Painting Blog

My Painting Process Cycles

2008-07-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

Someone once asked me if I go to my studio every day, or do I wait until I FEEL creative. It got me thinking and I came up with an idea about my creative process. I discovered that there are three different cycles in my process: Beginning, Continuing and Completion. (This may seem oversimplified – but identifying them really helped me get more productive in my studio.) The trick for me is that each cycle requires a different type of energy. Beginning requires an energy about freedom, continuing requires faith, and completion requires an energy about healing.

So, in answer to that first question, I do go to my studio (almost) every day, regardless of how I feel. BUT, when I get to my studio, I decide what to work on depending on how I feel. So the feeling of creativity takes on many guises. Sometimes I want to try out all new things, or I have lots of active energy and feel like doing many experiments. I always have lots of extra canvases and surfaces around (even a stack of cardboard will do) and I may launch several to a dozen new underpaintings or start-up paintings in one day.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed that I have too many projects, and just want to get into a sort of meditative or hypnotic type of working state. Then I turn all my canvases around so I can’t see the images, pick one of these to work on, and just focus my attention on that one particular painting. I can stay in one spot and just concentrate. This “continuing” phase is the toughest for me. Often the work has lost its initial surprise excitement, and hasn’t yet become something cohesive, so I just need to trust and have faith that by working on it one step at a time, one area at a time, it will start to form. Therefore, this stage requires faith.

Let’s say in a typical two month period of time, 60% of my painting days are spent doing beginnings (most of my energy loves fresh starts and new experiments), 35% of my days are spent doing the “continuing” part, and only 5% does the finish. That’s the last of the three, the completion phase. This takes a very particular type of energy. On these very valuable and rare days, I can see clearly what each painting needs to make it really soar. I will give that last finishing touch to several on one day – finishing them all! Then I go out and celebrate. It’s more difficult for me to work on one painting through all its cycles by itself. For me, having lots of other paintings to work on simultaneously takes the “attachment” factor out of working on just one. And then I can put my energy to its best use. When I have a commission to paint, I will paint it all the way through, but still take breaks to play on some other ones to keep the juices flowing. I find it easiest to work on one cycle for the whole day, and not switch. For instance if I spend several hours flinging paint in a freedom engaged session of “starts” I will not be as adept on that same day to try to finish a painting or two.

Choosing Gels, Mediums & Pastes

2008-07-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

I often get emails asking about the differences between acrylic gels, mediums and pastes.
First, it helps to understand a general principle behind all paint and painting products.
All colored paints are made with basically two components: pigment - for color, and binder (also called medium, vehicle, and in the case of acrylic paints - polymer) which turns the pigment into a usable paint.

Any other product is usually some form of plain binder without any pigment, and is created to help customize your paint. These are used to change some characteristic of the paint itself, or to change a quality of your painting surface. The gels, mediums and pastes all fit in this category. Let’s start with gels and mediums. Gels are basically thick, while mediums are thin and pourable. Acrylic binder is naturally very thin and pourable. Most people assume acrylic is naturally thick – but it’s not. The thin quality of acrylic or polymer is not made by adding water or diluting. It just is naturally thin. So the gels and thick acrylic paints have thickeners added, while mediums have less thickener, and in the case of Golden’s specialty mediums, have none. (Golden’s specialty mediums are labeled GAC100, GAC200, etc. The GAC stands for Golden Artist Colors). All gloss gels and mediums are clear, while matte products have a finely ground white powder added to them, so they are often slightly cloudy or translucent. Pastes are thick and opaque.

Let’s look at how we could use them:

To change the consistency of a paint mixture you would add up to 30% medium to make it thinner, gel to make it thicker, and a specialty medium (GAC100 or GAC500) to eliminate texture altogether.

To make a colored paint more transparent you would make a mixture of paint with binder, but much more binder than color – about 90% binder and 10% color. You would add gloss gel (if you like texture) or a gloss medium (if you want minimal texture). For a very smooth enamel look use GAC100 or GAC500.

To make any color opaque you would add paste.

To cover over an area in your painting you would apply paste to the area (or white paint).

To create a textured ground use a gel with a knife. Gels have lots of thickener - and you have a choice of varying amounts of thickeners in the soft gel, regular gel, heavy gel and extra heavy gel (which has the most and therefore is the stiffest in handling).

To pour acrylic you would think of using a medium, since these are all pourable. However, there are 2 gel exceptions that are better for pouring: Self-Leveling Gel and Clear Tar Gel are both gels, but are pourable. I add small amounts of water to either of these, and pour over a painting to create a clear, glossy “surfboard” finish. I use minimal handling with these, in other words, I don’t use a brush or knife, but tilt the surface to move the “pour”. GAC800 is also a great pouring medium, and is the easiest to use since it isn’t as finicky as the other gels I mentioned, and will give the smoothest surface as it won’t crevice in fast drying climates – like out here in New Mexico where I live. Adding color is an option to any of these ideas.

My book, Acrylic Revolution, has over 100 acrylic painting techniques using gels, mediums and pastes. Click here to read more and/or order the book at a discount from Amazon. To see some of my work using a combination of pastes, gels and mediums click here.

Creative Over-Thinking

2008-06-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

The most common complaints I hear from students and fellow painters have to do with too much thinking. Our minds are so creative. Individual thoughts and experiences are utilized by our mind to make our artwork unique and personal. But that same mind can sometimes get in the way, creating mental static and keeping us from creating. It’s sometimes hard to distinguish between a valid need for a rest break and plain old stubborn mental static. Generally when my mind is acting like a lawyer making convincing arguments that create a stuck feeling, then that is the time I need to override the thought patterns. The best solution is to grab a paintbrush and paint anything – just paint – doesn’t matter what. The act of painting changes the program.

Here are some examples of my mind’s favorite arguments. “Sales are not happening right now so why bother? My work isn’t good enough so why bother? I’m too tired. There’s not enough time today to get anything done. I have too many other pressures that need my attention.” Well, all these arguments at the time might have had some validity to them (our creative minds only use good arguments). But there is always some time in the day to paint – even if only for an hour. And in that one hour generally all the arguments fall apart.

The over thinking mind uses its best legalese at choice moments in our process. When we are at the brink of something new and big, ready for a change or to expand, the mind gets a bit nervous (as it is wired to keep status quo and avoid change) and launches its best attack in the hopes of keeping us from taking action. Each of these times feels like frustration or creative blocks, and represent a prize moment in our passage towards the next momentous step. We can choose to give in to the arguments and stop our progress, or override the arguments and enter a new phase in our creative work.

As I mentioned before, the best way to end this nasty phenomenon is to paint anyway. But here are some steps to help switch the program. First, just notice that you are using legalese-mental static. Then gently acknowledge to your mind that you appreciate it's efforts to help, but that you are OK painting and that new changes in your creative process are not life threatening. The more creative we are as artists the better the overthinking mind can use convincing arguments. Acknowledge how crafty our mind is but let it know you will be taking over.

Recently a student emailed me with the argument that she doesn’t have enough technique, so she isn’t painting. She wrote a whole page about it. This student has been studying painting for years and has more technique then most artists I know. Her argument should have received a prize it was so good, but what gave it away was the over arguing. If, however, she had asked a specific technique question – like how do I make this color more opaque – or which colors will give me a certain effect – then I would know she is searching for real information. But I could tell this was just another over-thinking moment, and that she just needed to paint to change the thinking.

The “not enough technique” is one of the most common arguments. I honestly believe that we only need a small amount of technique to get our message visible and understood. It’s in the process of painting that we discover the next technique, and add that to our creative “toolbox”. Even though workshops are good to take, and there are instructors with great advice, the next technique that we need is usually discovered on the spot with paints in hand. I like to take one or two week-long workshops a year to learn something new, but I have seen some students use workshops as an excuse to avoid working on their own, and making their personal mark. It is important to take time – several months at least – to create work on your own without any teacher or group influence. Too much technique is often overburdening (trust me on this one). All you need is a few paints and a brush and a clear mind, and a joyful spirit (usually found by turning off the thinking mind) and you can create the most superb paintings of our time.

Key Word - FUN

2008-06-12T08:01:00.001-07:00

Making art is fun, right? Isn’t that one of the main attractions to any creative activity? When you take on art as a career, though, the business aspects can easily bog you down with extra responsibilities not normally considered as fun. The career artist needs to be a photographer, web tech, marketer, publicist, writer, accountant, sometimes framer, shipper and self-motivator. Even if all those hats you wear are fun, the pressure of switching daily and still keeping enough energy to paint can wear down the fun part.

Several years ago I decided to make it my motto to keep everything I do fun. It’s not always easy, but worth the effort. By keeping everything fun, it doesn’t require numerous breaks from what I am doing to grab an ice cream cone and find the nearest swing set. (Actually one of my favorite pastimes). Instead I try to make what’s required next from me to be fun. If I notice that I am not looking forward to an important phone call, or a few hours working with digital images for my website, then I stop for a few moments and ask myself to think about it differently. It’s the thoughts that make all the difference. Once I switch from a negative thought about a situation, I can easily find a positive one to replace it. For instance, let’s say I need to call my gallery to find out where my check is, or some other touchy subject, and it gets me nervous or frustrated. Instead, before the phone call, I take a moment and think about how much I like some of the staff, how professionally they handled the last show, etc, and then I get excited about the call – like I am calling a good friend. And the results are often better then I anticipated.

I have spent many hilarious moments with artist friends comparing rejection letters and interviews gone haywire. Odd situations like a former gallery owner who wouldn’t return my unsold paintings a week before the gallery was due to close. (I had to send in my husband and they almost got into a fist fight). I’m not proud of those moments, but they happen. We can choose to let them get us down, or keep us in good humor by our thoughts about them.

Recently, I wrote a puppet show making fun of all those “odd” artist moments. My “Broadcast Puppet Theater” will present “Art Attack” a short 30 minute puppet play on July 4th weekend at my studio here in Santa Fe, along with comic performer/artist friend Barbara Mayfield. It was very empowering making a gallery director puppet, famous artist, collectors, etc. and acting out several of these scenes. Above is a photo of the cast.

One of my friends on a recent visit to my studio, stood in amazement at the stage, puppets and props I had made, and remarked “I have never known anyone who spends this much effort just to have fun”. I am so proud.

So Many Ideas, So Little Time

2008-06-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

I think for most artists, scarcity of ideas is not as big a problem as too many ideas. Here is how I came to this conclusion. The other day I was browsing through my “idea book”, a purchased blank book that I vowed to keep updated with all my painting ideas, allocating one page per idea. Once I started, I found ideas popping up during car rides, outings with friends, reading books and in restaurants. I planted mini-notebooks in my purse and car so I could record them on the spot, then transplanted them into my official idea book after so many got accumulated.

I felt confident that this system of idea recording would keep me happy, knowing I would never run dry of good original ideas. After awhile, and since I decided to number each idea page, I discovered that I had recorded well over two hundred ideas. Now the feeling of confidence turned into dismay. How the heck was I going to find the time to do all these? I began to notice, though, that not all these ideas still held an interest for me. The feeling of dismay now turned to guilt. What kind of artist was I that I couldn’t keep up the excitement, and bring each into fruition? Where was my artistic integrity? Isn’t it important to keep up the pace of production with the fountain of inspirational ideas?

I grabbed a brush and began to paint in a successful attempt to keep myself from over-thinking. I got back to a happy place by painting, and put my mind to it again. Soon I came up with an idea about ideas. I realized that not all ideas are meant to be born into the physical world, even if they really excite us in the moment of discovery. Some ideas, by staying in the non-physical (just writing them down, or allowing them to simmer in our thoughts) became stepping stones to the BIG ones. I figured that if I tried to keep up with them all, and paint each and every one of them, I might miss the BIG picture. I noticed that for every 20 or 30 ideas I would write down, I would get inspired to actually paint and bring to fruition the next idea in the chain. And that one would in a way reflect or contain all the others.

After writing this, I am now finding an uncanny correlation to my to-do list for today. All these errands, phone calls, food shopping…how the heck can I find the time to do everything? Well, I had better grab my painting brush before I start over-thinking again.

An Art Affair; indulging in another discipline

2008-05-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

There are many artists I know that enjoy a second artistic discipline as a way to assist or add a creative burst to their primary art career. For instance, author Natalie Goldberg, who lives in New Mexico (best known for her book “Writing Down the Bones”) mostly writes. She has written a ton of books by now, (I count 14 on her website, but I am sure there are many more) and teaches writing. She also, according to some of her audios I have listened to, paints. She even wrote a book about her painting, and how it helps her write. Some of my friends who paint like to write, dance, play an instrument. By taking a creative break from our primary medium – one that we strive to master, make a living from, and/or turn our career into - we get a different perspective.

My career or profession is painting. And once I chose that primary profession, I am then even more specifically labeled; by a certain style of painting, and often by the use of certain mediums – acrylic for now. And all that labeling can sometimes feel a bit confining. While cramming to produce enough work for my galleries who represent me, and my clients, I crave ways to expand my thinking. My “affair” or art on the side, is ballet. Often it is while doing ballet that I get my new inspiration. In ballet, there is a constant striving for a certain ideal or perfection, that is impossible to reach due to the limitations of our own human body. But yet, in ballet class everyone, no matter what level of expertise still strives to get better. And unlike an aerobics class, in ballet you need to use EVERY part of your body, brain, spirit. My teacher, who is excellent at taking each person to their next step, will comment on where my eyes are focused, while I am struggling to keep balanced on one leg with my arms in the correct position. Sometimes its annoying but it does keep me in gear.

I have found that even cooking in the kitchen, and creating a new dish can improve my painting.

Sometimes I find myself feeling guilty that I am taking “time off” from what I SHOULD be doing (painting) as I am heading towards my ballet class. But every time I get myself to that ballet barre I am glad. My painting sessions afterwards run smoother, I feel better, and much more expanded in my thinking. I guess the word “should” is a clue. Let’s stop feeling guilty and do what we LOVE – and let that freedom take on a wide variety of forms. One of my teacher’s David True, once commented that we only have 4 good painting hours in us each day. If we keep painting after that we just ruin the work, or go backwards on our progress. I think about that often, and it helps me get over the guilt of taking precious time during our day to “have an affair”.

Warming Up with The Brain Gym

2008-04-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

I first learned about The Brain Gym at my son’s elementary school. A visiting counselor was demonstrating exercises from a book of the same name, that help coordinate the left and right brain hemispheres, created especially for helping children learn better. I started using some of these exercises in an adult figure drawing class I was teaching at that time. Over the course of several years I would alternate, introducing the exercises on some days, but not on others, and I noticed a huge difference. During the days when we did the exercises the students had sharper focus, better stamina, and were more satisfied with the quality of their work – 100% of the time. Here is a link to the website, http://www.braingym.org/ and a book of the exercises is certainly available. But here are the exercises I like the best, and use in my classes. I may have changed the names by accident, as I remember them best with the names I listed below. I am sure the book describes them in even better detail, but here is my interpretation.

I like to do them in this order, starting with the person’s favored arm (right handed people start with the right arm, while lefties start with the left) and accomplished while standing. This should only take about 5-7 minutes total.

Lazy 8: Starting with your preferred arm, put your hand in a fist and extend the thumb out and upwards, and extend the arm fully straight out in front of you, so that the thumb is level with your nose. Draw a lazy 8, or otherwise known as the infinity sign, which is the number 8 on its side, as large as you can, as if your thumb were drawing it in front of you. Your whole arm is still straight and extended and moves from the shoulder. Begin the first loop of the lazy 8 going upward to the right, then down and around and back to center to form the right side of the loop. Repeat for the left in one continuous movement. OK, that was just practice. Now here is the important part. Before you start the next loop cycle, fix your eyes on your thumb and do not let your eyes go faster than your thumb so that your thumb is always in your direct vision. Do not move your head to favor one eye over the other. BOTH eyes need to track the thumb for the whole lazy 8 loop cycle. Repeat 2 more times, for a total of 3. Left handed people start with the left arm, but still start the loop moving upward and out on the right. This exercise helps sharpen perception and focus. Don’t forget to breathe during all these exercises.

Trombone: Using the same arm, keep the fist and thumb the same as before, extending the arm straight in front of your nose. Stare fixedly at your thumb. Pull your thumb towards your nose almost to touching, while still staring, so your eyes feel slightly crossed. Then extend it back out to original position. Breathe in when you pull your thumb towards your nose, and out when extending it back out, so it feels like you are playing the trombone. Do a total of 3 trombones. This is helpful for “near-far” perceptions. Good for figure drawing, or any type of art making from real life, like plein air painting or still life painting.

Repeat the first 2 (Lazy 8 and Trombone) for the other arm

Hot Dog: Extend your pointer finger on both hands and make the rest of the hand into a fist. Face palms towards your face and allow your 2 extended pointer fingers to touch each other at the finger tips. Place them about 7” from your face. Stare at the fingers where they meet. Continue staring until a small hotdog – or illusionary mini finger – is created in between them. Now look beyond the fingers about 10 feet or more in front of you so the small mini-finger disappears. Repeat looking close, then far 3 times total. This also has benefits for near/far perception.

Brain Points Accupressure: There are 2 points on either side of the top of the rib cage which, when pressed deeply will activate the brain. Press both points simultaneously with your thumb and third finger for a minute or more, while breathing, going deep without being painful. Then repeat switching hands.

Energy Release: wrap your right leg over your left at the ankle. Wrap your right hand over your left at the wrist. Fold fingers together like you are holding hands, and turn the hands inward and upward while still clasping the fingers. Stay in this position. Mouth is closed, tongue is touching the roof of your mouth. Breathe deeply and continuously for a minute or more. This balances your energies.

Drink a whole glass of water immediately.

Size Matters

2008-04-09T18:19:00.001-07:00

There’s a tradition among some Native American ceramists that I know, which I have always admired. These artists consider the selection of materials as the actual starting point of their art making process. The location they choose to collect their clay is just as important, as the making of the clay pot, and is in fact a deciding factor in how the final piece turns out. Modern artists are fortunate to have most ingredients and materials pre-made and ready-made. Paint comes in tubes, canvases are pre-stretched and even primed. But we still have choices, and the choices we make right in the beginning are an essential part of the process of making our art. Sometimes we just take it for granted, but what we choose pre-determines the end result. Before the first brushstroke is even considered, an emotional “content” is already inherent in the choices we had made.

Take, for instance, selecting a painting surface. Large, medium or small sizes each carry a different emotional weight. Anything painted on a small surface will appear to the viewer as a “gem” or a precious object. Something medium sized ( any side measuring about half a person’s height) will be more directly personal. The viewer is imagining looking in a mirror if it is vertical, and looking out of a window if horizontal. Any size that is our height or larger will evoke a “cosmic” or grandeur of the universe appearance.

Some artists use this emotional content regarding size to their advantage. Here is a painting by New York artist Chuck Close, who paints close-up intimate portraits on super large scale formats. The jolt between what you expect and what you see adds a dynamic quality to his work.

Once we establish size and orientation, where we place forms within that painting space also carries different emotional expectations. For instance, something placed near or on the bottom of a painting needs to be large and “weighty” (either physically or emotionally) because this is the pedestal which holds up the rest of the imagery. Our continual relationship with gravity still holds sway when we look at a painting. And how about this new craze with square formats? A former teacher of mine, David True, would call a square canvas the “boxing ring” because of the energy battle contained in the square shape.

At times, I have found small surfaces to be more difficult to paint on than larger ones. This is because, for me, a large canvas is like writing a novel. I can paint a large variety of things in an aggressive way. While a small surface is like writing a haiku. I need to be more precise and execute it simply and directly. When I embark on a new series, I will often begin with several large works, then as I clarify my thinking I more easily move into the smaller pieces. Below I included a small and large image from my latest “ocean” series. The large one feels more like a grand ocean, whereas the small one focuses on one wave.

Here is my latest small painting, measuring a mere 8” x 8”.

While in comparison, here is a larger painting, measuring 46” x 36”.

Color Control with Acrylic

2008-03-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you have noticed that as your acrylic painting dries, the colors change. They get darker. Actually what is happening is the acrylic paint appears lighter while it is wet. All paints are made of two basic components, pigment (which looks like colored dirt before it is used in the paint) and binder, which holds the pigment particles together and turns them into a usable paint form. Other terms for binder are vehicle or medium.

Polymer or acrylic is the medium/vehicle/binder for acrylic paint. It is white when wet, but dries totally clear and glossy. There are no white additives in the binder, but the white appearance is due to a microscopic bubbling that disappears when dry. So when you paint with acrylic it is lighter when wet, due to this whitish phenomenon. Then when the paint is dry, this binder turns clear and the color turns into its true hue. Here is an interesting comparison from music that helps me when I paint. Musical scales consist of the same note patterns, but they change in octaves. So just like I would transpose one octave into another, I paint about 10-15% lighter then what I want it to look like when dry. In other words, I go up one octave in value when I paint. The more gels or mediums you add to your paint color the greater the difference between it’s hue when wet as opposed to dry.

If this is bothersome to you here are some other options. If you don’t mind working with the paint a bit thick, then try adding at least 50% Golden’s Light Molding Paste to your paints. The paste is white when wet, and stays white when dry, so there is no change (or at least very slight) in color between wet and dry.

Another option if you don’t like the hue change, and don’t want to work with pastes, is to use the acrylic in washes like watercolor. This technique is best accomplished using an absorbent surface such as watercolor paper, or some of the unusual acrylic grounds that are available (like Pumice Gel, Light Molding Paste, and Absorbent Ground). Add at least 50% water to your paint. After painting with these diluted washes, the color stays pretty much the same hue when dry. This is because most of the acrylic binder has been diminished with the addition of water.

Pictured here is one of my paintings that uses all three techniques (1) acrylic painted lighter while wet, (2) washes on absorbent surfaces and (3) adding Light Molding Paste to the paint)

My new book, Acrylic Revolution, North Light Books, contains over 100 techniques including step by step detailed descriptions of the above methods. Please click here for purchase information.

Artist as Curator, Curator as Artist

2008-02-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

A recent article (Art in America February 2008, pgs 122-129) features the work of artist Francis Alÿs. Reading about his work, which I both like and admire, reminded me of an ongoing trend I have noticed for quite a few years - artists turning into curators and curators being appraised as artists.

In this article the writer/critic Gregory Volk, discusses his latest show “Fabiola” at Dia and the Hispanic Society in New York. Here Alÿs exhibits 300 paintings depicting the same saint, all by other artists, mostly amateurs and unknown artists that Alÿs has collected over the years. This intriguing idea inspires me to take a trip to NY to see it in person, but what interests me the most was how this installation was discussed in the article, which I found to be almost identical to the way any writer would comment on a curator’s exhibition.

As the article so aptly begins “In a current arts situation marked by proliferation, with more and more galleries, exhibitions, biennials, collectors, art fairs, art consultants, art blogs and, well, artists….” it only seems natural that there will be a tremendous cross-influence between all these art world aspects.

There are many artists who use appropriation in their work, by copying or incorporating images by others, and then rearranging it somewhat to be seen in a different context. This appropriated work is used as visual commentary by the appropriating artist, and then claimed new ownership. This is not what I am talking about here, as I believe appropriation is just another tool an artist can use. What I am finding more and more are instances where artists actually become curators. Alÿs’s example above is one way. His curating is being used as a vital part of his commentary and vision. There is another type of example that I also see from artists who do not have Alÿs’s stature. Some artists become a curator to show their own work in the context of their choosing. For instance, an artist will gather together other artists work based around similar themes and directions to their own, then submit this as a proposal for a group show to museums, art centers and university galleries. I find this a refreshing solution for an emerging or young artist to get their work into the appropriate show and location.

The counterpart to this cross influence, is that of curators becoming artists. It used to be (many years ago) that curators would travel worldwide, meeting artists, visiting studios, and using their writing, administrative, and exhibiting skills to let the public in on what the artists were doing. New “schools” would be coined to indicate what they found. Now, it seems, that curators are on the fast track to their own stardom. By freelance curating the vast number of emerging biennales, they can gain a reputation for creating unusual, attention getting ideas. Now curators come up with the idea first, then seek exhibiting artists to validate their idea. Current exhibitions, therefore, comment more on what curators are thinking, rather then ideas originating in an artists studio.

Take Site Santa Fe for instance, who’s 7th Biennale will open July 2008. Each of Site’s biennales features a different curator, selected from their proposal submission. Most of the post exhibition publicity, articles and criticism in the past were centered around these curators, often leaving the artists and their work unmentioned. The same thing is happening with the next curator Lance Fung. His idea is to bring artists from around the world to Santa Fe for two weeks, to research the locale and to then create their piece based on this visit. The idea has many other components, and is quite brilliant, actually. But when I go to the exhibition I know I won’t be able to look at the work alone, without the overriding question of how successful was Lang’s idea, perhaps putting a spin on how I view the individual work on exhibit.

What it comes down to is this: The image of an artist slaving away in his or her studio, with no contact to the outside world, no demands or pressures to act as an administrator for their own work, has long gone. Artists are now in competition with not only curators, but galleries, museums and critics. Most of my artist friends put in just as many administrative hours as painting; such as writing proposals, contacting venues, photographing their work, using computers, websites and digital portfolios to attract new clients, setting prices, working with Paypal and other technical applications.

With artists unable to dedicate 100% of their creative time to making their art, has the act of creating become somewhat diluted? I see this trend in the US but is it also true in other countries? Because of this trend, is our country missing out on the production of passionate, powerful new directions in art?

The Sensuous Paint Skin

2008-01-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite painting teachers, Phyllis Bramson, had a great analogy for painters, by comparing the paint to human skin. When a painting is finished the paint layers all cure together to form a tactile paint surface. This surface, according to Bramson, can be compared to skin. It can be thick and palpable like a baby’s skin, or thin and transparent, like the skin of someone elderly. When I first heard this it confused me, because at that time I was a new mother. My son was only 2 years old, and his skin was very transparent, not thick and palpable. I could see veins on his face just below the skin’s surface. But, hey, it was a cool analogy, and I decided to stop trying to figure it out, and just use it.

So now when I paint I often take the time to just look at the applied paint, and think about how it makes me feel. Just the paint. Not the images, colors, composition…but just the paint. If it’s thick and textured it feels tactile or sensual. If applied thinly, then I want it to feel silky, soft, veiled, vaporous. While wandering in galleries looking at art, I will search out paintings that intrigue me. Maybe I like the colors, or imagery, and will walk up really close to it. When I get right up there nose to paint, I want to feel the paint. If it looks too thin and skimpy I lose interest.

Here in Santa Fe we are lucky enough to have a Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Her work is a perfect example of what I call “the sensuous paint skin”. (Please note that you can’t see the true nature of her painting surfaces in a photograph, only in person). In almost every oil painting of hers, there are two contrasting ways of handling the paint. Some areas are barely covered by a thin layer of paint, and you can still see the texture of the canvas coming through, while other areas use heavy impasto (brushy or knife applied texture) showing off her luscious brush strokes.

Just to clarify, there are thin applications of paint that I feel can still look sensuous. A powerful painting is created when the artist allows the medium itself to speak through the work. And what better way to let it speak then through it’s own physicality, by expressing itself through a tactile quality in the final surface.

Report from the 6th Florence Biennale 07

2008-01-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

Having just returned from exhibiting at the 6th Florence Biennale in Italy, held December 1 – 9, 2007, I thought I would post some of my opinions. I found the caliber of work excellent, and the event first class. (Click here to see an example of my work on exhibit.) This was an unusual type of biennial art exhibition, in fact they reported this event as the largest artist supported biennial in the world. Other art events are more like art fairs which emphasize sales and resemble trade shows. And most biennials are curator driven – selecting only the work from artists who can substantiate a certain look or style that the curator wants to illuminate. For this (and past Florence Biennales) there were several curators involved in the selection process, who chose works of high quality, but left the range quite broad. This exhibition was unique in that the work was incredibly diverse, which makes sense considering there were over 800 artists, representing over 76 countries. Click here to read more about the Florence Biennale.

The Healing Power of Landscape Paintings

2007-11-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

I recently found an uplifting and interesting tidbit for those of us who enjoy painting landscapes. According to Dr. John Diamond, in his 1979 book Your Body Doesn't Lie, when a person looks at a landscape painting it will raise their level of well being, balance their right and left brain hemispheres and increase their life energy. The book describes Dr. Diamond’s research and practice for Behavioral Kinesiology (BK), which uses muscle testing from Kinesiology to test for factors in the environment that raise and lower a person’s energy or life force. He muscle tested patients for music, electronic devices, picture symbols, food, just about everything, as well as paintings. He found that a photograph of a landscape or an actual view of a landscape did not come close to the life giving qualities from a landscape painting (!)

Here is a quote (p. 76 in Dr. Diamond’s book) “…The results are not nearly so satisfactory with line drawings or with photographs. Looking at a beautiful scene in nature may or may not be as effective, depending on the ability of the viewer to abstract certain qualities from it, which is, after all, what a good painter has already done for us. I have found that if people take an “energy break” every so often – just to recite a verse or two of poetry or to look at a picture postcard of a painting, stress and tension will be considerably reduced……and the Life Energy will be high…”

How cool is that?

Going Beyond Technique

2007-11-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

The learning curve for most artists generally takes a similar path, which I see consisting of 2 parts. The first part is mastering technique. Not all techniques in all mediums, but the ones that will best suit the artists needs. The technique is mastered when the artist has enough tools to say what they want to say. Then comes part 2. This is a key point where the artist rises above technique, and the message or content or voice of the artist takes precedent. Here it gets tricky because a successful work of art contains not only the voice of the artist but the voice of the medium as well. The artist must create a balance between mastery and surrender. Mastery of the technique, while surrendering to the materials and message, as well as being a conduit to the collective energies/concerns of the times.

As a teacher I often see a tough spot happening between parts 1 and 2. This is the “leaping off” step. Sometimes students will keep taking class after class long after they have enough technique, but it’s a bit scary at that point to realize you have enough technique and then to use those techniques to say what you want to say. My suggestion is that students take a few technique classes, then take a year off with no classes and no teachers to just paint on their own. From then on sign up for a short workshop once a year to add something new, get reinspired.

I recently received a comment regarding my book, Acrylic Revolution, wishing that more of the examples in the book were finished paintings, and here is a good opportunity to add some clarity to my intent. This book is a collection of techniques. My intent in writing this book was to inspire artists to make that leap from part 1 to part 2, and to create their own unique style by combining techniques. To do this I decided to give final examples for each of the techniques but only going as far as a technique can go without becoming a painting. I put finished paintings at the gallery at the end of the book to show that powerful paintings are a combination of many techniques. It is this combining that encourages creating your own style. The techniques are purposefully left in a state full of potential, just for those purposes, to get your own creative juices flowing – not to imitate.

Turn Up the Volume on the Inner Voice

2007-10-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

I discovered an easy and surprisingly beneficial painting warm-up exercise. This 20 minute exercise, performed daily for one month (or even less) will do wonders for increasing your creativity, getting rid of artistic blocks, and finding new styles or shifting your work. I came up with this after reading “Writing Down the Bones” by Natalie Goldberg, a popular book for writers to increase their writing and creative abilities. Natalie suggested that writers should “clear their head” by filling notebooks, and write in a stream of consciousness fashion, by writing without thinking, very directly, and not editing. I decided to transform this freestyle writing exercise to something that would work for painters. This is how it works: First get a pile of inexpensive painting surfaces that don’t feel precious to you. I gessoed some scraps of canvas that I had lying around. Gessoed sheets of paper, or cardboard work well too. Just don’t get too small in size. My scraps were actually around 16” x 20”. The night before you start set everything up for painting so that you can just jump right in without any preparations. Pick a time, preferably first thing in the morning, and stick to a schedule for a length of time. Pick what works for you, perhaps trying one week to see how it goes, but you need at least 5 days in a row to make a good assessment. Make a commitment to acting out your very first thought. Now here is the key. Your first thought is the inner voice. Your second thought is the “parent”. We are so accustomed to paying attention to the second voice that the first is sometimes faint and barely there. This exercise will strengthen that first voice, sometimes called the “inner child”. I like using the phrase “first voice” better or I feel like I am in therapy.

Here is a common example of what may happen. You get all set up the night before and come in excited and energized the next morning ready to start. You look at the blank white surface and your first thought is “I want to splash the heck out of that blank white with a bright orange paint”. Your second thought sounds like “Are you out of your mind? That orange paint is expensive, and that sounds like a stupid idea. How about a nice green landscape instead?” Your job is to tell your second thought to take a hike, and follow your first directive – to splash orange all over the surface. Then after the splash, which may only take a few minutes, take a look at it. Your next first thought will come right away, and might be “Wow, that could use a couple of dark green marks”. The second thought says “this is dumb. I have some pressing errands to do and should stop now”. Again your main task is to always take action on the first thought, and tell the second thought or voice to take a hike. On this same painting surface, add some green marks, take a look at it, quickly listen to your next first thought. Repeat this process all on the same surface for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take your exercise painting down from your easle, wall or table and put it away – out of sight so you can’t critique it. It’s only an exercise. Leave it alone and just keep piling them up one after another each morning. Now work on your regular studio work and forget about the exercise. Repeat each morning. This will strengthen your ability to make good clear painting decisions for your art – the paintings you are currently working on. The idea is that the inner or first voice is always right. It is just so used to being ignored that it isn’t coming in as strong as the second. The second thoughts are usually critical, judgmental, the parent voice, the one that keeps us from painting.

Please let me know how this is working for you if you decide to try it. You will know if it is helping by how your studio work progresses. Perhaps you will see an increase in production, or less creative blocks. The exercises themselves aren’t meant to turn out to be great masterpieces. I ended up throwing most of them away, and cutting up the rest for collage pieces. I am interested to know what comes up for you if you decide to give it a try.

Acrylic Revolution

2007-10-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

I had no idea there were so many people interested in acrylic painting. My new book Acrylic Revolution sold out of its first printing (over 10,000 books) in the first 7 months. The second print run has been available since November 2007, and is the same version as the first - no changes made. To purchase a copy, please Click here for a link to Amazon's discounted price. There are several new workshops and free acrylic lectures recently scheduled. Please click here to see my updated teaching schedule.

Exhibiting at Florence Biennale

2007-09-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

I will be exhibiting paintings at the Florence Biennale 2007, from December 1-9, 2007, and will be attending all the events there. I have posted one of my paintings for this show on my website. You can view it in the acrylic techniques section.

The Best Times to Paint

2007-09-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

I get up at 4 am, get to my studio by 5 and begin to paint. Most of my friends think I am nuts getting up so early, so I usually don’t mention it anymore. Getting up early started as a necessary ritual. For over a decade I have had to pick up my son at school by 3 pm. He always needed me for something, and if not, there were errands, phone calls, etc. And so my studio time came to an abrupt end by mid afternoon. Now that he is 16, driving and fairly independent, I was shocked to suddenly realize I no longer need to get up at an insane hour to get in enough painting time. So lately, the last few weeks, I have been playing around varying the timing of my daily rituals. Habits are hard to break. I get up later, and feel unenergetic all day and out of whack. But today, as I was taking a walk around 7 am, enjoying the cool air and brilliant sunrise colors I came to realize that there is a benefit to working so early in the morning. Just like freshly baked bread tastes incredible the first hour out of the oven, and changes flavor as it cools, the early morning contains a freshly baked energy, appreciated only by us early morning risers. I have noticed that not only do I have different energies during the day, but the day itself carries its own variety of energy potential. We are all different individuals, but it is my theory that by paying attention to the 2 energies: that offered by the day, and that of our own mind/body mechanism, that we can maximize our productivity and general feelings of well being, by taking advantage of that energy awareness and scheduling ourselves appropriately. I know that I can think and paint most clearly before the sun, noise (and everyone else) wakes up. I do my best office work, phone calls, bills, general left brain stuff around lunch time. And get a good second wind of painting energy late afternoon/early evening. So now I will go back to getting up insanely early. Except now I know it’s not out of necessity but a personal wise choice.

Using References & Staying Original

2007-08-16T16:05:00.000-07:00

To start a painting I sometimes spend time looking at images for a jumpstart. These images could be photographs I took on trips, pictures from art books, drawings and sketches, postcards, or magazine advertisements – just about anything that makes my eyes happy. If I find an image that is particularly exciting I will pin it up near my easel to keep it as a reference while I work. There is a danger, however, in working too closely from a reference image. If I stick too closely to it, the work will look tight and lack spirit. One of my favorite artists, Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847-1917) said "Imitation is not inspiration, and inspiration only can give birth to a work of art." Here is a trick I like to use so that I can refer to other images, but still keep my painting fresh and original. I try to pick out at least three images for reference, not only one. I will then use each for a different inspirational aspect. For instance, one image may have a color palette that inspires me, while another image has a composition that looks enticing. The third image might have certain forms or shapes that I like. By using and combining all three at the same time, my imagination feels free to add, edit and transform the images in front of me, and my painting ends up a complete surprise, as well as extremely different from any of the original references. In creating my newest painting, Think of Something Fun, I used several of my landscape photographs and some sketches I had created on hiking trips in New Mexico, especially several of Georgia O’Keeffe’s favorite spots in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

The Objective Eye: Keeping Your Artwork Alive

2007-08-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

You’d think being a Santa Fe painter surrounded by beautiful skies and bright light, would be enough to keep me inspired for every painting session. There are plenty of times, however, that I need to work at it. Energy, spontaneity, clear focus as well as inspiration, are qualities I need to create my work. Sometimes these qualities come to me naturally, while other times I need to work to get them activated. The key for me comes from using what I call my “Objective Eye”. This Objective Eye is readily available during the first hours or days working on a painting. But after working on the same painting for a long stretch of time, I lose it, and may get bored, side tracked and have difficulty making the new decisions that had been abundantly flowing a short time ago. My Objective Eye helps me see the work fresh, make good painting decisions, and continue being inspired. I have several tricks to keep it on. To start a new painting series, I begin by preparing 8-10 canvases at a time. I rotate working on each of them separately, painting on about 1-3 of them each day. Whatever painting is currently being worked on, I will have hanging on my wall easel. The rest of the works are lined up along the floor facing the wall. That way I cannot see them in my periphery. By focusing on only one painting at a time I don’t get overwhelmed by looking at the entire group of work, each of which would be calling for attention all at once. My motto is to only look at a painting-in-process with my brush in hand, and paints ready to go. As soon as I look at the work, after not having seen it for awhile, my first impression, my first decision, is the most accurate because it comes from the “Objective Eye”. By sticking to this plan, I am able to take action as soon as I see the next step. No time lags. There’s a three time rule in play while painting. If you see something that needs fixing in your painting, but don’t take action, and you do this 3 times, you won’t see it again, and the mistake stays. The Objective Eye starts to edit. Take advantage of your Objective Eye. It is the artist’s best weapon.

Opaque Painting Techniques Using Acrylic

2007-08-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Using contrasts or opposites is an important painting tool. Pairing warm with cool colors, or hard edges with soft, or simple spaces with complex ones, adds intrigue, focus and power to the image. Since I like to use glazes and transparent layering in my work, an essential contrasting technique then, is the use of opaque painted areas. Not all colors are opaque right out of the tube. The newer colors, which often have unusual names like Phthalo or Quinacridone, are naturally transparent. The more common colors such as Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Cadmiums are naturally opaque. (More information about pigment differences is included in my new book, Acrylic Revolution.) To paint opaquely, I start my painting session by adding a large lump of acrylic Molding Paste in the middle of my palette. Pastes in general are opaque, and will whiten colors as well as thicken the textural quality. To the paste, I add about 15% retarder and some water, mixing thoroughly, and keeping the paste mixture in a close clump on the palette to keep it staying wet longer. As I paint, I make smaller mixtures on the palette using 1 part colored acrylic paint to1 part of the paste mixture. I usually apply it with a painting knife. A painting I recently finished, called Koi Pond, uses this acrylic technique, using the paste mixtures all applied with a knife. My paintings currently on exhibit in Santa Fe use a combination of the opaque pastes with transparent glazes.

Glazes with Texture

2007-07-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

Glazing is a technique commonly used in many mediums such as oil and acrylic to create transparent layers of color. Since acrylic can be used thickly with no cracking or adhesion problems, it also has the benefit of offering some more unusual painting applications. By using a thick acrylic gel, and adding this into regular acrylic colored paint, you can create a thick but transparent subtly colored mixture. Apply this mixture over previously applied dried and painted layers using a variety of application tools to create some unusual effects. There are many acrylic gels available for purchase. Gels are actually an acrylic medium, with the addition of thickeners, to create a thick or stiff acrylic that can be easily manipulated in a sculpting manner. I like using painting knives, rubber shaper tools, fingers, sticks, etc, as well as brushes to get my textural effects. The main point to keep in mind, is to use a clear acrylic gel to get the transparency, instead of an opaque paste. And to use a small amount of color into a larger amount of gel. I like to use a 1:10 ratio of color to gel.

The Best Time to Use Glazes

2007-07-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

A glaze can be considered a delicate layer of color. Delicate because it is so subtle and transparent. Therefore, a glaze is best used on top of a stronger base color. A common Old Master's Technique used a grisaille, meaning grays, which is an underpainting composed of dark and light paint colors using combinations of grays or neutrals. This "gray" underpainting allows the artist to concentrate on patterns of dark and light and general composition concepts, without thinking of color just yet. When this grisaille, or first layer of paint is dry, the artist applies glazes of color over the grays, shifting the hue, and turning the gray painting into a colored painting containing a variety of values or tones. There are many ways to create underpaintings, and the use of grisaille tends to evoke an Old Master's realism. As an abstract artist, I like to apply bright opaque areas of color as my underpainting and then use glazes over those to shift them in tone and hue. This contemporary use of glazing has many advantages, including creating the illusion of solid form from the previously flat underpainted color shapes. Here is my favorite example of when to use a glaze. Let's say you were commissioned to paint a realistic portrait. After painting for quite awhile you finish the portrait in all its full gloried detail. It's fabulous! However, the client upon seeing it feels the skin tone is a bit too yellow. To repaint the portrait would take a long time, and feel like a waste of time. Instead mix a glaze of violet (yellow's opposite or complementary color) to tone it down. Apply a single even layer of this violet glaze over the entire portrait. If the glaze is too strong the skin tone in the portrait will turn violet. But if the transparency is correct, the yellow will get just enough violet on top to neutralize it towards a more acceptable skin tone. I like to mix a glaze and then test it on top of a small area first. I keep playing with it and testing it until it's just right before applying it all over.

How to Create Glazes Using Acrylic Paints.

2007-07-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

A glaze is a transparent and subtle color application. Glazing in acrylic is best accomplished by using a slow drying medium. You can make your own slow drying medium by adding an acrylic additive called retarder to any regular acrylic gloss medium. Add up to 15% retarder to the medium. You can also use Golden's Acrylic Glazing Medium, which already contains a good proportion of retarder and medium. I often add a small amount of water to this retarder & medium mixture to help eliminate brush strokes and to ease the application. To this slow drying medium, add a very small amount of colored paint to make a colored glaze. I like to use about 1 part paint to 10 parts medium. Mix well with a knife. This mixture of medium, retarder, water and colored paint is now a glaze. Apply the glaze using a very soft brush, over an area you want to shift in color. Keep the glaze application very thin by wiping off excess glaze from your brush onto paper towels. Work quickly, and do not go back over an area once it starts to get tacky. This layer now needs to dry to work any further, or to add a new layer. When working on several layers, put a fan right next to the artwork to quick dry the freshly applied layer of glaze. To see examples of paintings using acrylic glazes go to my painting page and/or acrylic techniques page. For more information on glazes and other acrylic painting techniques see Nancy Reyner's newly released book, Acrylic Revolution, North Light Books.

Calendar of Events
Acrylic workshops, lectures and book signings for Nancy Reyner have just been scheduled in Scottsdale, Arizona and Silver City, New Mexico. For details visit my painting workshops page.

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