Materials & Techniques of Painting by Jon Rader Jarvis
Notes available on Mondays, homework due the following Friday
10/16/2006 -01/15/2007 Fee:FREE BY INVITATION ONLY
Q&A Questions and Answers -CRITIQUE       studentwork      demonstration    tales     Q&A
buying materials for the class

Question Do we have to buy all those materials?

Answer: No just use what you have and buy more materials if and when you need them

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Jon,
> I can appreciate that you do not want to ask everyone to run out and purchase all of the materials you mention but you may be running the risk of turning this into a fantasy art course where you don’t give enough information to do anything, just enough to imagine that you could. I know optimum is the best but the next best is knowing what is optimum but doing what you are ready and able to do with what you have and/or can acquire. I still don’t have exterior grade plywood and I cannot find any white paper tape here. If I didn’t have a large roll of tape I could go to the grocery store and buy the small package of brown tape sold to seal a package or two for mailing. The brown tape does not handle the same as the white tape so adjustments would need to be made.
> > Marsha

Marsha,
Thanks for the comments. I will add them to the class notes. I know reducing expectations may reduce participation, but the "no fee" aspect all by itself may be enough to cause students to write the class off as fantasy or inconsequential. People usually don't value what comes easily. The exception may be a group like this that makes a conscious choice in advance. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
As to the tape, there are instructions in the page link about using brown tape.
JRJ

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 Jon, here's my homework. My souvenir rock from Venezuela, and a leaf from my Hydrangea bush.

I didn't have any watercolor paper so I used the back of a really good greeting card. I sprayed both sides with water and pinned the 4 corners to a larger size cardboard. Then let almost dry and drew the sketch (not very well) and used the following colors:

Rock, was black , cast shadow was UMB and Burnt Sienna
Leaf, viridian, burnt sienna, yellow and yellow ochre, cast shadow under leaf is black

Okay, I'll go to the back of the class! LOL

Ps. No excuses but I do have really bad Reeves cheap watercolors and only six colors plus LIMITED ABILITY!

Shrl,
This is not a bad start, and the self deprecating comments are un-necessary. We are always our own worst critic, it helps keep us honest and working hard, but don't allow the self-criticism to get so severe it hampers the work. Doing the work must come first. The result is only a by-product. Keep at the process until the by-product becomes an object of pride and admiration. Until then we will learn the benefits of constructive criticism, for ourselves and others. JRJ

 comment

no watercolorist

 

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Jon,
Since I do not do watercolour... if you allow me, i'll only be reading the course each week as it is progressing...

 If you would like to submit a color sketch in another medium. we can still play critique tag with the homework, but either way, You are still welcome to contribute and add comments and/or questions.  JRJ

 question

gum tape alternative

 

 

answer

I'm looking forward to the first class!!
I just have one little dilemma- I can't get brown gummed paper until next week!! I have read that it is possible to stretch paper using staples, but unfortunately, can't get hold of a staple gun either !! So I was wondering if masking tape or perhaps thumb tacks could be an option..both of which I have here. Are there any alternatives for stretching watercolour paper?? And just how important is it to stretch paper?
Sorry for troubling you with these questions!!


Shevaun, You can get brown gummed tape at office supply stores, pharmacies, hardware stores and most grocery stores where mailing supplies are available. It is also called gummed package wrapping tape. Masking tape will not hold wet paper to keep it from buckling.
Thumb tacks will work [minimum spacing 1"apart] Stretched paper flattens after painting on it and allowing it to dry overnight. The heaviest watercolor paper (300 pound or 250 gsm) does not need stretching, but costs 3 or 4 times the price of the conventional weight (140 pounds or 120 gsm) paper. Many watercolorists just paint with very little water, and avoid buckling problems, but that is a difficult way to paint. Try painting without stretching to see how it works. JRJ

 question

pigment recipe

 

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   I HAVE SEVERAL SMALL JARS OF DRY PIGMENT, AND SOME GUM ARABIC. MY QUESTION IS: HOW DO I MIX THESE ITEMS FOR PAINTING. ARE THERE PROPORTIONS TO FOLLOW?AND IS THIS A GOOD PAINT TO USE? DEE

Dry pigment is the stuff we are talking about. add drops of water drop by drop to a half teaspoon of dry pigment to make a syrupy paste. Add a brush full of liquid gum arabic to this and you will have what comes in the tubes - adjust amounts to produce the "right combination". It is best done by feel with practice. Wear a double canister mask when mixing to prevent inhaling dry pigment dust which can be poisonous. The high intensity color will convince you of the merits of mixing your own occasionally. A palette or painting knife is enough to mix, but stubborn grainy pigment might need grinding with a mortar and pestle or muller and graining plate. Try to keep each hue separate until you are ready to paint. When the mixture dries it is reactivated with a few drops of water just like tube paints. JRJ

question

posting images

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Jon please let me know when you will be posting our work for critique and tell me where on About it will be or send me the link so I can find it. I've looked but can't find but probably might not be on there yet. Thanks, shrl

Shrl,
I don't want to abuse the privileges of About.com by using it as an auxiliary. Here are the links.
Student work http://artbuilding.com/Mat&Techof%20Painting/M&TofPclass%20student%20work.htm
Critique http://artbuilding.com/Mat&Techof%20Painting/M&TofPclass%20critique.htm
Class 1 http://artbuilding.com/Mat&Techof%20Painting/M&TofPclass1.htm
classes index http://artbuilding.com/Mat&Techof%20Painting/
questions & answers http://artbuilding.com/Mat&Techof%20Painting/M&TofPclassQ&A.htm
JRJ

question

shadows

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Jon, a question about shadows. In my rock and leaf painting, is there a correlation between the value or shade of the cast shadow and the object that casts it? In other words, should my shadow color have looked lighter or darker from the leaf than from the rock or vice versa? Is the cast shadow darkest closer to the object and lighter as it moves away?

Jon I was thinking in a humorous vein of course, how I'm making excuses about my painting because I don't have good watercolor paint. It kind of reminds me of all the years I played golf and always wanted new clubs or a new putter thinking it would make a big difference in my golf score! LOL Of course I knew differently since I spent a lot of time and money taking lessons and practicing which paid off far better than any new club could do. The same will hold true for painting.

I was also thinking you could probably take my primary colors in my cheap set and turn out a masterpiece BECAUSE, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! lol

Just wanted to share my musings with you. shrl

Shrl,
The short answer is that "it depends". The best solution is to spend more time looking closer at the subject. The shadow contains reflected light - which is why every shadow outdoors has a blue element reflecting the sky. Under the edge of a rock the reflected color of the rock will contribute a lighter value. The same is true of the leaf with the added lightness caused by its inherent translucence. You might look up the term Chiaroscuro to better understand shadow and reflected light. Some shadows are closest near the base and lighter as the shadow moves out. Part of this is residual reflected light from other sources {clouds or nearby objects). I'll add your question and answer the question more completely on the class Q &A page.

There are other things to consider too. There is something called a gravity distortion. We see color from distant stars bent by dark matter in between. In this way astronomers can detect unseen planets. On a smaller scale we can observe a prism distortion created when sunlight passes near a solid object like a tree or chair leg. There will be a color shift toward infra red on the near side and toward ultraviolet on the far side of the shadow. red wavelengths are more easily bent and blue less easily bent. Paintings in places with strong sunlight will sometimes make note of this phenomenon. (particularly the Mediterranean region and southern California. Through close observation I saw and painted this fact in a painting I submitted to graduate school in 1990 at the UW. The resident color expert [Francis Celentano] asked me whether I was from southern California. I knew instantly why he had asked. He knew about the color distortion.

From 1965 when I was in High School, I used the impressionists limited palette (red, blue, yellow and white) until about 1980 when I finally broke down and bought tubes of Hooker's green, sap green and cobalt violet. I'd had a show that sold out and had a little extra money for materials. It felt strange not to mix my own green and violet, but it was a real pleasure to use the store bought colors. In grad school my mentor said, "no matter how good you are you cannot mix a green or violet as good as that which is available in the tube". He was right, but the 15 or 20 years of enforced color mixing had taught me a lot about color. Allow your limitations to improve your sensibilities.
Jon

question

sending images

 

 

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Jon,
I have been on the site looking for the place to add my watercolor. I can't find the place to download my image. I am attaching it here for the moment and I hope you will add it to the list on homework, (this time only) Please tell me where to go to add it on the site. I guess I am overlooking it. Thank You and I appreciate this opportunity to participate. I appreciate you giving this class. My painting is on the left and the original is on the right. If you don't have time, just let me know and I will try to figure it out . I hate being a bother. Julie

Julie,
If you read the information page it directs you to send me an email with your image attached. You have done that. Thanks. I will add your image to the homework page, and if you wish, I will include it on the critique page and add a critique for all to see, or just provide one for you alone. Let me know which.I will add your question to the Q & A page too.
Thank you for doing the work,
Jon

question
bees wax

 

 

answer

Thanks for letting me do this...I have attatched my leaf from Lesson 1 and rock from lesson 2. I was wondering what the bees wax is going to be used for? It's 13.99 for 1 lb of it here. I bought a few items today but cannot find the blue gauche. I did get the white though. I hope this is all I had to do, it was a touch difficult to follow what I was suppose to be doing. Barb AB, Canada currently in Mesa, AZ.

Barb,
I use the stubby end of a bees wax candle as a resist. In my opinion it works better (more natural and organic looking than the frisket or maskoid liquids designed to resist watercolor. Please realize that the materials suggested are simply recommendations. not requirements. They are the foundation materials used in the different media. Bees wax is the basis of a later medium we will discuss"encaustic". Thanks for the question. If it is okay with you, I'll add it to the Q&A page. Thanks again, Jon
{PS you can find cheaper bees wax at an art store, but the cheapest comes from a beekeeper or indirectly through a health food store}
[PPS white gouache is the base medium for all opaque painting in gouache. Pigment or watercolor is added to the white to make the opaque colors. I also recommend the permanent blue gouache, because it is the most used premixed color - for producing a flat even sky blue, most often. They provide easy solutions to watercolor's most often encountered problems.]

question

chinese white

stretching problems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Jon!
I trust your crisis has had a happy ending and that you are back on track once more.
Here is my completed homework- I went out looking for a rock and found an interesting fossil,which I have tried to paint. I wasn't very happy with it and had a fiddle this morning. When I tried to recreate the original rock position, I was disappointed to find that the shadows weren't as colourful as they were yesterday. That's my excuse for my colourful shadows!!!
I didn't have white gouache but used a small tube of Chinese White. What is the difference? Could I have used acrylic white also?
Having finally gotten hold of some brown tape, I stretched my paper onto a board that had several coats of gesso and had been sanded smooth. When I tried to remove the brown tape and the paper (I gently rewet the tape with a sponge to remove it),disaster struck!! The watercolour paper was stuck to the board and ripped a little,and I had difficulty in removing the residue of brown paper also. In fairness, I did this painting outside in hot sunshine,so that might have effected it. But since one of the reasons that I want to learn watercolour is because I want to paint outside, I am concerned that this problem might reoccur .What is the correct way to remove the paper and gummed tape?
As always,please feel free to post all images and comments on your website.
Regards,
Shevaun

Shevaun, I'm back on track again , at least as close as I ever get. We never need an excuse for adding more color, only for toning the color down.

Gouache is made with chalk (calcium carbonate) also called whiting, and gum arabic. Chinese white uses zinc white, which is naturally greasy and slow to dry, which makes it a nightmare for oil painting , but thin and transparent for watercolor. Acrylic white uses a different binder a long chain polymer ( plastic) from a group of such called acrylates. It makes a waterproof layer that cannot be moved - not great for watercolor and forbidden to transparent watercolor purists. Adding acrylic paint makes the painting an acrylic or mixed media painting. Direct sunshine always makes problems for drying paper.
I'm not sure why the watercolor paper stuck to the board, but they all have sizing that may have been released by too much water on the back causing it to stick. I cut the paper inside the tape after slipping off the paper and tape together with a spatula, then spray the board with the plant sprayer to soften and remove the residual tape.
There is another stretching trick that takes advantage of the sizing coming out. It is possible to stretch watercolor paper on a sheet of plexiglas without tape, but you must get the paper good and wet first, then allow it to dry thoroughly before painting on the paper, and allow the painting to dry thoroughly once more before lifting off the surface by slipping the edges with a palette knife or spatula Thanks for asking - another good Q&A addition.
Jon

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Dear Jon,
I am sending you this now before I change my mind!! It was a struggle...and even now I am really not very happy with the result!! It is my Interior View, oil on board (30x24cm). In my defence, I have never ever done anything like this (a pathetic excuse, I know!! )
I am also sending you the fig from the week before as I haven't heard anything back from you .
Both may be posted on your class website etc.
A question, what is the best way to store paintings?
I have been told that they are best placed between acid-free sheets. Is there any way to test the acidity of paper?
Regards,
Shevaun

SHEVAUN,
my anti-SPAM mail programs have been removing your messages.I think because there is a Yahoo PhotoMail advertising line up front. I caught this just before it disappeared.
Storing paintings can be a problem. First is where Not in a garage or basement where cold and condensation can cause mold. Next stretched work on canvas or linen should sit on edge in a rack with wooden spacers. cardboard may be placed between if necessary and they are no longer sticky.
Paper should be stored flat. glassine separators are nice but not necessary. Barrier paper is about as cheap as anything you can buy and it works well. I have stored hundreds of drawings and watercolors flat on open faced drawers under a bed. With a little more capital I will invest in regular paper drawers. There are conservation boxes and museum boxes that serve the same purpose and are wonderful for presentation, if a bit pricey. I store large paintings on edge on wooden palettes in a heated storage facility.
Glassine paper and barrier paper are PH neutral. You can get acidity test strips, wet paper with distilled water and touch the test strips to test acidity if you must. I just avoid newsprint paper and paste board or cardboard for long term contact with artwork.I'll add this to Q & A and put your paintings up on the student work & critique page. Jon

 

question
buckled paper

 

 

 

 

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Dear Jon,
Is there a way to rescue paper that has buckled ?? Can it be ironed flat on the reverse, or pressed flat by heavy books?
Regards, Shevaun

Shevaun,
Good question. I will add it to our Q&A page
.
Art conservators have grumbled when I give out their secret, because they make a lot of money from this simple process.
There is a professional artist version and a frame shop/conservator version. Choose which suits you best.
Artist version: Place the paper face down on a stretching board. Spray the back of the art paper with water from a plant mister. Using a wide brush even the moisture from edge to edge adding more if needed to get the paper to relax thoroughly. When it is completely relaxed cover with a sheet of brown wrapping paper slightly larger than the art. Use brown wrapping paper tape to tape the brown paper down {make sure it is even & smooth and the tape is not touching the art). then spray the brown paper and even the moisture layer with the wide brush. Place the board someplace flat away from heat and out of sunlight. Allow to dry 48 hours, no longer cool to the touch. Carefully remove the brown paper and the art piece will be flat and dry. [discard brown paper & tape]

Conservators version: place a layer of indoor outdoor carpeting flat on a tabletop. Place the dampened paper face down & cover with a 1/4" sheet of plexiglas or plate glass (place weights on top). Allow to dry 48 hours,remove weights,lift plexiglas & remove flattened art piece

Expensive version: use two sheets of blotting paper to sandwich the damp paper, place in a vacuum table, evacuate air & allow to sit in the table overnight or for at least 24 hours. when the art paper reaches room temperature (no longer cool) it is done. Jon


egg tempera question

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jon,
I have got my pigments, well, most of them!! I would really like to try tempera...and have been reading up on it. Just a couple of things are worrying me.
Does it have to painted on board? Can it be painted on canvas or paper? canvasboard even??
Why does it take so long? Do you have to wait for each bit to dry before doing the next layer? Is there any way to speed the drying up- like leaving it in a warm place?
Do you have to make up lots of different pastes and then mix it with your egg yolk mix as you need it?
Can pastels or charcoal be ground down and used with the egg yolk?
Sorry for all the questions...it just seems a little daunting!!
Shevaun

 

Shevaun,
Egg tempera can be daunting until you begin, then it becomes almost intuitive. Think of the thinned egg yolk as if it was an oil painting medium, the pigment is put on a palette (with cups) and as you paint you dip the brush in the medium first to wet it each time. You can paint thinly with more medium than pigment or more thickly with more pigment than medium, but the limitation is "no impasto". You can't overpaint or add enough combined medium and pigment that would coat a knife or be moveable with a palette knife. Think thin, and if you plan to overpaint, only with drybrush (feathery layers). You can use any pigment from any source including ground pastels and charcoal, but they will most likely be too grainy. If you want a short cut use watercolor paint directly from the tube. The first egg tempera painters used gum Arabic in the medium anyway because it was easier to get the dry pigment to behave.
You can paint on many surfaces: gessoed untempered Masonite, clayboard and even paper ( a recent development) Usually a hard finish board like 4 ply Bristol board is lightly sanded with very fine sandpaper to make it behave like gesso, however, you cannot allow the paper to flex or the dried egg tempera can separate flake and peel. Gessoed paper would be better, but must be framed under glass ( preferably Plexiglas) when completely dry (4 weeks or more after painting). Canvasboard has too much flexibility and texture. Stretched canvas is possible, but only if the egg tempera is used under an oil painting, which increases plasticity and protects the dry egg tempera layer.
The process of applying paint takes a long time because it must be thinly layered, and each layer must be dry enough not to scumble with overpainting or it chalks, flakes and peels. Even so, you only have a maximum of 2 weeks to complete the painting. After two weeks the egg layer becomes rubbery and resists binding with subsequent layers, and you get chalking, flaking and peeling once again.
Thanks. I'll add this exchange to the Q&A page. Jon

   
  Links: for class notes www.jonraderjarvis.com/classes.htm and email contact address jrj@jonraderjarvis.com
© 2006 Jon Rader Jarvis, all rights reserved