The Post-Pencil Cleanse: Why understanding drawing fundamentals is important for painting

After nearly a month off from painting, I returned to the oils this week. I've done nearly 35 different pencil studies and sketches using only a 2h, hb and b pencil, as well as an eraser, a white pencil and a toned sketchbook. While I am not a huge fan of pencil as a medium, and I really enjoy working in color, I can successfully say that my work has become so much more clear and defined. I began this week on a sketch of a cavalier of sorts, riding a giant flying eagle. I started out sketching on a piece of illustration board. I sketched for about 25 minutes, easily and quickly locking in a loose sketch, and not being afraid to erase and adjust things as I went (this is something I've always struggled with, but something which is also getting better as I work more and more in pencil.) After completing this, I laid in the first coat of oils- expecting to have lots of trouble adjusting to get the right shade and value, and probably anticipating 3 hours to get things right.

To my surprise, the lay in took only 20 minutes. From having had so much experience seeing in shades of reduced value (the pencils only really had 3 different shades, and the paper), I was able to quickly identify the value I was looking for, and having selected a restricted color palette, it became clear that I didn't really need to worry about whether I used orange or blue, or a mixture of the two: as long as I was in the correct value, it made sense as a realistic image. I then tried to keep blues in front and back, and oranges in the middle. It all worked really well, and I cannot wait to continue with the lay in!

Pencil Cleanse!

As a painter, it becomes increasingly difficult to notice when you are "neglecting" a particular skill set in your art arsenal. For myself, recent analysis of my work has led me to the conclusion that I have been greatly improving as a painter, but staying fairly stagnant in my abilities as a renderer. Having the ability to draw accurate renderings is incredibly important for any artist- it gives your paintings believability, interest, and, overall, shapes your final product. A great solution to this is to go on a "Pencil Cleanse". For me, this means putting the paints down for a whole month, and instead, carrying a pencil and sketchbook around.

A week into this exercise, a few different things have been noticed. Firstly, I'm finding myself noticing form in nature a lot more. Rather than seeing colors and hues, I'm seeing tonal relationships in things. This shift in mental thinking is doing wonders for planning future paintings.

The other thing I'm noticing, which is a huge deal, is that I am getting less frustrated with problems in my work. Because I am working with a toned paper sketchbook only, I know that anything I sketch is merely a sketch- For the purpose of getting better, and not creating a final product. This is drastically different than the "finished painting" mentality I am used to, and is greatly helping with the anxiety associated with working on a painting.

I will put up more information when I am a couple more weeks into this process, but right now, I'm really liking the results in my improvement. Below I've shared some pieces over the last couple days.

Everything below has been done with a 2H pencil, a B pencil, and a white pencil (because I'm working on toned paper).

Zloi Thunderaxe- The Dwarven Barbarian (a work in oil)

My best friend plays in my weekly Dungeons and Dragons group. We've played each Monday evening, reliably, for the past 2 years. His character, a dwarven barbarian with an aversion to safety and a casual relationship with manners, has survived throughout the whole campaign, despite having a true wish to die in glorious battle. To document the adventures, I thought I'd paint character portraits of each character in the game. I started with Zloi (comical aside: in Russian, "Zloi" means anger)

I begun the piece on 140 gram Arches cold press Watercolor paper. I knew I'd be sealing it and painting using Oils, so the actual quality of the paper wasn't paramount. That being said, I used cold press paper over rag illustration board to try and incorporate a little bit of texture and roughness- I thought it may lend itself to the portrait nicely. In hindsight, I'm not sure it made too much of a difference, and honestly, the rag illustration board is cheaper, so I'll probably go that route next time. 

I begun with a pencil sketch, using a 2b pencil and a 2h pencil. The 2h allowed me to lock everything in, and then the 2b allowed for shading and different values. I then sealed the whole thing with Krylon Kamar Varnish (one coat), and then one coat of acrylic Matte Medium. It's clear, locks the pencil lines in, and prevents too much of the oil from seeping into the paper. This is a trick I learned from James Gurney (Gurneyjourney.blogspot.com)

After laying in some background colors and basic tones, I went ahead and placed gear that was important to Zloi's likeness. Mainly, this is the bear claw bracers. Zloi's skin color is not consistent yet, because he actually has tattoos that glow orange. I haven't added all the layers yet, so I'm simply trying to anticipate a bit of the lighting. This above probably represents 2 hours of paint laying. 

After having let things dry for a day, I went in and added some variation in shadows all over. Although mostly notable in the face, this actually adds a ton of depth to the expression and pose. Now, I let the piece dry for another day.

With 3 more hours into the work, I have this to show. A much more homogeneous color scheme across the piece (with an exception of the hands, which still need to be finished). The piece is nearly done! Details for the gore of the beast killed at his feet are actually done randomly using a palette knife to help achieve some random textures. The effect ended up looking very natural!

A word about Clunkers

 

A Clunker of mine that I totally despised! Gave it to a friend, never to see the light of day again!

I'm going to tackle a difficult topic for artists: Clunkers. Clunkers is a word we use to describe paintings that don't end well. Whether lost interest, large mistake, or just a canvas that has been painted over one too many times, we all have clunkers that hide in the back of our closets. All artists fail, and much like many other professions, we don't like to be reminded of it.

Artists often talk about clunkers with statements like, "I'm gonna burn this one to ashes", or, "I can't wait to toss this crap out of a biplane!" I've seen lots of non-artists reel up in horror at this, and they always then respond with a simple phrase: "If you don't like it, I'll take it! I'd pay "___" for that anyday!"

 

A clunker I was able to turn around and save (not too happy with it, but it's OK..)

 

Let me be clear- artists are somewhat divided on this- there are some artists that sell their studies or even their clunkers for small amounts (usually 20-50 bucks a piece) to friends or students, who seriously appreciate them. However, it is important to understand that the divide on this issue is about 80/20 % (artist magazine poll), with the larger group favoring destruction. The issue at hand is simple. Artists don't generally want their failures displayed. Period.

Let's say your an oncologist. Your job is to tell people they have cancer, and then to help them fight it. Let's be honest- not an easy job by any stretch, and even if you're a great doctor, you're going to lose patients to the disease. Let's say somebody wanted to feature you in an article about a recent patient, but the patient didn't survive. Let's also say that the article was putting you on display for great work you did in diagnosis, or treatment, but at the end of the day, cancer won. This isn't a pleasant position, and I'm sure the oncologist would much prefer not to be featured, unless the procedure was groundbreaking in some other way. Nobody in any profession likes to be reminded of their failures.

Being a painter is a very different example (and much less high intensity, obviously, than dealing with somebody's life- no disrespect meant with the comparison!), but the general principle still applies- People do not want their failures displayed, for any price really.

Sometimes discussions like this are hard to finish, as no obvious end can be seen. I've tried my best to present the issue with the generally favored opinion, but I will try again and summarize below:

 

A Clunker I'm currently trying to save... we'll see how it ends up (not too hopeful..)

 

What to take from this:

• All artists have Clunkers. If you're an artist, and you feel like around 1/4 or so of your paintings are clunkers, you are not alone!
• Some artists are comfortable selling their clunkers for a greatly reduced price (often AT COST of materials)- that's fine- it's their work!
• Some artists give their clunkers away to good friends, knowing that they will be enjoyed but not publicly displayed (This is where I fall)- again, it's their prerogative. 
• Many artists are uncomfortable selling their clunkers at all. They'd rather they be destroyed. Nobody should have to endure their failures publicly if they don't want to.
  
  

New Finished Images for SENSORY

Hey Everybody,

Haven't had much time to post this past month- I've been working at a crazy speed to prepare for my upcoming show on the 6th of May- RAWBoston Presents: SENSORY. *(you can still get a ticket at www.rawboston.org/acrylicalexander )

Here are some of the new finished images for my show- These will be available as prints or originals during the show!

 

 

"First and Second Place" Oil on Board- 5.75"x 12"

 "Opedian Royal Guard" Oil on Board- 16x20"

 "Thalamis Guards the Ley Line" Acrylic on Linen- 20x34"

"The Kill" Oil on Board- 6x14"

"Thalamis at the Lae Line" start to finish breakdown

"Thalamis at the Lae Line" is an illustration based upon a character in my fantasy world, Telimvor. Thalamis is the ruler of the sylvan people in Telimvor (dryads, centaurs, pixies, fairies...), and takes on the form of a centaur and a satyr crossed. I wanted him to be guarding a Lae Line, a mythological gate that connects two places far away with fey magic, and that allows a traveler to simply walk from one end to another. I wanted the painting to reflect leadership and power, but also a serene and peaceful quietness. I chose to keep most of the painting cool in color hue for this reason.

 The choice to paint in acrylics rather than oils was simply one of frugality: I had run out of Ultramarine Blue in oils, and didn't want to buy more paint during the month.

 Beginning stages included forming the background colors using layers of watery acrylic paints blended over each other (lots of layers: in total, the background had around 70 different layers of color mixed into it). After this was done, I was able to start to define different shapes into my composition. I liked this outcropping rock, so I decided to put it in as the focal point of where my figure would stand.

 

I then proceeded to paint in some silhouetted trees and foliage to help frame the center of my composition. Usually, one wants to avoid the center of a canvas as a focal point, but because of all of the circular and elongated shapes caused by the tall canvas and trees, I decided to take the risk- in the end, it worked out fine.

 At the moment, the painting looks a bit sloppy- stick with it! As you continue to refine things, the image begins to tighten up.

 I decided to block the Lae Line in, as well as Thalamis. I wasn't completely happy with his pose at first- it seemed as though his antlers were a bit small and natural, and not as impressive as I'd like, as well as the rump of his backside getting lost in the gate. Notice the undercoat on the vines completely clashes with all of the warm background lights- this is OK. For a first coat, a cool green will really help create the effect of depth against all of the neutral and warm greens in the painting.

 After having corrected the figure pose, and adding layers and layers of detail into the vines, and the trees, I had a finished piece- or so I thought. The greatest achievement of the piece was also my downfall- Although the mood was created well with all of the warm greens and yellows against cool blacks and browns and purples, I knew I needed something else to stand out. I decided to take a complete risk and add in fairies in a bright light blue. Once you take a bold step like this, there is no going back. Because of this, I made sure to tape some tracing paper to my painting and try 4 or 5 different color combinations for the fairies before finding my colors of choice.

The finished piece- Boasts some great color combinations, as well as an interesting display of light, form and movement. Great Success!

Atmospheric Layering in Acrylics

So I'm back to Acrylics for the next few days- I wanted to start working on a larger piece, but I didn't have the colors for what I wanted in oils, and rather than go spend tons of money on paints, I figured I'd try acrylics. I'm building layers into the atmosphere on this piece, so I thought I'd take a second and talk about how to achieve this.

After first session- maybe 3-5 layers in the background

Here is the base layer of this (large, 38x20") painting. The background is scumbled mixing of 4 different colors- Yellow Azo, Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue and Paynes Gray. Doing this in random layers is great, but often builds up too much paint. I fix this by constantly spraying the canvas (fairly liberally) with a small misting bottle for cosmetics. This will cause the background to run a bit, but that's ok, because you're going to paint over the edges when the trees go in.

Same Painting- around 35-40 layers in the background

Here is the same painting 5 hours later- As the layers build up (again, misting bottle and paint, over and over), the atmosphere begins to look realistic and believable. The more layers you put in, the more you can get lost in the painting. with painting like this, it's important to not get frustrated with how things look as you progress, but rather to just keep adding layers, trusting in the process. 

It's worth noting- If you us WHITE in this process, use ZINC WHITE and not TITANIUM WHITE because of transparency: Titanium White is literally the most opaque color out there, and doesn't lend itself well to this technique.

RAWBoston Presents: SENSORY- May 6th, 2015

I'm super excited to share that I've been chosen to exhibit and sell my work in RAWBoston's May showcase, entitled "Sensory". The show will be happening at the Middle East in Cambridge on May 6th, 2015.

RAW events are a little more cool than your typical art show. Think art show meets electronic music festival meets fashion show meets open bar meets giant party. Starts to sound pretty cool, huh? 

Tickets are incredibly cheap for such an event ($15 bucks gets you in the door!) and you can pick them up right below here, at the link I'm posting. Every ticket sale helps support me as well, so you should totally pick a few up for a great night!

Follow the link below, and buy your ticket right from my page!! 

http://www.rawartists.org/acrylicalexander

Last time I saw a RAWBoston show, I had a friend in the show and was blown away to step into the exhibition hall. There were hundreds of people coming in and out, all looking at art, and many of them first time art collectors. If you like art, whether you know a lot or nothing at all about it, then this show is a great stop for you!

Dress is "cocktail attire"

Hope to see you all there!

Cool Things that studying art can do for you

EVERYBODY should learn art.


Everybody.

Art is beautiful, and even if you have no real art skills, you should try to paint or draw. First of all, doing art is incredibly therapeutic for anybody. Second of all, doing art is much like any other skill in life- as you practice it, you get better at it. While some people may appear to have an innate talent for it, I assure you that hard work trumps any talent (if such a thing even exists...) Painting can also help you see the world differently, and I don't mean in a figurative or metaphorical sense (although that is true too). Artists literally see the world differently.

Let's say you wanted to draw a tree. You'd probably get a pen, and draw a long rectangular shape for a trunk, and then some fluffy squiggles around the top to form the leaves. Note- You've never seen a tree like this before because they don't exist. You're brain has extrapolated on what it remembers and assumes all trees look like, and then taken over your observation to help you draw the tree you see. This is the exact reason portrait painting and drawing is so difficult for artists to master- our brains have a lot of preconceived notions about what the face looks like. When a trained (practiced) artist sees trees, or anything else, they have trained their eyes to see literally what is there, and not what they assume to be there, and when an artist looks at the color of something, they see the literal color, and not what you assume the color to be (grass is often quite red and brown, and shadows are mostly purple!) While these don't seem like particularly important details, I do really believe that this heightened sense of sight really changes your quality of life.

Then, of course there is the ability to share your art with others. What a magical experience this can be- to share something from your head with others through the medium of art, a true story-telling vehicle. This, in itself, is one of the most rewarding things I've found in life thus far.

So give it a shot- grab a marker, pencil, or brush, and just begin to draw- you'll be taking your first steps into a larger world of enjoyment, and before you know it, you'll be so lost in it, you'll never want to be found!

Commissioning art from an artist

"Lucas Family Cabin" 18x24" Acrylic on Canvas (commission). Sold($400.00)

[Although house portraits are very difficult, the piece was quite small and I was new to them when I took this job on, and acrylic paint isn't as pricey as oil, so I had quite a lower price.]

So continuing on my trend of talking about the transactions surrounding art, I thought I'd write a shorter bit that breaks down a typical system for charging for commissioned work.

Commissioned Work: work that an artist does SPECIFICALLY for a client, of subject matter directly chosen by the client, and with artistic restrictions designated by the client.

It is really important to understand that fundamentally, a commission is a piece that an artist wouldn't necessarily choose to do. It is a piece that a client really wants painted, and that an artist is doing not for artistic fulfillment, but rather just for money. As such, there are some different things to think about when talking price.


1. Material Cost- With commission pieces, artists have to charge for their materials. If you're paying a good artist, you want top quality professional materials used, and that will drive your price. Typically, oils are most expensive, with acrylic and gauche coming in second. Watercolor and pastels are third, with pencil or charcoal being last.

"Cape Cod House" 16 x 20"  Oil on Canvas (commission). Sold ($1,200.00)

[This piece was a bear to complete in oils, and was done rushed with very specific instructions, so the price was fair.]

2. Size- Bigger paintings take more time to paint, simple as that.

3. Subject Matter- Portraits are the most intensive thing to do for commission, as they must be exactly precise. Architectural pieces are also difficult to do for the same reason.

"Three Panels" 1x1' Acrylic floats. (commissioned). Sold ($400.00)

[This piece was of easy subject matter and was done for dear friends, who had already bought art from me, so I was able to lower the price a lot.]

4. Expertise- This is that strange awkward category that non-artists sometimes have trouble with. How do you pin a value on all of your training, practice and study? The time you've put into mastering your craft? This one is a tough egg to crack, and I'll address it later down.

"Siren" 9x12" Acrylic on Board. (commissioned) Sold ($100.00)

[This was done for my best friend, hence the very low 'family' discount.]

"Dragons" 22x30" Charcoal (commissioned). Sold (traded for art pieces)

Many artists get their price for a commission by using the famed "Square Inch Price" system, in which they charge per square inch (usually somewhere between $3-7 per square inch). When artists charge like this, it means they aren't charging price breakdowns for things like materials or time, but rather one flat fee. This can be really helpful for a buyer to understand and grasp, but can end up screwing the artist on tougher subject matter, like a portrait. In my opinion, this comes with the job, and should be a good standard for charging.

And for those of you who don't charge by square inch, the first three breakdowns are pretty simple- charging for time, materials and size is easy enough, but how to deal with Expertise? I know some artists that simply double their final number to cover for that, but myself, I find this a bit unnecessary. I like to remember that you don't have to get rich off of each painting. Usually, I set a base rate for paintings based on size (100/300/600) and then use that to help determine the extra expertise cost. It's not foolproof, but it doesn't have to be- it can change as I change as an artist!

How to buy art for normal people.

FACT: less than 10% of Americans have an original painting hanging in their house.

"WHAT!?"


 So here's the thing- The problem is communication. People feel like they don't belong in galleries unless they A. have lots of money and B. know a lot about art and/or own a bit already.

Artists DREAM of being emailed out of the blue by somebody they've never met to say, "hey, my name is _____ and I really love your work. Is there anything in your body of work right now for sale in the ____ price range?" or even "hey, I'm looking for a commissioned painting of _____, and my budget is ______, are you interested?" Many people assume that because of the assumed steep learning curve to buying art, that it just isn't for them. Artists assume that because people aren't buying from them or finding them, that their art isn't good enough, or that the world is falling apart because nobody buys art anymore.


So, there is clearly a communication problem.

To Everybody- Artists would love to hear from you. First of all, most artists offer art at all price points. Yes, even original art. Lets take an example: I have a good friend who is a very accomplished oil painter with plenty of accolades. His original work frequently sells in the 5 figure range ($10,000+ ), but he sells original studies in the 3 figure ($100-999) range, canvas prints and giclee prints for under $100.00 and coffee mugs with his paintings on them for under $15.00. His work is wonderful, and anybody can enjoy it!

"Mark the Shark" birthday card commissioned painting done on request

It's also worth mentioning that artists paint because they need to. It is an intrinsic part of who they are. We know full well that even as successful artists, we won't be rich. We don't need to be. We have chosen this profession because we have a desire to share our art with people that love it. Because of this, Please know that even if you can't buy art at the moment, you should always let an artist know you love their work. It seriously means the world to hear from somebody that your work is touching.

To Artists-

"The light from beyond" an oil study I did that is for sale at a LOW price point ($80.00)

People often feel intimidated by you- they feel like they don't understand what you do, and that your art is created by some deep innate magical talent, and that they could never do it.

Be welcoming! Try and make buyers feel like they are in the know with friends, and remove any air of pretentiousness from the room.

Be prepared to haggle your price down- It is always better to offer a customer a slight discount, because you greatly increase the chances of making a friend and repeat customer. Again, 15-20% is a market standard, and not meant as offensive. If somebody asks you to halve your price, be kind in explaining why it isn't possible nor fair to do so.


Make sure you explain your price to your customer- let them in on why you charge what you do.

Be understanding and realistic- If you aren't willing to see yourself paying your price for another person's art, then maybe your expectation that other people will is
a bit off?

"Above the Tallest Tree"- Large painting for sale at high price point ($1200.00)

Don't Undercharge- If you drop your prices too low in hopes of selling lots of art, not only do you ruin the market for other artists, but you actually create the illusion that your art isn't particularly valuable. Offering a deal or a sale is ok, but blatantly undercharging for your work doesn't help anybody.

Don't Overcharge- If your prices are absurdly high, it doesn't help either. You may be trying to create the illusion that your work is very valuable or a commodity, but if your resume or sale history doesn't back it up, you are just perpetuating the problem of communication between buyers and artists.

A few other tips:

Try to always buy LOCAL ART- local artists are often greatly undervalued for their talent and are always under-priced compared to what their work is worth (because they aren't going through a gallery or selling in great quantity.)

Barter- Artists are salespeople and business people for their own work, and as such, their work has value. You would never ask a Lawyer to defend your son in court for free, but if you couldn't pay him in cash, you may try and barter a deal or exchange goods. I know artists that trade a painting or two per year for a 2 week vacation at their client's timeshare. It is never insulting to offer a barter to an artist so long as your goods have value.

Don't buy Box Store Prints- Canvas prints from Target or HomeGoods are literally destroying the art world. You can buy a large canvas print for $90.00 at a store like this, but after one year, the print will sag off the stretcher bars, and you know you're just buying a mass produced reproduction. Instead, contact an artist- many artists can offer you better quality ORIGINAL art in a similar price point. (especially art students at a local college or through a local art guild). You end up with a far superior, UNIQUE, ORIGINAL piece, and you're helping somebody make a living!

When looking at art from an artist directly (such as through their website, or studio)- Artists give prices on work that includes: Material Cost, Time Cost, and usually, a little extra to cover difficulty of subject. Know that an artist will typically leave a little wiggle room on a price quote- I rarely see an artist that won't negotiate price on their work, especially if the prospective buyer REALLY loves the piece. A typical discount that is acceptable and not offensive to haggle for is 15-20%.

"Holy Sunset" watercolor offered in printed 'get well' cards at a low price point ($3.00 each)

Framing- Typically, gallery pieces are framed, and when sold, are sold with a frame. When buying art from an artist directly, the pieces are usually loose (unframed). Framing is an art unto itself, and can be very expensive. For Watercolor pieces, frame quality (glass) is really important to protect your piece's longevity, but for canvas pieces, a frame isn't always needed. Expect to pay about $200.00/square foot for a professional frame job (the money is worth it- framed work done by a good framer looks wonderful!)

Final Thoughts-

Every time your smartphone dies, you run to the store to get a smartphone. Often, you spend $200.00+ on that phone BEFORE ANY MONTHLY BILLS, and then a good 50.00/month for at least two years. You know that within three years, your phone will break, or you will want a new one, at which point you will repeat this process again. We as busy people have no problem paying for things that we use for enjoyment, and art should be no different. Taken care of, a painting should outlive your grandchildren, and for a one time cost that (from local artists) averages less than one cell phone 2 year stint, I'd call that a good purchase if you enjoy the painting every time you look at it. (not to mention the investment value!)

Float Framing your studies

At one point or another, every artist has started a quick piece on a basic study board (or cheap paper, bad canvas or such) and quickly regretted the decision, as they like the result they are coming up with. For this exact reason, I set out to find a way to showcase such works in a frame that was cheap, and allowed you to switch the piece in and out of the frame so that if you sold the work, it could be simply given away and framed without major alteration. Behold, The Magnetic Float Frame!

This VERY BASIC frame is made by cutting a piece of plywood (I used maple so it looked nice) to whatever size you like, drilling holes into it that don't go all the way through, and epoxying small neodymium magnets into the grooves. I then stained the pieces with basic wood stain (these above are Cherry, below is Walnut), and finally, scotch taped other magnets to the back of my paintings. Because magnetism creates a very strong inward force, the painting will stay up with only 2 3mm length magnets, but can easily be slit off of the frame sideways with a little pulling. A great solution to a problem I've wanted to fix for some time!

Outdoor color Palettes for winter

Since many people love painting with lots of colors, but often get caught up in too many tubes to choose from, I thought I'd share three different color palettes that I've found to be quite successful in capturing different effects in the winter.

But first: What is a color Palette? A color palette is a term that refers to all the colors you have available to you to work with. By limiting the colors you are "allowed" to use on a painting, you help bring everything together in the composition. It's really helpful for working as well, because you can find value very reliably.

1. The Ultra-limited winter palette:

Believe it or not, this study was painted only using three different colors.

1. Cadmium Red

2. Cobalt Blue

3. Titanium White

This palette is great for really intense effects. You are basically starving yourself to a warm, a cool and white for creating neutral values. This is very similar to painting in black and white, but still gives you the ability to show light and warmth. The red and blue mixed together get you your darkest areas. 

** if you want, you may use this color palette but also add to it a purple of your choice, and a lighter blue, such as Cerulean Blue to give it a bit more complexity. Personally, I like it just like this.

2. The High Chroma-Dark Palette:

1. Titanium White

2. Naples Yellow Cool

2. Yellow Ochre

4. Inatherene Blue

5. Diox Purple (not needed)

6. Burnt Umber

7. Lamp Black (not needed)

8. Purple Madder

This color palette makes great use of value differences. The highest chroma, or density of pigment intensity/saturation exists within the yellow ochre for the light, but for the dark colors, 3 of the four are very high chroma. This means that your dark colors will have incredible depth to them, especially when reflecting light. This is a critical detail in winter, as much reflection will always be happening due to the lighting on snow.

This study was painted with the above palette. Although the sky looks complex at first, a closer glance reveals that it is in fact quite simple, but the dark tree masses are in fact very complex with color and chroma (an effect created by using high chroma darks). 

3. The High Chroma-Light Palette:

1. Quin Red

2. Naples Yellow Warm

3. Naples Yellow Cool

4. Titanium White

5. Inatherene Blue

6. Burnt Umber

7. Cerulean Blue

8. Cadmium Yellow Deep (not needed)

This third color palette is used when you want your darks to be lower in chroma (less saturated with color), and for your lights to be more dense with chroma. The high chroma dark available is the Inatherene Blue, but other than that the other darker colors are low chroma. However, the light colors have Naples Yellow Warm, a higher chroma version of Naples Yellow, as well as Quin Red, a very high chroma red. In the corner, I also have included Cadmium Yellow Deep, which is an option to add. This is a battleaxe of a color to add, so do so sparingly. The painting below was done with the colors above, but without Cad Yellow Deep.

As you can see, the sky holds much of the depth to this one.

Oil Sketchbooks- The greatest thing ever invented.

Recently, I began making plein air sketching a huge part of my art life. I am often the crazy guy sitting in the corner of a Starbucks, or out on the bench painting something. People always stare, but are rarely rude. In fact, they usually just want to look at what I'm painting. After I show them, they smile, or comment on how nice it is to see an artist working outside, (and if it's not a good painting, they laugh), and then continue on their way. Because oil paints are such a wonderful medium to work in, and because I love to paint in oils outside, I was delighted to discover Cottonwood's Outdoor Plein Air Oil panel sketchbook:

These things are like artist gold. Seriously; how often do you come home from grocery shopping, try and take all the bags in with one trip (you do every time, don't lie), and end up with bruised fruit? This is how artists feel when transporting oil paint to a location- never enough hands to carry a panel to paint on as well as a painting easel and paints. With a small addition of two rubber bumpers for a chair under the cover to keep it from touching the panel on top, I had found the perfect way to transport my work. 

Cottonwood is well regarded for their sketchbooks for pencil and graphite- These panels are no exception. Although they are not full canvas, but just panels designed for sketching on, they hold paint remarkably well and feel like the real deal to the brush holder. I suspect with some gesso on the back, they could be sealed to last, if you ever painted something you wanted to keep on them (again, they are a sketchbook, so longevity is often outweighed by portability as Cottonwood's primary concern).

Here are some paintings I have done in my Cottonwood Oil Sketchbook:

                            

"First Snowfall I" oil study. For Sale

"Winter's Glow III" oil study. For Sale

Watch me paint this entire study from start to finish here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e2d3PSmrx8

"Spring I" oil study. For Sale

"Winter's Glow I" oil study. For Sale

"Winter's Glow II" oil study. For Sale

In fact, you can see a little bit of how I painted something based on this study here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFGBQEeyBNk

Oils or Acrylics-Why Not Both? (part 1- acrylics)

OK- quick quiz? can you identify which of the following paintings are oil and which are acrylic? I've put the answers at the bottom of the post!

Let's face it. I love acrylic paints. My pseudoname is, after all, ACRYLIC Alexander (although it's really just because it's catchy, and my last name is impossible to spell). Acrylics are a cool medium, that, in my opinion, get a ton of crap from people that is often unfounded. After having talked about this with a lot of my artist friends, I've come to the conclusion that Acrylic paints get a bad name for 3 main reasons:

1. Acrylic paints are new (not even 100 years old) and were, (until the last 30 years) considered largely to be an amateur and student-rate paint. They weren't made to last, and didn't really garnish the respect that "high art" oil painters or traditional watercolorists had (after all, both of these mediums have been around for centuries.)

2. Acrylic paints function similar to oils, but are water based and dry fast (losing the transparency of watercolor and the density of oils). Why buy half-decent paints that are "like" great oils? Aren't they just one step better than kids paint for posters in school?

3. People like oils- why branch out? They're similar enough, and oil paintings are more collected, sell for more, and earn an artist a better respect of reputation.


Now the three things above are mostly untrue. In the 1940's, there were fantastic American photorealism painters that were working in acrylic (although everybody sees their work and assumes it is in oil because of it's grandeur). And of course, today you can buy top of the line acrylic paints that will survive just as long as any oil painting and will hold their vibrancy. And finally, does being an oil painter mean you can't ever sketch in pencil? what about pen and ink? watercolor? of course you can (and should!)  Yes, Acrylics are not oils, and nor are they watercolors, but they do have some great unique characteristics that deserve their own credit. Also, the truth is that you can produce some GREAT products using acrylics. In fact, ALL of the above pieces are acrylic, and not oil!

Now, let's start by identifying some of the UNIQUE characteristics of Acrylic paint (as opposed to oils)

Acrylic Paints are:

1. Water soluble (unlike oils, they use water to dilute) This means they can be used strait from the tube, watered down to create a thinner coat (much like turpentine in oils), or with any acrylic medium.

2. Generally a little less dense than oils. This DOES NOT mean they have less color density, but rather a more uniform and less dense binder (a plastic resin). This means that acrylics will generally allow for much more paint to be mixed on the canvas without muddying up, as opposed to oils. ALSO, this allows you to do multiple dry glazes (also called 'drybrushing') over sections.

3. Overall, more opaque than oils. This means that many layers can be greated of one paint over another. Yes, there are certain colors (the red-purples and green-blues) that are still quite translucent, just like in oils, but generally, the colors will dry in layers, rather than allowing the undercolor to show. This is neither an advantage nor disadvantage- it simply means you have different effects to work with.

4. Acrylics change greatly depending on their moisture level. When water is added (just a little via misting bottle), they become considerably less opaque (even than oils) and allow you to do a more 'oil' style glaze (unlike mentioned in point 3, above). The flexibility is great.

5. Acrylics dry dark. Generally, 2 shades darker than the wet color. This is very different than oils, which dry at face value (almost always, excluding alizarin crimson) This allows you to layer from dark to light and get a very convincing shadow effect.

6. Acrylic drying time can greatly be adjusted. Raw, acrylics dry in 10 minutes (5 in the direct heat or winter cold) and fully set (to be varnished) in about 7 hours. With glazing mediums added, the drying time can be increased to around 20 hours (with a fully set time of around 3 days). This flexibility is really helpful when you are trying to blend large areas. There are also acrylic lines made by Golden Acrylics (USA) known as the 'open' series. This series uses a different synthetic binder to give their paints a longer working time, which rivals oils. I have had wet paint on my palette from this series for well over a week uncovered.


Now, this isn't to say that oils should be avoided either- oils have many great things that cannot be as easily achieved by acrylics- The most important thing in my opinion is to be fluent in as many different medias as you can. Remember, oils and acrylics do compliment each other in technique, so any time you practice painting in acrylic, it will only help your oil work as well, and vice versa.


Now- Get out there and try something new!

(1. Acrylic 2. Acrylic 3. Acrylic 4. Acrylic 5. Acrylic) ... now, how many did you think were oil?