Saturday, April 4, 2009

Moving up...to linen!

About 7 or 8 years ago, after getting paid for a small residential mural, I bought a roll of Claessen's oil primed linen. It was so expensive that I never could justify using it...until a couple weeks ago, when I finally decided it was time to move up to the highest quality materials money could buy. The carefully prepared hardboard panels I've been using are great, but now I'm going to be adhering (using archival acid-free PVA adhesive) oil-primed linen to the masonite panels. I've already made several, which turned out beautiful (nice and flat, with no wrinkles or peeling corners). I also asked the advice of another artist, who has been doing the same thing for years...I was glad to hear that I was already doing it the right way.

I've also been experimenting with different brands of paint. I've come to the conclusion that for the sake of smell, I'd probably go with Schmincke Mussinni oil paints...I know that sounds strange...they're made with a little bit of damar resin in the paint, which makes them smell great! (That smell reminds me of VaLoy Eaton's studio; VaLoy was the first professional artist I had ever met [when I was 14], and who is still a major influence and a valued friend). But back to the paint: I think I'll go with Windsor & Newton (which I'm already using a bit...I really like the buttery consistency and strong colors), and Rembrandt. A friend of mine uses Permalba for his white...I'll have to try that out.

1 comment:

Joyce said...

Very interesting. It was neat to hear about the technical aspects of painting.