if your painting has been varnished to conservation standards...

This is a companion and follow on article from the last technical article on varnishing acrylic paintings.

Why do we varnish oil paintings?

Uncoated oil paints will absorb atmospheric moisture even in regulated environments and can eventually develop friable surfaces that will crack. A layer of varnish protects the paint from shallow scratches, atmospheric pollution (dust, hair, chemicals) and, ideally, UV radiation. This layer can be removed and replaced when it has become too dirty to wipe clean, and the painting will still remain in perfect condition.

An artist may also choose to apply varnish to bring out and highlight the lustrous gloss of oil paints. Or they may want to unify the painting surface with a single finish. Oil paints dry to varying degrees of glossiness depending on the pigments, with dark colours tending to dry far more matte than lighter ones.

What's the difference between permanent and retouch varnishes?

Retouch can be painted over and is often used in the painting process to restore the undried appearance to a dried patch of painting for colour matching while an artist continues the work. It is also used as a temporary final varnish for touch dry works, though this is not necessary as a thin coat of final varnish can be used safely in this situation. Retouching varnish doesn’t have the quality that a final varnish has. A final/finishing/permanent varnish makes your painting look a lot better.

Permanent varnish is a confusing name as it is (or should be) removable. More accurately, it is a final varnish that goes onto a dried painting as the final, finishing removable protective layer.

How long do I have to wait to varnish an oil painting?

The Gamblin website answers this really well:

"How to tell if a painting is ready to varnish is easy - just touch it. If there are impasto areas, gently press your fingernail into that impasto. If it is firm underneath the top layer of the painting then it is ready for varnishing."

"In general we recommend painters using alkyd resin painting mediums wait three months before varnishing. Painters using an oil/dammar mix in their painting mediums should wait six months."

And what if the painting is touch dry, sold and needs to be shipped? Varnish is better than no protection. Just remember that this final coat is meant to be thin! A thick coat on a fully cured painting may not cause any problems apart from raising a learned eyebrow, but on a touch dry painting it will significantly retard or even prevent the drying and curing process, with unpredictable consequences. A painting can continue to dry under a thin coat of final protective varnish.

A varnish can be used mixed in with the paint to add gloss, right?

Yikes NO! I mean, yes, this can physically be done but it's really not a sound idea. Here's why:

A medium (something that is mixed in with the paint to alter it's properties) becomes integral to the paint. It can't be removed separately. If varnish is used mixed in with the paint and then that same varnish (or one that dissolves in the same solvent) is used as a final varnish, what do you think happens when that final layer of varnish gets removed for cleaning? Yep, the paint layers dissolve and get cleaned off as well. Hardly ideal!

This situation can be a problem when an artist has used Dammar as both a medium and varnish in the same painting. Watch out!

All varnishes are formulated to be removable (at least they should be). Solubility is one of the characteristics that distinguishes a varnish from a medium.

What's the best varnish to use?

There's a bit of debate over this. The traditional versus the modern.

The traditional go-to varnish is Dammar. This is a natural tree resin. As such, it's source is variable. Gum can be contaminated with gum from other trees. The quality varies from year to year. The artist has to be quite careful to apply it thinly. It is known to crack and yellow. The lifespan is around 20 years for a coat of this varnish. It is very easy to remove with gum turps and Dammar has been used for around 400 years so it's properties are well known and familier.

Modern synthetic varnishes are can be an acrylic solution or a styrene varnish or a ketone resin. They are more consistent in quality and easier for artists to apply well than natural resin varnishes. Although not predicted by computer aging simulations, in real life they do darken a little with age, but they are not as prone to cracking as the natural resins. They tend to be a little harder to remove, and mineral turps is often used as the solvent.

Although both varnishes do the job of protecting a painting from atmospheric pollution etc, conservationists now tend to prefer and recommend the synthetic varnishes. These have the added advantage of being mould resistant ( because they "close off" completely i.e. they do not leave any capillary holes for drying, they do not trap any water or "food" for mould on the surface) and can have UV protection built in.

To UV or not to UV?

Again from AMIEN:
"The best varnish for your oil painting will contain UV inhibitors. They will delay the deterioration of the most egregiously poor color (say, a fluorescent marker color) for ~5 - 10 years in an outdoor exposure. That might not seem much, but put that color, coated, indoors in a low-light exposure and try to extrapolate a service life: it will be longer, but how much longer is difficult to say... We have to say that the UV inhibitors offer an advantage, especially when incorporated into coatings that will be applied to colors that are good in the first place, and that such coatings are better than unmodified coatings, and that coating paintings of certain types is a good thing."

For artists - here is a list of modern synthetic varnishes with UV inhibitors

This is not an exhaustive list. If you know of others, please let me know in the comments. I am happy to add them.

Gamvar
Lascaux UV Protect
Windsor & Newton Conserv-Art Gloss Varnish
Golden MSA Acrylic Varnish
Soluvar

After personally contacting all the Australian manufactures, the only Australian made varnishes that make this list are by Derivan as part of their Matisse range (stunning customer service too by the way):
Derivan Matisse MM14 High-Gloss Varnish (turps-based), MM15 Matt Varnish (turps-based), and MM29 Final Varnish Satin Finish

And some spray on varnishes that do the job. Artists, please note that spray on varnishes are very very baaaad for your health unless you have seriously excellent ventilation and wear protective gear.
Krylone Conservation Varnish and UV Archival Varnish

Some tiny tips on the how-to of varnishing

Your varnish brush should not be used for any other purpose so it is always clean-no color.
Soft brushes generally leave thicker layers of varnish
Stiff bristle brushes can leave very thin coats through a gentle scrubbing motion.
Mix matte & gloss to get satin
Use two coats for the final varnish
Allow each layer of varnish to dry overnight

Technical linky goodness

An excellent thread on varnishing on a top forum.

Excellent article on varnishes, mediums and what conservators like at the moment based on an interview with a conservator:

Varnishing Acrylic Paintings

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Image courtesy of Manzabar

A go-to guide for you to get a clear speedy summary of why, what, how and how long.

Do acrylic paintings really need to be varnished?

If you want them to last in good condition for as long as possible; if you are professional and aim for the best quality in your artwork; if you want your paintings to be protected from light knocks and accumulated dirt over time; then yes, they do need to be varnished.

How long do I have to wait to varnish an acrylic painting?

Until it is dry, is the short answer. To dry and cure fully, acrylics take about a year. If you can wait that long, then that is ideal. They can, however, be varnished after about a month if needs be. And what if the painting is touch dry, sold and needs to be shipped? Varnish is better than no protection. Just remember that this final coat is meant to be thin! A thick coat on a fully cured painting may not cause any problems apart from raising a learned eyebrow, but on a touch dry painting it will significantly retard or even prevent the drying and curing process, with unpredictable consequences.

Can an acrylic medium be used as a varnish? I've got one that's really clear and nice and glossy.

Absolutely not. A medium and a varnish are formulated with totally different aims. A medium binds with the paint and should not be soluble. Mediums are not made to protect a painting from damage, they are made to change the working properties of the paint for your convenience. If a medium is used as a final layer, it binds intimately with the paint and is not possible to remove without accidentally removing paint at the same time, which obviously damages your painting. Clearly this is the opposite of your intention.

Varnishes are designed to be durable, but they’re also formulated to be removable (or at least they should be). Solubility is one of the characteristics that distinguishes a varnish from a medium. When your painting needs a really good clean, it's the varnish that comes off and is actually replaced with a fresh coat. This top coat of varnish is available in matte, satin or gloss and is designed to be tough enough to give some physical protection against knocks, something that a medium is not designed to do.

So the varnish just goes on top of the painting, right?

No!!! Slow down. For acrylic paintings there's actually a step inbetween.

First it's best to apply a slightly thinned coating of a gel medium prior to varnishing. This will protect the paint in case the varnish needs to be removed in the future. Why don't oil paintings require a layer between the paint and varnish? Because oil paints have much harder surfaces than even well dried acrylic paints, and the acrylic paint surfaces are very vulnerable to solvent penetration and even water penetration. Oil paint surfaces are vulnerable too, but much less so than acrylic paints. Why would the varnish need to be removed? Well part of the point of varnishing is to provide a dispensable layer that can be easily removed when it becomes too dirty to clean properly. A layer in between the paint and the varnish means that when the varnish is being taken off, it makes the conservators job that much easier in avoiding taking part of the painting off too.

And what varnish to use? Well there are many suitable varnishes out there for acrylic paints. According to current best practice from a conservation point of view, choose an acrylic solution varnish or the one acrylic dispersion varnish made by Golden. As to how to varnish, you can't go past the instructions from AMIEN, available via the link below.

Linky goodness

An excellent thread on varnishing on a top forum.

More About Artists Canvas - A Final Word

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Photo courtesy of patrizia_ferri

As the final installment of my investigations into artist's canvas, this time I'm looking at canvas keys, gallery wrapped canvas vs traditional profile canvas and the idea of unstretched canvas.

Previous related posts cover all about painting substrates, all about the types of artists canvas and stretching your own canvas.

Canvas Keys

Some stretched canvasses come with little wooden wedges. What are these for? They are known as canvas keys. They should fit into slots in the inner corners of the canvas stretcher. They are a traditional method for tightening up a canvas that has begun to sag. Unfortunately, they are not a very good method for doing this. Any canvas that has developed a sag should be carefully taken off it's stretcher and re-stretched.

Using canvas keys to take the sag out of a painting risks damaging the painting. It is possible to accidentally hammer the back of the painting if the keys are missed, breaking the paint. Using keys puts a great deal of stress on the corners of a painting which can eventually tear the canvas. The keys will invariably change the shape of the stretcher and it will no longer be square and the painting may no longer fit into it's frame, if it had one.

Skip the dodgy canvas keys. Traditional, but not very smart. Take the canvas off the stretcher altogether and re-stretch it!

This video explains the same information in visual form:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSLhkuFO3G0

Bracing a Stretched Canvas

A canvas stretcher or strainer is under quite a bit of tension once a canvas has been secured onto it. They are usually made from timber and so are prone to warping under tension and changing atmospheric conditions. It is recommended that they include a cross-bar every 60 cm (or 2 feet) or so in each direction to help prevent any warping.

Traditional Stretched Canvas

A traditional stretched canvas requires framing. The tacks or staples show on the sides of the finished piece. Traditional canvases also tend to have a shallow profile. They are usually only about half an inch thick from the back of the canvas to the front.

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

This is a very modern style of stretching canvas. The canvas is wrapped around two edges of the stretcher bars and secured at the back where the staples or tacks can't show. Often the sides are painted. No visible staples or nails means a neat finish is achieved and no framing is required. Usually this style has quite a deep profile, more than an inch thick from the back of the canvas to the front, though they can also be shallow. The deep profile is the current trend.

Artists love gallery wrapped canvas as their artworks are ready to hang as soon as the varnish is dry. Many art collectors prefer it too as it allows them to skip the often substantial costs of framing. Anecdotally, gallery wrapped canvasses nearly put many framers out of business when it first came out as so many people suddenly didn't require their services. Though if you prefer your art in a frame, as some do, gallery wrapped canvas can be framed if you want.

Unstretched Canvas

It was a revelation to me when I was introduced to the idea of working on unstretched canvas. I was at the exhibition opening of a local artist who had oil pastel paintings on massive canvasses about 1 x 2 m. They were unstretched and looked wonderful.

Depending on your point of view, unstretched canvas is either fabulous or awful to paint on. It has a very different working feel to the drum-like bounce of a stretched canvas. To me it's wonderful and predictable. The give in the surface of a stretched canvas is something I find disconcerting. Different artists, different preferences. I guess it's like working on fabric textured board or paper.

For the artist there are some significant advantages to working on canvas unstretched. There are time savings as no pre-stretching is required. There are financial savings as no stretchers need to be bought. There are space savings as unused canvas can be stored rolled and once painted, can be stacked flat. Believe me, plain canvas takes up a LOT less room than a stack of stretched canvasses. And lastly, unstretched canvas is cheaper to post for a buyer as it weighs less.

For the art collector, unstretched canvas can be presented in a number of already familiar ways. It can be lightly stretched onto stretchers/strainers and ends up looking just like regular stretched canvas. Or it can be framed just like any paper artwork. For extra rigidity, it can be mounted (glued) to board before framing. All very normal procedures for your framer.

The only downside to unstretched canvas that I can see is that someone needs to frame it.

Stretching Canvas

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Photo courtesy of Anita Thomhave Simonsen

Stretching canvas. All you need to know in one place. Why would you? What do you need? How is it done? (with a selection of curated videos).

Why would you?

Artists are always looking for ways to save money on materials without skimping on quality. Stretching your own canvas instead of buying it already stretched is a real dollar saver. It also allows an artist to have full control over the canvas they paint on and how it is prepared, and to have any size they choose. So not only can it be cheaper, but better quality too!

However, before getting outlandishly excited, stretching canvas does take time, so if you're not quick at it, perhaps buying ready-mades would be less expensive in the long run. There is also the option of having canvas stretched for you by professionals. Obviously this costs though you get the exact specifications you want and can focus on painting, which is presumably what you do best.

What do you need?

Stretcher bars, either pre or home made, to stretch your canvas onto
Canvas to stretch, which is about 2 inches larger all round than the stretcher size
Canvas pliers are useful to save your hands
A staple gun and staples, or nails or tacks and a hammer for securing the canvas to the stretcher
A mallet for tapping the stretcher together
Tape measure for checking the squareness of the corners
T square for chiecking the squareness of the corners
Scissors for cutting the canvas
A razor blade can be handy for removing excess off the edges
Blunt nose pliers or a flat head screwdriver for removing errant staples
Misting spray in case the canvas ends up too loose
Patience

How is it done?

Rather than write up a long winded explanation, I instead sought out a bunch of the most useful videos. There are an awful lot out there and most of them are awful! I've sat through as many as I could stand (about 20) to bring you the pick of the bunch.

A good general introduction

http://video.about.com/painting/How-to-Stretch-a-Canvas.htm

This is a 5 minute video which deals with stretching up to about the 2 minute mark has some neat tips with razor blades and misting sprays.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-271921060817845354#

Gallery wrapping of pre-painted canvas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkToBRa-O-U

A leisurely series on making stretcher bars and stretching canvas with plenty of handy tips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7iRiF1k7s4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY5-7a6QX8s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ5H05A4184

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKey4crHzmc

Diary of Becoming - Round Eight - June 2010

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Ah goodness, no, it hasn't been a month already has it? Surely not. Where the bleep am I up to? Need sleep.

What's happened?

The freelance/contract medical illustration project is still on. It feels as though it's been going on forever. I'm tired of being tired. Ten hour days as standard is too much. Trying to remind myself that it will all be over by this time next month. Looking forward to being able to exclusively concentrate on the cookbook.

Despite constantly feeling that I have too much to do, the Official Art Store is up! Very-Limited-Edition prints available now of all artwork done so far. From now on, as each recipe is posted it's artwork is available immediately. Please note that the current viewing pics are fairly quick camera shots of each piece and these pics will slowly be replaced with ones of higher quality as I have them scanned for me. If there's an image you like and you want to see a better quality version of it, let me know and I'll prioritise its scanning for you.

Also this month managed to set up the template for the newsletter for collectors. If you've signed up to receive this, I may actually send out the first somewhat monthly mailing soon. If you've not signed up, the yellow box top left is where your email address goes :)

And I managed the scary asking for help. Yes! Got it. Then it disappeared. Ah well, the asking was the hard. Now to try that again.

Learnings

The biggest learning for this month is that painting while upset or off centre is pretty much pointless. Either the ideas suck or the execution of a great concept goes pear shaped. So the painting something every day is an interesting idea, but not necessarily workable for me. The time when I'm unsettled is not the time to paint. That's the time to do other stuff such as coding, administrivia, PR etc. Figuring out ways to help get me back to centre FAST is a high priority.

A smaller learning for me is that I kinda think acrylic paints stink a bit. The colour shift, the too-fast drying time, the handling compared to oils. Part of this is unfamiliarity. Part of this is technical annoyances. So I've got me some drying inhibitor to see if my biggest gripe with this medium can be coaxed into a

Get done for July

A new approach to the ~~PR campaign~~ Collective Merrymaking. Do one of these a day (there are around 15 lined up), then send all these to my help as examples and get a bigger campaign done for me. Sounds like a plan. Nothing happened in this department last month and it really shows in the traffic stats.

Figuring out ways to help get me back to centre FAST. This is more than the 'take a walk', 'drink plenty of water', 'have a hot shower or bath' type of remedy. All of these are great, but I'm after the 'pressing issue needs attention and major soothing right now' kind of remedies. I suspect Havi's monster talking and Shivanautical dancing are the sorts of ideas I'm looking for. Just a hunch.

artists guide

Diary of Becoming - Round Eight - May 2010

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

It's Winter here, so what's the good news?

Aside from finally raining this winter, unlike the past 11 or so, and not being too cold - yet, my business cards have arrived! Big yay. Very excited. They're actually a stamp. The perfect use for all those skinny lengths of canvas and lovely artist's papers that I end up with after cutting the main piece to size for an artwork. And far more creative, individual, unusual and sustainability minded than any business card from a printers.

More promotional business, my first ever press release seemed to do OK. It was listed at PR Log which seems to be a useful free service that gets a LOT of traffic. I scored 214 unique hits (to the press release) in 2 weeks. Not bad for an evening's writing. The bummer is that none of that seemed to be ongoing, unlike telling everyone I know about the project which brings people back to WhereFishSing again and again. The next PR stage is to contact individual high traffic websites (Quantcast is useful here) that are likely to be interested in the cookbook project. Likely due to shared attitudes and interests. I'll let you know next month how this goes.

On to the painting - I has acrylic paints! While I love oil paints - the brushfeel, the lustre, the blending- I hate the drying time. Wainting days for a layer to dry is just way too long for some of the styles of painting I am trying out along with the schedule of the cookbook. The 20 or so minutes of acrylics is far more workable. So far so good, though I think they smell terrible.

I also have linen canvas, and more of my favourite filbert brushes to play with. The linen is usually hideously expensive. As in over a hundred dollars a metre. However, the wonderful people at Chapman & Bailey also sell their offcuts. These are small pieces but they happen to be the perfect size for the paintings I am doing for the cookbook - 30 x 30cm or 1 foot square. They sold a bunch of offcuts to me for a price similar to regular cotton duck canvas. I am thrilled. I get to try out the ultimate painting fabric before being a sqillionaire.

On top of all this goodness, a freelance medical illustration project has come in, which has eased the cashflow situation. Between this and the hours I am doing on the cookbook, my days are long. This is not sustainable long term, but it will only last until the end of July. I suspect my time management is going to be much improved by then, which can only be a good thing.

And lastly, I think I might finally have learned to sleep when tired. Flu all around me avoided and more work than usual done. Nanna napping is cool.

The list for June

Pretty similar to last months, but this time, with the addition of getting help.
The ~~PR campaign~~ Collective Merrymaking has begun, but time is short for me, so I am seeking help while I'm overloaded to get these things done. I'm a real do it yourself kind of person, so letting some things go to another person is kinda a big deal. But I can do it.

Release the fully stocked Official Art Store. Again I need help. It's now ready to roll except all the paintings so far need to be scanned. A big job. So, time to ask for help.

Paint, paint, paint! It's taken a while, however I am finally (almost) in the swing of painting every day. At the moment it's 'most days'. Perhaps that needs to be my aim, to take it up a notch and aim to paint *something* every working day. That's a good one, it's much more specific.

acrylic painting

Gesso vs Primer vs Grounds vs Size - What's the Difference?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Preparing to paint - Gesso, Primer, Grounds, Size

Photo thanks to Anita Thomhave Simonsen

Size, primer and gesso. If you're anything like me, you're probably as confused as *** when it comes to these and preparing a surface for painting. Not any more. This post aims to clean away the mud and is a companion post to the one last month on painting substrates. So if you want to know what substrate is usable and whether it requires sizing or priming or both, check it out. This one is about the actual size and primer options. And some of it is straight from the wonderful AMIEN forums. Go check them out for all your technical artist materials questions.

Why Size?

Okay, here we go. Raw canvas, or any oil painting substrate, requires a barrier between itself and the oil paint. This is to prevent the paint sinking in to the surface (makes for terrible colour) and also to prevent the oils in the paint attacking and rotting the substrate (a nasty habit of oil paints).

In the case of acrylic paints, a barrier between the paint and substrate is required to prevent Support Induced Discoloration (SID) which is something that occurs in acrylic paints and mediums only. Many common artist supports have impurities that can discolor a translucent acrylic gel layer or color glaze, and a barrier must be applied to ensure the products stay clear as the films dry.

As an acrylic paint film cures, the water exits two ways: through the surface of the paint and through the back of the support, if it is porous enough. Canvas, linen, wood and masonite are all porous enough to allow water to absorb into them. During this drying process, the water is actually in equilibrium moving back and forth between the acrylic paint and the support. The water extracts water-soluble impurities such as dirt, sap, starches, etc., from the support and deposits them into the acrylic film. The result is a discolored (typically amber) film, with the degree of discoloration dependent on the amount of contaminants deposited and the inherent level of inpurities in the support.

SID contamination often goes undetected. In most cases, the paints applied contain a sufficient level of pigment, thus a strong enough color, to conceal the yellowing. However, in a transparent glaze and especially in thick translucent gel layers, SID becomes quite noticeable. SID can transform the appearance of an Ultramarine Blue glaze into a lower chroma, greenish color. Gesso alone will not stop SID, and different gels and mediums have varying degrees of blocking capabilities.

The acrylic dispersion mediums, paints and primers do absorb and expell moisture for about a year after they are applied -- or less time if the environment is warm and dry. After that's finished the resins coalesce into a more continuous film. They are still susceptible to moisture penetration, but not to the degree that puts them at the same risk as RSG. And it's preventable by coating the finished paintings.

In summary, for both oil and acrylic paints, it is wise to put a barrier between the paint and it's substrate. This barrier is known as size. It is meant to be a penetrating sealer, not a coating. It is therefore very thin, using it is good practice, and it's very easy to do.

Ancient and Modern Size

Traditional size for oil paints is a (disgusting I say) concoction of rabbit skin collagin heated with water. Although this has been used for hundreds of years it is know known by conservators to cause more problems than it solves. How? RSG is hygroscopic. It continuously absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, causing it to continuously swell and shrink. Over time, this constant flexing causes the oil paint on top, which is quite brittle, to crack. In fact, RSG is now believed to be the main cause of cracking in old oil paintings.

Instead of RSG underneath oil paintings, it is now recommended to use a pH neutral PVA or any acrylic medium whose manufacturer recommends it as a size. Please remember that PVA size or acrylic medium does not tighten fabric like rabbit skin glue.

Underneath acrylic paints, the best choice is acrylic medium whose manufacturer recommends it as a size that can block SID - a blocking size. A blocking size will be formulated to inhibit the migration of soluble organic materials from the support through to the ground. Two that are often mentioned are Gamblin’s PVA size and Golden Acrylics’ GAC100. Liquitex makes one as well, as I am sure others do too.

Two coats of size on the front of a substrate are sufficient. They should be touch dry and not cold to touch (which indicates moisture) before the next layer is added.

Why Prime?

Priming is the adding of an absorbent coating to a substrate. The aim is to provide the paint with a porous surface to adhere to. Primer is also known as ground or gesso. It is not size and will not seal or create a barrier to the paint. It does exactly the opposite. It is absorbent and provides tooth, or texture for the paint. It also tends to stiffen the substrate.

Usually two coats of primer is used.

Just for the record, you don't need to prime unless you want the surface that priming gives. You can paint directly onto modern size (but not RSG).

All About Gesso

Traditional gesso

Real or traditional gesso is for hard inflexible surfaces only. It is too brittle for canvas and will crack. Real gesso is like a plaster and is ideal on wood panels. It is made from a thin base of RSG and inert white pigments. The pigment is powdered chalk, calcium or gypsum. Sometimes titanium white pigment is also added to the mix for brightness.

This zinc oxide in the ground is a problem in terms of archival quality. Paint over zinc oxide and within a few years time the painting is likely to be delaminating or cracking.

Modern gesso

Gesso changed in the 20th century. In 1955, Liquitex, an acrylic paint company developed the first water-based acrylic gesso. It provided a consistent and inexpensive primer layer for both acrylic and oil paintings. Technically it is an acrylic dispersion primer, not a gesso, but it is mostly known as acrylic gesso or acrlyic primer. This is the only choice of primer available for use under acrylic paints.

Oil gesso

It's really useful to remember that an oil-primed canvas can only accept oil paints. Although oil paint can be applied to acrylic gesso, acrylic paint will not permanently adhere to an oil-primed canvas. The acrylic gesso will eventually peel off the oil-primed canvas.

Today there are two alternatives to traditional gesso with it's RSG content. There are oil/alkyd grounds which are the quickest drying option. And there is lead white oil primer. The latter is somewhat hazerdous to use. Don't smoke or eat in your studio. Use a barrier cream on your hands or wear thin rubber gloves so the lead can't penetrate your skin. Use odorless mineral spirits to thin the primer, not gum turpentine; odorless mineral spirits is hazardous but not as hazardous as regular mineral spirits and definitely not as hazardous as gum turpentine. In any event, you will want good ventilation when using these solvents: at least work near an exhaust fan. Thoroughly wash your hands when you are finished.

For the lead white oil primer you will have to apply at least 2 thinned coats. Allow perhaps a week for the drying of the initial coating, depending on the temperature and humidity of your studio. If it is dry to the touch after a few days, then you can go ahead and apply the second coat. After you apply the second coat, check to see that the coverage is good. You might want a third coat.

So there are three choices for priming for oil paints. Acrylic gesso and two kinds of oil based gesso.

Acrylic grounds under oils

In recent years, some artists have begun to question whether or not acrylic gesso is the right product to use under oil paint. Acrylic dispersion grounds retain their flexibility as they age, and the oil/alkyd grounds get stiffer and more brittle as they age. There is concern that this difference in flexibility may cause oil paintings on acrylic grounds to delaminte as they age.

The best current knowledge is that they are considered very good grounds for oil paints, with two caveats. 1.) You must purchase the highest quality ground you can find. That means: do not by acrylic dispersion grounds by price, and be sure the label tells you what's in the stuff. If you're unsure about the latter, call the manufacturer. 2.) Oil paints ought to be painted on rigid substrates. If the acrylic dispersion ground is applied to a panel, or to a fabric mounted on a panel, there should be no problems.

For a better bond with oil paint, after the acrylic primer is dry (when it's no longer cool to the touch is a good indicator) you should wipe this surface down with warm water and a clean rag to remove surfactants and allow to dry again (24-48 hrs) before applying oil based paints.

Linky Goodness

Amien forums

Golden Paints technical info

Gamblin & size

Liquitex pdf book on acrylics

Table

Promotional material

Displaying artwork

Storing artwork

Selling artwork

More art technique articles

What you will need

The photography setup

Camera tips

Shooting

Post processing in your digital darkroom, aka Photoshop

Useful links to peruse

More art technique articles

Why do we varnish oil paintings?

What's the difference between permanent and retouch varnishes?

How long do I have to wait to varnish an oil painting?

A varnish can be used mixed in with the paint to add gloss, right?

What's the best varnish to use?

To UV or not to UV?

For artists - here is a list of modern synthetic varnishes with UV inhibitors

Some tiny tips on the how-to of varnishing

Technical linky goodness

More art technique articles

Do acrylic paintings really need to be varnished?

How long do I have to wait to varnish an acrylic painting?

Can an acrylic medium be used as a varnish? I've got one that's really clear and nice and glossy.

So the varnish just goes on top of the painting, right?

Linky goodness

More art technique articles

Canvas Keys

Bracing a Stretched Canvas

Traditional Stretched Canvas

Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Unstretched Canvas

More art technique articles

Why would you?

What do you need?

How is it done?

More art technique articles

Why Size?

Ancient and Modern Size

Why Prime?

All About Gesso

Traditional gesso

Modern gesso

Oil gesso

Acrylic grounds under oils

Linky Goodness

More art technique articles

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