What is 'plein air' painting?
One of my students created this video to explain. Enjoy!!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Brush Use
How To Use Your Brushes
Mixing Paint
Many students and even practicing artists use their brushes entirely incorrectly. The cause usually stems from the way they mix their paint. Your paint should be mixed with a palette knife, not a brush. The reasons are manifold and include ease of cleanup, purity of color, and precision of quantities. But perhaps the most important reason is that mixing with a brush results in too much paint in the brush. Your brush should only carry as much paint as the mark or area to be painted demands. If the mark is a small one, having paint worked all throughout the bristles of the brush will inevitably put too much paint on the canvas, which will lead to other problems. Also you want to avoid getting paint in the ferrule of the brush (the ferrule is the metal section of the brush that holds the bristles to the handle).
Bristle Brushes
Bristle brushes are brushes made from stiffer animal hairs or synthetic hairs (hog, primarily). Their stiffness is a virtue, intended for the transferring of paint from palette to canvas. They can almost be thought of as soft trowels, scooping paint off the palette with their stiff collection of hairs and scraping it onto the canvas. They do the heavy lifting of the painting.
**Note, when you bring home a brush from the art store it may be rigidly stiff and the bristles will be stuck together. This is because the manufacturers encase the bristles in a glue to keep the brush from getting damaged during shipping. The glue is water-soluble and should be washed out gently before using.**
Ideally, a bristle brush should carry only enough paint to cover half the length of the bristles. If the mark is large, then the brush size should be increased, not the quantity of paint on a small brush.
Sable Brushes (And Other Soft Brushes)
Sable brushes and other soft brushes are not intended for transferring paint from palette to canvas. Their soft bristles will wilt when asked to scoop a large amount of paint. Many students then compensate for this by diluting their paint with thinning agents. This however results in a changed color and paint quality that they often did not intend.
Sable brushes, etc are ideal for blending paint that is already on the canvas. Their soft bristles drag small quantities of paint from one area to another, resulting in the subtle sharing of colors that is ‘blending.’ They are often soft enough that they do not even leave a mark behind.
If soft blending is your goal, it is important to clean your soft brushes frequently to remove excess paint. You will want to clean them dryly by wiping excess paint into a paper towel, rather than wet cleaning in turpentine, oil, or water. The goal of cleaning is to allow each bristle to operate independently, not to have groups of wet bristles lump together creating a stiffer rake-like effect (Think of wet hair versus dry hair. Wet hair stick together in groups; dry hairs stay separate, and thus are more limp).
A variety of softnesses and styles of brushes can be used to achieve different effects. I’ve never met a brush I didn’t like. Every one, even ratty old brushes have their role. Knowing how brushes want to work makes using them much more enjoyable.
Mixing Paint
Many students and even practicing artists use their brushes entirely incorrectly. The cause usually stems from the way they mix their paint. Your paint should be mixed with a palette knife, not a brush. The reasons are manifold and include ease of cleanup, purity of color, and precision of quantities. But perhaps the most important reason is that mixing with a brush results in too much paint in the brush. Your brush should only carry as much paint as the mark or area to be painted demands. If the mark is a small one, having paint worked all throughout the bristles of the brush will inevitably put too much paint on the canvas, which will lead to other problems. Also you want to avoid getting paint in the ferrule of the brush (the ferrule is the metal section of the brush that holds the bristles to the handle).
Bristle Brushes
Bristle brushes are brushes made from stiffer animal hairs or synthetic hairs (hog, primarily). Their stiffness is a virtue, intended for the transferring of paint from palette to canvas. They can almost be thought of as soft trowels, scooping paint off the palette with their stiff collection of hairs and scraping it onto the canvas. They do the heavy lifting of the painting.
**Note, when you bring home a brush from the art store it may be rigidly stiff and the bristles will be stuck together. This is because the manufacturers encase the bristles in a glue to keep the brush from getting damaged during shipping. The glue is water-soluble and should be washed out gently before using.**
Ideally, a bristle brush should carry only enough paint to cover half the length of the bristles. If the mark is large, then the brush size should be increased, not the quantity of paint on a small brush.
Sable Brushes (And Other Soft Brushes)
Sable brushes and other soft brushes are not intended for transferring paint from palette to canvas. Their soft bristles will wilt when asked to scoop a large amount of paint. Many students then compensate for this by diluting their paint with thinning agents. This however results in a changed color and paint quality that they often did not intend.
Sable brushes, etc are ideal for blending paint that is already on the canvas. Their soft bristles drag small quantities of paint from one area to another, resulting in the subtle sharing of colors that is ‘blending.’ They are often soft enough that they do not even leave a mark behind.
If soft blending is your goal, it is important to clean your soft brushes frequently to remove excess paint. You will want to clean them dryly by wiping excess paint into a paper towel, rather than wet cleaning in turpentine, oil, or water. The goal of cleaning is to allow each bristle to operate independently, not to have groups of wet bristles lump together creating a stiffer rake-like effect (Think of wet hair versus dry hair. Wet hair stick together in groups; dry hairs stay separate, and thus are more limp).
A variety of softnesses and styles of brushes can be used to achieve different effects. I’ve never met a brush I didn’t like. Every one, even ratty old brushes have their role. Knowing how brushes want to work makes using them much more enjoyable.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Glazing versus Scumbling (In Action)
An example of the differences between a 'glaze' and a 'scumble.'Two sides of a canvas were painted opaquely with titanium white and ivory black.
Then a glaze of equal parts titanium white and ivory black was mixed to create a neutral gray.
That glaze was applied evenly across both sides.
Notice the warmer 'glaze' on the left and the cooler 'scumble' on the right.
Utilizing this subtlety is the key to successful glazing.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Brushes
Brushes
“You could probably build a house with a single screwdriver. You’d cut wood by scraping it across the wood until you’d cut through. You’d hit nails with the handle. And of course, you’d screw in your screws as you should. But that wouldn’t be the most effective tool for all those jobs.”
Brushes come in a variety of shapes: flats, rounds, filberts, brights, fans, etc. Why is this? Did the brush companies simply get bored making only one type?
Each shape of brush serves a specific purpose. Using each brush for its purpose will increase the breadth and ease of mark-making in your work. The following are the main brush types used by painters. Many other types exist, each one designed for their own unique purpose.
Flat - Bristles are long. The collective shape of the bristles is a long, flat rectangle. This brush is ideal for making geometric shapes with right angles.
Round - Bristles are long. The ferrule is round. The bristles are longer in the center and shorter towards the edges, resulting in a conical end to a cylinder. This brush is ideal for curves.
Filbert - Bristles are long. The shape is a flat, rounded rectangle. This brush exists to fill in the gap between the uses of the flat and round. It is ideal for neither purpose, though may be used to achieve both.
Bright - Bristles are short. Same head as filbert. The shortened length of the bristles creates a stiffer paint application experience. Good only for small, slightly rounded marks. Not good for long strokes.
Fan - Bristles are long and generally sparse. Bristles radiate from a narrow core to create an arc. Not at all good for applying paint. Excellent for manipulating paint already on the canvas to create soft or hairy edges.
In addition to type of brush, there is the issue of size of brush.
“You would not hammer a nail into a wall with a sledge hammer. Nor would you hammer a stake in the ground with a tack hammer.”
The size of the brush should be appropriate to the size of the job. More specifically, if you are painting a small area you should use a small brush, and a large area a large brush.
If you can train yourself to use these techniques, you will find your painting process easier not more complicated. The use of a variety of brushes will also provide your work with a breadth of mark and maturity of handling.
“You could probably build a house with a single screwdriver. You’d cut wood by scraping it across the wood until you’d cut through. You’d hit nails with the handle. And of course, you’d screw in your screws as you should. But that wouldn’t be the most effective tool for all those jobs.”
Brushes come in a variety of shapes: flats, rounds, filberts, brights, fans, etc. Why is this? Did the brush companies simply get bored making only one type?
Each shape of brush serves a specific purpose. Using each brush for its purpose will increase the breadth and ease of mark-making in your work. The following are the main brush types used by painters. Many other types exist, each one designed for their own unique purpose.
Flat - Bristles are long. The collective shape of the bristles is a long, flat rectangle. This brush is ideal for making geometric shapes with right angles.
Round - Bristles are long. The ferrule is round. The bristles are longer in the center and shorter towards the edges, resulting in a conical end to a cylinder. This brush is ideal for curves.
Filbert - Bristles are long. The shape is a flat, rounded rectangle. This brush exists to fill in the gap between the uses of the flat and round. It is ideal for neither purpose, though may be used to achieve both.
Bright - Bristles are short. Same head as filbert. The shortened length of the bristles creates a stiffer paint application experience. Good only for small, slightly rounded marks. Not good for long strokes.
Fan - Bristles are long and generally sparse. Bristles radiate from a narrow core to create an arc. Not at all good for applying paint. Excellent for manipulating paint already on the canvas to create soft or hairy edges.
In addition to type of brush, there is the issue of size of brush.
“You would not hammer a nail into a wall with a sledge hammer. Nor would you hammer a stake in the ground with a tack hammer.”
The size of the brush should be appropriate to the size of the job. More specifically, if you are painting a small area you should use a small brush, and a large area a large brush.
If you can train yourself to use these techniques, you will find your painting process easier not more complicated. The use of a variety of brushes will also provide your work with a breadth of mark and maturity of handling.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Glazing versus Scumbling
Glazing versus Scumbling
I hear many students and teachers misusing the terms glazing and scumbling. They speak of glazing as any thinned out paint application, and scumbling as some kind of scrubbing of dry paint thinly over another section. Both of these definitions are wrong.
For ease of understanding, let me start by saying that both glazing and scumbling are forms of ‘glazing.’ By this I mean that they are created when paint is mixed with a medium to create a thinner form of the paint. The glaze is applied over a dry layer of paint to achieve a color that is some combination of the two.
A medium can be any mixture of chemically harmonious, color-free vehicles. Typical oil mediums are made of one or more of the following: refined linseed oil, cold-pressed linseed oil, stand oil, Liquin/Galkyd, and turpentine (though never used alone). Different solutions produce different results, which I will explore further in a later discussion.
Glazing, specifically, is recognized as the application of a darker tone over a lighter tone. And scumbling is the application of a lighter tone over a darker tone.
The reason they are separated by two unique terms is that at this level of subtle color addition certain peculiar color phenomena are observable. Glazing produces the effect of warming the color, while scumbling cools. For example if a neutral gray is ‘glazed’ over a white area and a black area, the gray will appear warm in the white area and cool in the black area.
I hear many students and teachers misusing the terms glazing and scumbling. They speak of glazing as any thinned out paint application, and scumbling as some kind of scrubbing of dry paint thinly over another section. Both of these definitions are wrong.
For ease of understanding, let me start by saying that both glazing and scumbling are forms of ‘glazing.’ By this I mean that they are created when paint is mixed with a medium to create a thinner form of the paint. The glaze is applied over a dry layer of paint to achieve a color that is some combination of the two.
A medium can be any mixture of chemically harmonious, color-free vehicles. Typical oil mediums are made of one or more of the following: refined linseed oil, cold-pressed linseed oil, stand oil, Liquin/Galkyd, and turpentine (though never used alone). Different solutions produce different results, which I will explore further in a later discussion.
Glazing, specifically, is recognized as the application of a darker tone over a lighter tone. And scumbling is the application of a lighter tone over a darker tone.
The reason they are separated by two unique terms is that at this level of subtle color addition certain peculiar color phenomena are observable. Glazing produces the effect of warming the color, while scumbling cools. For example if a neutral gray is ‘glazed’ over a white area and a black area, the gray will appear warm in the white area and cool in the black area.
Welcome to The Artists' Circle
Welcome to The Artists' Circle, the weblog of painter and teacher Glen Kessler.
This will be the first in what may be an on-going series of entries meant to further explore and explain painting and drawing phenomena.
The Artist’s Circle was created to:
1) allow for the free dissemination of artistic information particular to the high-level execution of painting and drawing
2) to engage artists, students, and teachers in a dialog of terms and concepts unique to the field of art, and even to develop a shared language
3) dispel myths, untruths, and uncertainties inherent to the lineage of painting and drawing
This will be the first in what may be an on-going series of entries meant to further explore and explain painting and drawing phenomena.
The Artist’s Circle was created to:
1) allow for the free dissemination of artistic information particular to the high-level execution of painting and drawing
2) to engage artists, students, and teachers in a dialog of terms and concepts unique to the field of art, and even to develop a shared language
3) dispel myths, untruths, and uncertainties inherent to the lineage of painting and drawing
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