Blog Week: Paint

I save every squished tube and cap.  I’ve been tossing the tubes in these two glass jars for well over ten years and they still aren’t full.  I don’t understand it.

I started painting in watercolor when I saw an ad in the newspaper for a watercolor class.  I signed up for a ten week course and kept painting for two and a half years.  Frustrated with my lack of time to paint, I quit for a year or so but came back with renewed determination.  I have never considered stopping again.  NOT painting is not an option.   

I continued with watercolor for at least 20 years.  Why so long?  Because it took me that long to figure it out!  I could do an acceptable painting within a few years and I was selling work within two or three years at student prices — but my expectations kept changing.  I was pushing the paint to achieve more saturation and strength while still using the transparency to my advantage.  I was also learning about composition, color, design, and maturing as a creative person.  I feel like I was learning so much about painting that it was best to stay with one medium so I could focus on the overall knowledge without dealing with new specific technical challenges.

Another factor was my commitment to art fairs, exhibitions, and galleries.  An artist juries in with specific images — so we’re limited to the medium, subject, and style that we’ve presented.  Fairs are juried many months in advance and gallery shows are often booked a year or two in advance.  As my husband has always said, it is safer and less stressful to “fill one bucket”.  If I stick to one medium and it satisfies all my commitments then I’m more likely to be ready when the deadlines hit.

A few years ago, I slowed the art fair pace slightly and was determined to stretch my skills a bit.  There were also subjects I wanted to try that wouldn’t be as successful in watercolor.  I started experimenting with gouache, an opaque watercolor.  I enjoyed it but wasn’t totally satisfied with the paint quality.  I bought a few tubes of casein, read an article on it, and started a hair pulling struggle.

Casein is a water based paint but is applied very differently than watercolor.  It was a challenge and that is putting it mildly.  Doing anything new would have been difficult for me but casein is tricky and that intrigued me.  Unlike watercolor, there wasn’t a lot of information available about supports, grounds, or the paint.  There also were very few workshops or teachers so I was free to limp along without onlookers or expectations (imagined ones, really).  I guess that was good.

In the beginning I worked at my watercolor table as usual then would spin around to a small casein table and dabble for an hour or two.  I eventually split my time by working a few months in casein and then would return to watercolor for a few.  I did an art fair or two and a few gallery shows with caseins and began to feel more confident with it.  I still have a lot to learn but I achieved the goal — to use the painting skills I had learned while watercolor painting in a new medium.

I’ve been curious about encaustic ever since I saw Jasper John’s work in a New York museum many years ago.  I made the mistake of buying a book more recently and when I started highlighting….well, I knew I was in trouble.  Really, I should have continued with casein for a couple more years and built a stronger body of work but I was fascinated.  I continued my watercolor and casein work during the day at my regular pace and began experimenting with encaustic at night.  Now, about three years later, I’m working in encaustic full time.  I’ll return to watercolor and casein eventually — right now, I need to focus so I can make progress with the wax.  Part time with a medium works for a while but I tend to reach a point when I need to make progress so I won’t get discouraged.  

The small encaustics above are actually built on fragments of watercolor paintings.  I’m learning each new medium teaches me skills that affect everything else I do — sometimes in positive ways but not always — more tools in the tool belt has to be good in the long run so I try to focus on the big picture.

Kicking off “Blog Week”

This is what my studio looked like midway through our renovation.  I SO wish I had photographed when the bars were still on the windows and before all the black paint was scraped off the glass - and before the tanning bed rooms were torn out.  I was in too big a hurry to let the light in to bring a camera.  Believe me, there was no AIR in the place!  The outside was just as dark and depressing….

This building was for sale many, many months before I would agree to go inside.  It was an adult apparel and video store and occasionally a mannequin would appear on the front porch with “interesting” garments on display.  I was pretty intimidated about going inside!  As it turned out, the owner was a friendly lady who was happy to give us a tour and after we bought the place she left free samples tucked in hiding spaces for me.  I guess I looked like the kind of lady who needed some spice. :)

Tomorrow I’ll kick off my personal “blog week” with a tour of my studio and some background on the different studios I’ve worked in over the years.  I’ve loved and appreciated every single one.  

I’ll close tonight with a photo of Mark, my husband and best friend, tearing down the old business sign.  I was so excited to see it GO….I ran outside with my camera and happened to catch an arrest going on across the street in the background.  Sort of funny but really not - someone’s life was changing forever.

Giving a friendly face to a house in a neighborhood that needs a boost has been part of the fun.  And being on the corner of a busy old Huntsville street has proven to be very entertaining for Jelly, Misty, and me.  More about studios and their importance tomorrow!

Under the noisy vent

I have nice bright windows facing a busy street, where I can watch the weather change and see the occasional drug deal.  It’s a nice place to spend the day — a little drama and some clouds.  But my windows don’t open!  So, my encaustic set up is in the very back of my studio where we were able to install a vent hood.  The advantage is that by spending my day in a windowless room, I’ve broken my watercolor obsession with light.  The disadvantage is that I don’t know when a tornado is bearing down on me.  More on that another time.

I spent some time this week organizing my work area.  It takes time — years in my case — to figure out the best layout for tools.  I have to reach for things a hundred times and learn what I need before things finally fall into their natural location. I’ll figure it out about the time I go back to casein.  This is working as long as I work fairly small.  I’m sure I’ll eventually want to try larger pieces. 

Going Home

We’re heading home after a long day at the studio!  Misty is Head of Security and Jelly is my Studio Assistant - and they never miss a day of work.  Jelly has been in the studio with me since he was 8 weeks old.  Misty joined our team shortly after that.

We try to clock in around 9am and spend the first thirty minutes taking care of our rescued cats.  They are waiting for breakfast and room service when we arrive.  The encaustic palettes are warming while we sweep and straighten up.  Then I open a Diet Mountain Dew and that’s their cue to settle in for a nap.  Misty is a light sleeper though - she takes her security job very seriously.  

Lately we’ve been taking a break around 1pm to medicate our Persian, Pea, who is at home. We’re back at work within an hour or so and like to work past 5pm when we can.  

Over the years my routine has varied.  I used to be in the studio by 7am and only left to get a bag of Cheetos from the gas station at noon.  In those days, Chloe, our shepherd mix, rode with me or I occasionally rode my bike to my south Huntsville studio.

Routines change but I find having one is important.  Structure and a sense of purpose is important.  I’m more flexible now and I work five days a week rather than six or seven - but I’m still committed to a routine.  At the end of a month or quarter, Jelly, Misty, and I are much more satisfied with results if we’ve clocked in every day!

Finished…maybe…

The key to finishing is quitting.  Just quit painting for a while….and that is different from stopping!  Quitting doesn’t mean you can’t go back to the piece tomorrow or next week, but quitting early is tons better than later.  In the beginning, the only way I knew I was finished was when I had done one thing too many - and was sorry.  I would nudge a painting forward and only knew I should stop when the painting WAS right an hour ago.

It’s a common dilemma and experience helps the most.  That’s why I tell people to just paint.  Paint, paint, paint until you’ve made every mistake you can — then think of new challenges so you can make new mistakes to learn from.

As far as when a painting is finished, I don’t know the answer.  I only know what is right for me.  When I start to lose my momentum and doubt starts to creep in then I know I need to step away from the painting.  I will actually sit with the brush hover over the piece and get anxious.  I now know that I’m searching for something to do so I can keep working on a painting that I’ve become friendly with - a clear sign that the end is near.

Another trick I use is to have a new piece drawn and hovering on the edge of the table.  It’s easier to wind up a piece if I have another I’m excited about working on.

It’s all about tricking ourselves —- into making good decisions and staying focused.  I’ve learned what works for me - most of the time anyway!

Push and Pull

A little of this and a little of that — this composition has a lot of detail and I’m deciding what should stay and what should be tied together.  And the truth is that I’ve left a lot of detail out already!  There are so many decisions to be made while painting and those decisions are where 90% of the painting is done.

My first concern is the overall impression - are my shapes interesting and do I WANT to look at this painting.  Where does the eye go and is that what I want to emphasize.  A perfect replica of the sugar mill would be boring but I want to capture enough of the structure for it to intrigue the viewer.  As I develop, every decision impacts another area of the painting — if one area is darkened then another area is suddenly too bright.  I knock the bright area back and suddenly ANOTHER area is too bright.  And so it goes….so much happens as a reaction to what was done fifteen minutes ago

I think the trick is to react to what is on the board at that moment — not to what I expected to be there or what is on my reference photo.  The longer I work, the more the painting is taking on it’s own mood and statement.  It’s a moving target until one day I think I might be there.  It feels close.  Then I stop painting.  Right or wrong, I stop.

But I’m not stopping yet.  This one has a little way to go.  And the hundred decisions I make in a painting day are what it’s about.  THAT’S painting.

The mask is off

Learning to work with interruptions is an art in itself!  I’ve had a ton of distractions while working on this little piece.  I managed to get a few hours to remove the masking and start building some detail.  I’m building form in some places in others I’m deciding how to get some interesting contrast — where to push a light against a dark and vice versa.

So many decisions are made while actually painting.  I plan ahead a little and pretend I have a plan but it only serves to give me confidence to start a painting session.  Most decisions are made intuitively while painting without a lot of thought!  Not all of them work out but the best choices are the ones that flow onto the board — so I jump in an hope for the best.

Blue sky…

I really don’t mind Mondays!  After the weekend adoption event and house renovation, I enjoy getting back in the studio.  I’ve masked off the edges of my structure so I can build a sky.  I like a flat sky - it creates a nicer composition and we all know what a sky looks like.  This is the second layer - it is still wet in this photo.  I’ll build a couple more layers today then remove the masking fluid.  The primed board is preparation for my next piece.  I’ll work on the drawing while this piece is drying.  I’ve decided to paint an old sugar mill in Louisiana that I’ve been wanting to do something with, sort of keeping with this rural industrial idea I have going.  I have in mind to do two or three more caseins before I go back to watercolor.

Starting a new casein

I’m starting the third casein in this group.  On day one I did the drawing on primed illustration board (acid-free) and blocked in the major shape.  Yesterday I defined more shapes so I can consider the overall composition.  I’ll tie a lot of these details together with a wash later but for now I want to get an idea of what is IN this composition.  I’m thinking about what I’ll keep, change, focus on, and kill.

I’ll probably mask the major shape so I can build a strong sky.  Working around all these little shapes with casein paint would be difficult.  It dries so quickly and blending can be awkward.  Casein paint doesn’t “move” easily on the board.  The minute I lay the brush on the board it is drying  - even while I pick up more paint on the palette.  It takes a special touch that I have some days but not others!

I’m enjoying the casein work but keep thinking about going back to watercolor for a  while.  I’ll either change subjects and stay with casein or pull out a big piece of watercolor paper and get back in to that groove.

A little faith helps….

This is the third session for this little piece so it is making less sense rather than more at this point.  Casein is a very weird medium, if you ask me.  Moving the paint around takes practice and a certain touch that is easier on some days.  A lot of the drawing details and shadows aren’t added yet - I’m trying to build form on the two grain silos (or whatever these amazing, huge cylinders are).  As I paint from the dark side to the light….or the other way around….it is difficult to keep the change gradual.  There is no “flow” with casein even though it is a waterbased medium - like with watercolor, for instance.

And to work in a watermedia but opaquely is odd to me, probably because I was a watercolorist for so many years and am more comfortable dealing with transparent color.

So we’ll see where this one goes.  The middle development of a painting reminds me of the teenage years — I’m pretty sure where I’m going but I could fall off a cliff at any minute.  I’m either exuberant or depressed right until the piece starts to click and I’m able to be more objective.

I’m never truly objective but it’s always the goal.

Change is good

I’m excited about my new web presence.  I”ve been an artist long enough now to appreciate the need for change.  For instance, I’m in an airport right now, waiting for a flight, and updating my website.  This is good.

When I started working full time as an artist, one of the first things I did was go to a printer and have a thousand business cards made.  Then, I created a brochure and had a ton of them printed - and of course, they needed updating long before I used all of them.  I sat at Mall art shows, handing out printed material and making appointments with people to see more paintings in my dining room!  And even then, I noticed the artists who fell out of touch.

I also saw the need to enjoy my painting AND my interaction with the public.  I believe being an artist involves more than creating the work.  I have to admit, in the last few years I’ve gotten lazy about communicating.  I put priority on painting and there are so many demands on my time in recent years — some things have fallen through the cracks.

I actually enjoy writing about my work and communicating about it.  Answering questions helps me formulate my ideas and rethink my opinions.  Explaining technique is always a good thing — for me as well as the artist on the other end of the comversation.  We all learn from each other.

So I’m excited about this blog/facebook/twitter approach.  PLEASE give me feedback.  I need to know what is working and not working.  Email me at dana.danabrown@gmail.com

Okay, I’m starting the new year with the emphasis on NEW.  I’ve wanted a new web approach for about a year and didn’t know where to start.  My old site was static - boring, actually.

So I’m trying a new approach using the networks that we all use already.  Twitter, Facebook, and this new blog.  I hope you’ll come back often - I’m hoping my entries will improve my thinking process as well as my work.  I know the emphasis needs to be on DOING but thinking comes in handy too.

Happy New Year!