Tag: Painting
I have recently completed another painting of the old fire alarm that is at the top of my stairs. As you can see from a previous post, my first attempt left much to be desired. It was a good learning experience though. We can’t all be Salvador Dali on day one. I’m sure even he put out his fair share of lackluster fire alarm paintings early in his career.
Before starting this painting, I took a long hard look at the last one. What was it specifically that made it look so amateur? This was one question that I needed to answer before starting up the new painting. Aside from some obvious reasons such as the chain having a strange wobble and some sizing issues, the big one hit me one day while walking down the street over to the coffee shop. I happened to walk by a small art gallery that had a few paintings on display by various local artists. Aside from my opinion on the subject matter of each painting, I saw a strong distinction between some paintings and others. Certain ones looked well done and others looked like high school art class assignments. There didn’t seem to be much in-between. Then I saw what the well done paintings had that the high school art projects (my first painting certainly fits this category) lacked.
The well done paintings incorporated much more texture. Don’t get me wrong, a painting can have a smooth glossy finish and still look awesome. I just think it takes much more skill to pull off and I’m certainly not there yet. So there it was. Texture. How could I use a little texture to my advantage? To find out, I redirected my course for the book store which is conveniently located across the street from my original destination. After flipping through a few duds, I came across a winner: The Encyclopedia of Oil Painting Techniques by Jeremy Galton. Spicing up a painting with some texture is one of many helpful techniques illustrated by this book. It certainly gets my stamp of approval.
To fix the problems of proportions and arrangement, etc. I took some extra time up front to layout where I would be painting everything. I made sure to use a pen this time for my initial drawing. I used pencil last time and when I started painting, lead smeared all over the place. This time I took much more careful measurements and got the picture centered better on the canvas. Then when on got to the painting, I laid it on thick. The great thing about oil paint is that each brush stroke stays pretty much frozen in time once it dries, and you have a good long time to mess with them before that happens.
There is one other thing that needs to be mentioned. Unless you are a master calligrapher, I recommend laying down any text that you will be painting first. I waited until the end on my last painting, thinking the whole time that the text would make or break it. Well, the text broke it, bad. So his time, I laid down all of my text up front knowing that I could tweak it as much as necessary without risking the hours of hard work that lay beneath it.
And now that the suspense has officially been built, here is a picture of my latest endeavor.
Next on my list will likely be a painting of this little fella, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will be loaded up to the beak with some nice rich texture.
October 17, 2009
There are many reasons that an easel is a key component to the artist’s toolbox. As a beginning painter it can make you feel much more legit, and that mental aspect goes a long way. Also, if you have never painted using an easel before, you will quickly realize that the ability to take a step back to examine your work is very helpful. This will allow you to account for any errors early that could otherwise have ruined your painting. One last benefit that I will add from personal experience is that an easel will keep your painting vertical while you are away, thus preventing domestic animals from expanding your artwork from the canvas to the table, floors and clothing. Not very awesome.
Unfortunately, there is one big reason not to get an easel. The price. Most often I see a decent one hovering the $200 range, which is certainly out of my price range. I want to paint, not take on a second job. To overcome this lone excuse for denying myself the luxury of a vertical painting surface, I set out to build my own for as little money as possible. After some serious browsing at the hardware store I came up with the following list of materials.
Fan Trellis: $10.98
3/4” Square Dowel (3x): $7.32
1” Square Dowel: $2.77
T Hinge with Screws (2x): $5.54
Wood Screws: $0.98
Yarn (Could also use chain, rope, shoe lace, etc.): Free – Had some laying around the house.
Grand Total: $27.59 – A worthy investment!
You will need a hand saw and a screw driver. A drill and a level are recommended.
First step, gather up all of your materials.
Then chop the tips off of the fan trellis. This will be the bottom of the easel.
Attach two of the 3/4” wooden dowels to a horizontal beam on the trellis. Trim the ends to be flush with the bottom of the easel (top of the trellis). This will be the back support for the easel. Cut the third 3/4” wooden dowel into a few pieces. Attach these pieces with screws to the two that are already connected. Add a perpendicular one at the bottom and some diagonal ones to prevent the two posts from being able to sway side to side.
Now loop some yarn (or other material of your choice) around the dowels and the trellis to keep the posts from opening up too far.
The next and final step is adding a bar to set the painting on. For this, use the 1” wooden dowel and screw it to the trellis at a height that works for you. Don’t lose too much sleep over this because you can always change it later. First, place a screw connecting the center of the dowel to the center of the trellis to hold it in place. With the easel set upright, use a level to even it out. Then screw both ends of the dowel to the trellis.
Now all that is left to do is get busy painting.
Have you already tried building this? If so, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out. Did you find a way to make it even cheaper, like by substituting the wooden downs with random pieces of drift wood? Spread the word in the comments section for the benefit of the whole Wisdom Lion community.
July 5, 2009
Hello and welcome to WISDOMLION.COM. I believe you have just stumbled into a gold mine, my friend. A gold mine filled with more than just gold. You can now get in on my journey as I finally get around to doing all of the cool stuff that I was always “totally gonna do someday.” And best of all, I will be sharing my newly acquired wealth of knowledge with you as I go.
Some things that I will be immediately diving into (and will be the main purpose of this blog) are:
OIL PAINTING: I have done a hand full of of oil paintings in my life, but they were all done over 3 years ago and I have almost no technical knowledge. It’s about time I drum up a new masterpiece.
HOME BREWING BEER: Again, I am not completely new to this, but I am certainly no master. So far I have had a fairly successful stout and an IPA that had a ton of booze in it and tasted like band-aids.
RUNNING: Finishing a marathon has always been something that I would love to do but have never put any effort into. Mark my words, this will be changing soon.
GARDENING/SPROUTING: I now have a small backyard that my fiance and I share with a downstairs neighbor. Also, sprouting is a great way to grow your own food indoors for super cheap. And its good for you. Awesome!
WEB DESIGN: I have never really been too interested in web design, but this site as it is today could stand to be spiced up a bit.
SAVING MONEY: Oh how I long to having a savings account again. Trust me, I will be trying to learn all of these new skills on the cheap. Hiring an art teacher, some field hands and a running coach would be cheating and make for a boring read anyway.
I may also learn French, build stuff and grow an awesome beard. I’ll do my best to keep the beard posts from dominating the website.
June 7, 2009
