Essay: Painting on Paper

I have been having discussions for some time now about the use of paper as a painting surface for works of art, particularly oil painting. In most institutes of higher learning, conservators and artists who should know better might tell you that paper is an inadequate support for any serious professional painting, and when looking around you why would anyone think differently as paper garbage floats by in the wind?

Raphael

Rembrandt

John Constable

These examples are paintings on paper. The first is by Raphael, another by Rembrandt, and the one on the right is by John Constable. The Raphael cartoons are painted with hide glue distemper, and the other two are oils. All are in excellent condition and quite old; although, to be fair, they have most certainly been well cared for. These can be described as studies for other finished works, but that doesn’t speak to the condition of the surface or how well they have withstood the test of time.

High quality paper is made from rag fabric fiber, either linen, cotton, or a blend of the two, but it’s the cheapness of wood pulp most people are familiar with that has given all paper a bad reputation. Even wood pulp can be processed to be virtually free of lignin acids that cause staining and brittleness. All types of paper need to be properly sized as preparation for oil painting using hide glue, PVA, or shellac. Mediums such as pastels or watercolors need glass protection mainly due to fragility of the media itself, and to simplify the care and maintenance of the work.

Today many galleries will not accept paintings on paper as a rule unless they are mounted under glass (glazed.) Unfortunately, that is not a good thing for an oil painting, since it would cause the oil to not oxidize properly, and for an acrylic painting it’s not required at all. Juried shows often have the same glazing requirement, and I can understand how it might simplify things for them to just insist that everything be presented the same way. However, it puts a burden on the artist that in some cases isn’t necessary, and implies that all paper stock is inferior to other surfaces. If it was good enough for Rembrandt, it’s good enough for me.

References:
Raphael: “Miraculous Draught of Fishes”
Rembrandt
John Constable
History of Papermaking
Paper from non-wood fibers
Rag Paper Manufacturing
History of Paper Sizing
Paper Terminology

Hanging an Oil Painting to Dry

Since an oil painting typically needs a few days to dry I like to hang it up out of the way so the surface won’t come into contact with anything and in a location that has less dust floating around. What I do is attach a “C” clamp to the stretcher, and hang it by the handle on a metal wall shelf as shown in the photo above. For large paintings I use a couple clamps near each corner. I can safely hang several side by side and they get plenty of air circulation. The clamps are only a couple dollars each.

Sitting in a Dark Corner, Part 2

Here’s the latest version of the painting I just started. I’ll let it dry some before I go back and add a few touchups. The closeup is approximately actual size for that area of the painting.

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Read the previous post in this series:

Sitting in a Dark Corner, part 1

New Painting: Sitting in a Dark Corner

Starting a new painting. This is based on a sketch I made years ago while sitting in the back of a conference room during some boring seminar. There was a young woman in front of me gnawing on her thumb. Hang on to all your sketches. You never know what they’ll turn into.

Pencil Sketch

I decided to place her in the corner of a darkly lit room and this is the result. Here you see the beginning undertone layout. It’s in oil this time on a small stretched canvas, 12 x 9 inches.

This paint layer is made using a medium mix of methylcellulose and water-miscible oil paints. Methylcellulose is a binder made from plant pulp and is a water and oil emulsifier like casein. Although not as strong a glue as casein it is clearer and won’t spoil. I like to use it in early layers like this so I can dilute the oil paint without actually thinning it, and it dries quickly. I could use regular oil paints with it, but I prefer water-miscible paints like Holbein’s Aqua Duo brand since they’re more water friendly. No turpentine is required.

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Sitting in a Dark Corner, Part 2

Wedding Reception Ink Drawing

Pen and Ink Drawing

I’ve made many paintings based on drawings, but I can’t remember the last time I made a drawing from a painting. Here’s one example. It’s from a painting I made a year ago called “Wedding Reception in Malibu.” I used the same contour line drawing that I made the painting from, so both artworks are the same size, roughly 16 x 16″. The drawing surface is a sheet of Multimedia Artboard, which is nicely smooth and stiff. Using a lightbox, I could see through the Artboard to the contour drawing beneath, which made the inking process easier.

Some thoughts on drawing in general:

• If you have a problem getting a straight line, slow down.
• Practice your line shading on a scrap piece of paper as a warmup exercise.
• Keep a relaxed grip on the pen. When making thicker lines, don’t squeeze, just push down.
• Perfectly clean straight lines are overrated. Just concentrate on values and line thickness.
• Thick outlines can help separate objects spatially.

Nightclub Painting: Final Stages

Final painting

Here’s the latest version of my Nightclub painting. It just needs some cleaning up around the edges here and there. Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 9 inches.

Acrylic palette

This shows my acrylic paint palette setup. It’s a variation on my casein palette that I posted earlier using the same gray plate for mixing. The difference here is I use a ceramic plate for the palette. It’s covered with a damp piece of muslin cloth, and on that is a piece of Sta-Wet paper from Masterson, which appears to be just heavy weight vellum. I use a plate for the dabs of paint so I can cover it with the mixing plate to help keep it from drying out if I need to take a break. I sometimes re-wet the cloth, but generally the paint stays moist all day with this setup.

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Read the previous post in this series:

Night Club Painting, Color Study

Imagekind Print Proofs

ImageKind mailtube

After lunch today I was just about to put brush to canvas for more painting when FedEx knocked at the door, and delivered two prints recently ordered from Imagekind, the printing fulfillment company I signed up with recently. I ordered proofs to see how well they made the prints. One of these was the recently finished “Chinese Restaurant” painting that I posted here a few days ago, and the other is a painting from last year called “Manhattan Beach.” They were shipped in a long thick cardboard mailing tube rolled up in tissue paper.

For the “Chinese Restaurant” proof I chose the largest size they offered on the least expensive paper, figuring that would help me gauge a worst-case scenario for people ordering prints. The “Manhattan Beach” proof I requested was made to roughly the same size as the original but on glossy paper.

Both prints look very good. I was worried that the common problem of matching a monitor display to print output color (CMYK) would appear, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. They both look very accurate. There is one problem; although, it’s not actually related to the printing. Even though the large print looks very accurate and sharp, its larger size magnifies the minute details of the small painting. Tiny spots of paint that may splatter in unwanted places, or shadows cast by thicker paint layers get enlarged several times. Small things that can be overlooked on the original are glaringly obvious on the larger print.

These issues aren’t big problems, and if they were printed actual size or smaller they’d be okay, but the prints should look as perfect as they can be under all conditions. It would be convenient if Imagekind would let me control the size options offered, but that’s not available. It is good to offer larger sizes, I suppose, as long as the prints show up well, which they seem to do. I had touched up the digital images some even before I uploaded them, but apparantly I need to clean them up even more carefully, so it looks like I’ll be doing that over the weekend.

Preval Spray Gun

This is a small propane spray-gun from Preval that I received yesterday. If this works as well as I hope, it could come in handy for sizing, priming and finishing paint surfaces.

The spray unit screws onto a glass jar that holds 16 ounces of liquid, which can be anything from paint, shellac, or varnish; as long as it’s thin enough to go through the nozzle. The jar comes with a screw-on plastic cap to store any unused liquid and both the sprayer and jar can be bought separately. Having at least two jars might be wise to keep oil and water-based liquids separate. The complete unit costs only about $5 – 6 USD. I’m curious how much spray there is. I expect it to be about the same as a regular can of spray paint. A more professional sprayer goes for @ $50 – $100 for the spray gun and at least that much more for an air compressor.

UPDATE: I’ve read negative comments online that no spray comes out. First thing to check is that if your liquid is thin enough. Thick paint will clog. I’ve also tested this with homemade fixative and just water, and even that had problems spraying until I discovered if I take the filter plug off the end of the tube it will work fine. Could be that the tiny holes in those plugs may sometimes be blocked. Try that if you have similar troubles.

Color Study for Nightclub Painting

Here’s the beginnings of a new painting showing a digital color study of a pencil sketch. Thought I’d stay with the dark interior setting, this time a nightclub. This is an old sketch I made in a bar in Orange County, CA a few years back, 8×10.” I scanned it and opened it with the program Painter. Set the scan as a “multiply” layer so I could see through it like a transparency, and added some color.

Pencil Sketch

Digital color study

I wanted to give more emphasis to the nightclub space by pulling back the POV, and since I needed to adjust the aspect ratio anyway. I just moved the sketch layer around until I came up with a placement I liked, adding more room to the right side and drew in more booths. This will be another 12×9″ painting. Might go with acrylic this time.

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Read the next post in this series:

Night Club Painting, Final Stages

Selling prints through Imagekind

After reading a strong positive review over at Empty Easel of the Imagekind print service, I thought I’d sign up for a trial run. It sounds like a good deal for both artist and buyer. You can buy just the prints, have them framed and mated, or buy greeting cards, and they offer free service for the artist.

You can visit my gallery of print offerings here. I’ve uploaded a few of my most recent paintings, and will add more when I get some better quality scans made up. If you decide to buy something (or have done so before) let me know how you like their service. If any of you have an Imagekind account I’d also like to hear about your relationship with them.

Chinese Restaurant Painting Finished

Final Painting

Here’s the final state today of the Chinese Restaurant painting. Quite a few tiny details in this one. I may still touch up a few spots here and there, but it’s mostly done. 12 x 9″ casein on paper.

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Read the previous post in this series:

Chinese Restaurant Painting Layout