"Dead Bird" by Albert Pinkham Ryder

"Wounded Gull " by Morris Graves gouache painting

"Dead Crow "by Henry Varnum Poor oil on board

"Dead Bird" by Albert Pinkham Ryder 4 3/8" x 10" oil on board

"Wounded Gull " by Morris Graves

"Dead Crow "by Henry Varnum Poor

"Quail" by JRJ

"Quail" by JRJ egg tempera on Masonite 12" x 14"

"Driftwood" by JRJ egg tempera on Masonite

There are two basic technique approaches using egg tempera. The first is dry brush (Quail) where very thin lines are overlayed to build color and texture. The other approach is sometimes called "single layer" a fatter more juicy loaded brush lays down a single layer of paint without overpainting. I was introduced to this one stroke approach by my Materials &Techniques professor, Gene Pizzuto who used it as underpainting in oil on canvas. He gave us the assignment to paint this driftwood he had collected in egg tempera, but I made the shiny linoleum floor and blue tape the focus. He admired the painting but grumbled about his hauling the driftwood all the way from Eastern Washington. I told him I usually prefered found art to carefully arranged still lifes. He had to admit my point.

One easy way to begin a painting is to try to improve on an image or subject that interests you. Some artists specialize in one kind of subject and explore that subject in depth. Morris Graves painted birds; Wayne Thiebaud pastry and confections; and I have painted Irises for years. In each case we do not own the subject matter, and you may choose to do the same subjects in your own way, when and if you see fit. Sometimes we incorporate elements we admire and change others we do not. It may be a shortcut to origination your own subject matter, but it is a long-lived well used tool. If it fits use it.

"A Bird image" using any media discussed, compose and paint an ultimate bird image from life or your imagination.

One great advantage to this age and time are the benefits of technology. We can use digital cameras as expanders of our sketchbooks and art boxes. We have web access to some of the most interesting thoughts presented about painting. Richard Estes had a great effect on my work even though I never met the man. I did see some of his paintings in local traveling exhibits in the 70's and sent for a poster of his painting "Phonebooths" from MOMA. Using that poster I took a post graduate course in the composition and brushwork of Richard Estes. I have linked his name to an interesting interview that I would recommend. It offers a peek into the mind and process of a successful contemporary artist.

Art historians spend a great deal of time trying to explain and quantify artists works. To avoid this future interpretation and distillation through anothers knowledge and experience, we can control how posterity views our work, by keeping records and discussing the work in our journals and sketchbooks.

Much of Morris Graves work concerned birds. Historical references discuss his reaction to the end of the second world war. When I was an undergraduate at the University of Washington, many of my instructors suggested moving to New York, where gallery affiliation is easier to gain, and it might be easier to make a living from my work. I rejected the idea in part due to artists like Mossis Graves. He painted based on his environment and he avoided New York even when his work was recognized and he developed gallery contacts there. For him it was enough to be a home based regional artist and the Northwest was just the proper environment for his work. I liked the idea, evaluated the regional attributes and made a conscious decision to stay home. I have found a rich environment for exhibiting, but more importantly, I found the color and climate perfect for my work. I too am a regional artist with no real national attention, and I have never doubted that decision.

There are usually interesting stories behind the work. Such is the case with my Quail painting. When our daughter was 15 and 16 she became interested in bird calls. Practicing during her summers away from school,She was so good that she could call California quail out of the tall grass under the orchard behind our house. They looked thoroughly fooled by the call, hen and chicks coming in answer to the strange conversation she had initiated. One morning I found the bird outside my garage studio door. I did a drawing and took a picture, eventually producing the egg tempera painting using a drybrush technique, which seemed best for the delicate feathers rocks and blades of grass. I remembered the egg tempera painting of Andrew Wyeth of a Germen helmet used to gather pine cones and accurately including the fir cone in the composition. The image reminds me of the time and place.

"Cartoon Iris" by JRJ

"Red Bowl" by JRJ encaustic on board

"Path Light" by JRJ

"Cartoon Iris " by JRJ acrylic on canvas 48" square

"Red Bowl" by JRJ encaustic on board

"Path Light" by JRJ

I have often tried to produce "the ultimate image. I liked painting Irises, and thought it might be a worthy goal to be known for the quintessential Iris, the way Georgia O'Keefe is known for the ultimate "Poppy" painting. Since the timing of my education coincided with the Pop-art movement, it was natural that I might adopt some of the same philosophy, specifically the desire to capture the sublime beauty in common every day objects which surround us. Chance encounters with light and color have been the foundation building blocks of my work. Teaching to pass on what I have received is the burden I took on with the gift of my education and my developed aesthetic.

In my own work I experiment with design objects and elements to serve as the foundation or basis for my own attempts at iconography. I used encaustic to enhance color saturation in the painting "Red Bowl". I have a long list of ultimate images I would like to develop. The ultimate green bowl, the ultimate transparent porcelain bowl, the ultimate glass vase with or without flower

As I said before:For a long time I have aspired to a small greatness. I don't need fame and fortune, but I do have great hopes for a single painting. Imagine being an artist known for a single work that became world famous, becoming an iconic image known by millions who don't know the artist save for that one work. It would be enough for me to gain that kind of fame. I gave you the name of such an artist, Paul Emile Chabas. His work is famous, and was copied and reproduced, used for advertising and became a notorious example offending the Victorians, and becoming a cause-celebre for free expression in art subject matter. You might consider adopting such a mono-mania of your own to help drive and improve your work.

A good place to begin a quest for an iconographic image is a serious attempt to produce an "ultimate or quintessential image,iconography comes from acceptance based on exposure. Popularity creates a cultural icon, As is my usual procedure,I make several thumbnails sketches in a sketchbook or on graph paper. Small color drawings are next in watercolor crayon or oil crayon. Finally I will decide on watercolor or acrylic for the final images, and produce several examples, each trying to explore the subject. I can recommend this process for most problems, concepts or exercises.

Technique Oil Crayon as a Paint alternative

Oil painting may be approached with these same steps, but substitute oil crayons for watercolor crayons, and push or blend with solvent(turpentine, turpenoid, odorless paint thinner or other solvents) Odorless paint thinners are not recommended, because solvent inhalants are best gauged by the buildup of unpleasant smells. There are new alternatives, specifically walnut oil which offers much the same painting characteristics as solvent based oil without as many harmful side effects, but frowned upon by oil purists who complain that it is too new and untried.
Oil paint has several unfair advantages. It has been around for a long time with a good reputation for longevity and art conservation & restoration techniques. It is great for over painting. Allow the first layer to dry thoroughly and delicate light brush strokes on top keep their identity without soaking in or mixing.

Oil paint offers one major advantage over acrylic. Because it takes time to dry, it remains workable mixing with new layers immediately, and it allows scraping back, to remove excess color or to expose canvas texture beneath when and if needed.
As I said,I am not a fan of oil paint for several reasons. It exists as a health hazard. I can't tolerate more than an hour of exposure to solvent vapors in the air without developing a 48 hour migraine. Some of my former instructors developed skin sensitivities which preclude any further exposure. I worked on developing a oil paint handling simulation that has fooled many people. Oil paint yellows and darkens as it ages,so adding a little yellow to white passages provides a small illusion. Another is to use the toned under-painting that affect higher layers and peeks through the passages where bare canvas or bare gessoed canvas might lend sparkle or the appearance of unfinished or incomplete work. Likewise varnished upper layers might carry an additional colored veil to create the illusion of age. The Sistine Chapel's recent cleaning and restoration can provide a clue. The clean bright colors were denounced as not what Michelangelo intended because color reproductions for 100 years showed dark passages with subtle color made more neutral by the overlay of dirt. Ergo: darken bright passages to simulate age, and the master's hand as well as the older medium.

* An additional page link on stretching canvas .

watercolor sampler offer: http://www.stampzia.com/catalog/accessories/experimentalwatercolorpack.htm

watercolor canvas techniques: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/display Article?articleNum=ae0282

Links:
Brush manufacture,http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/brush1.html
Paper making: http://gort.ucsd.edu/preseduc/papermak.htm
http://42explore.com/papermaking.htm
http://www.infostuff.com/kids/paper.htm
http://laceimports.com/michelle/projects/paper_instr.html

Art Material suppliers:
Dakota Art Store,http://www.dakotaartstore.com/
Daniel Smith Inc.,http://www.danielsmith.com/
Utrecht Art Materials, http://www.utrechtart.com/cat_request/dsp_request_catalog.cfm
Cheap Joe's http://www.cheapjoes.com/store/navigation.asp
Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com/

Techniques preview
egg tempera society techniques: http://www.eggtempera.com/paint.html :

Books:

"The Artist's Handbook" by Ralph Mayer
"Formulas for Painters" by Robert Massey
The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell' Arte" by Cennino d'Andrea Cennini
"Creative Discoveries in Watermedia" by Pat Dews
"Splash" series
"Master Class in Watermedia: Techniques in Traditional and Experimental Painting" by Edward Betts