Artistic Process

bogowo - I agree

Portal....your comments about the downside of progressing as
an artist made a lot of sense to me. Having just moved, and
hauled a huge inventory of art supplies, studio equipment and
years of accumulated canvases to a new location, I am now
ready to winnow it all down to a more manageable proportion....Where to start?

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Yes, Shepaints, one of the obvious "downsides" of artwork is the everpresent and growing need for SPACE, to work and store materials and works. Portal Star's discouragement would fall into the psychological challenge of art. I go from the agony to the ecstasy. Worst of all, my ecstasies do not always remain so. What I used to like I presently sometimes do not. I do feel that's a cost of progress. It seems that art is very ego-driven. When I have a really good morning I'm jubilant or ego strong. When I can't make anything work, I'm not so up. I would like very much to remain detached as far as my ego is concerned, to care only about the art itself. But--unless you guys can show me how--I guess that's too much to hope for.

This computer will surely be used as a torture device in hell. So I will try to respond to multiple people in this one post:



Well, Masonite will warp over time if it is not backed by a wood frame or held in place really well by a decorative one. Why are you streching canvas over it? You can directly gesso and paint on masonite (althouh it is not as absorbent as canvas, many old masters worked on wood...) As far as attaching the canvas with latex paint, I don't think that's a good idea. If you want to work on canvas, you could build a frame or order one (woodshop people tend to sell these- do you live in a relatively large city?) What kind of work are you doing? What kind of paint are you using? What kind of qualities do you want from your surface?

If you're just practicing, and don't intend to sell the lasting value doesn't matter, but I would recommend a better backboard for the long run.

JLNobody: I know exactly how you feel. My mood is so easily dictated by the flux of my creativity and the success/failure of current projects. Did you read the "Agony to the ecstasy" by Irving Stone? It's biographical fiction on Michelangelo. I find it a little slow, but inspiring.

Vivien: Yes, that is so important. I am studying right now, but I hope to be able to find a group to practice with when I get out. If all goes as I want it to, I'll be able to find/start a very disciplined studio community. Your group sounds like a lot of fun. You wouldn't happen to live in Texas, would you?

Algis.Kemezys: groos.

are you doing a degree in Fine Art? If you are I don't know how you find time to post!!! Good luck with it anyway

At uni, where in the early days we painted on board a lot, we were tayght to paint an X from corner to corner with the gesso on the reverse - this helps prevent warping.

I am getting a BFA in studio art, but am not taking classes this summer. Hence, time to post. I appreciate your understanding! So many people assume that because I'm an art major, I'm a slacker, but they don't know about those 8 hour studio classes with homework!
I was going to double major in art and Biology, but then I found out all the labs are at the same times. I tried taking both art and biology labs one semester, and it nearly killed me!

Hmm. I'll have to try the "X" idea. I'll bet that wouldn't be a bad idea to do, even if the board was mounted.

Portal - one of my tutors said that she thought a fine art degree was one of the hardest as you had to have so many skills - innovation, technical ability, writing reports/essays/thesis/statements about work, time management etc etc etc!

You always end up putting much more work into things than a project brief gives.

Also I felt that in any other degree, if you do a bad piece of work/assignment, your lousy results are between you and the tutor - in fine art your stuff is on the wall in a critique and there for the whole world to see and comment/critique!!!

Portal, I was a zoology and then bacteriology major...and didn't start with the art for another eight years or so. Life is long and art is...longer. You can learn both. I didn't start with landscape architecture (after all the art courses) until I was forty.

Or maybe both art and life are short. In any case, lots of people end up doing several things, and I think knowing about other fields, whether through official schooling or not, "informs" the art, become part of the mix.

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Osso, I agree wholeheartedly. An artist must be more than an artist, narrowly conceived. Henryk Szeryng, perhaps one of the four or five greatest violinists of the last century said that in order to be a great (artistic) violinist one must read, travel, experience life broadly and intensely, and, oh, learn how to play the violin. I'm sure my activities in music, academic social science and reading have contributed positively to my artistic conception and motivation in subtle ways.

masonite
Portal. thank you for hte input. I did not know masonite would warp. I put the canvas over, as I had a lot of masonite panels cut, but dont like the feel of the oil on it. I like canvas. And I was just plain lazy and did not want to make a stretcher and did the canvas over masonite setup.

I just want to say that I really like to read all the input, and really helpful information, not to mention the motivation that hearing the thoughts of other artists gives me..................really glad I stumbled upon you all!

I only tried masonite once and opted out, but I might not have known enough about how.

I have a friend who does paintings that sell at big prices (finally, after years and years) and he uses excellent...molto excellent, grades of plywood, and many layers of gesso (filtered, sanded, filtered gesso over that, sanded, and x more, and gets a glasslike surface...not to give stuff away, since he has moved on. But the level of effort in what he does just to Start for big work is phenomenal.

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Just think, Zincwhite, where else can we get artistic secrets "given away" to us free? After a few months in a doldrums the art section of A2K has really come to life. This and the thread on paint have been most helpful.

Yes, I am very impressed by this art forum. BTW, if you are a photographer, the iste is a bit slow, but www.photo.net lets you post photos for free.

That's great for your friend! What is filtered gesso? You can't use too many gesso layers or it might crack/peel. But I guess when you sand them really well, you have to do a lot more.
Also, what's really good board? Maybe you could convince your friend to post a thread on here, and give us a few tips?

I did some paintings on board. I was frustrated with their lack of absorbency. In the beginning, only translucent thin layers will stick with oils, unlike canvas! It made me work differently, more carefully.

osso and jl - yes it is true that you bring your experiences to your art

I don't normally work on masonite (MDF to us) because it leaves you with the problem of how to frame it. It is just a personal thing but i don't like my oil paintings framed - it sort of imprisons them. I work mainly on canvasses and they remain unframed.

The fillet bit and frames seem a bit old fashioned somehow?

I often use oil on paper when sketching plein air - they aren't huge so I frame them with a large mount (matt) and treat them as watercolours, behind glass.

Portal thanks for the photography site,

another is at picture trail

I've painted on the rough side of masonite and have been pleased with the results though it absorbed
paint like an ink blotter......I think it is interesting that it may not ONLY be the sum of one's OWN
experiences that one brings to art, but also the influences of those close to one.............

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Shepaints, don't you think that if you gessoed the rough side of masonite that would make the boards less absorbant? Also, there is no doubt that influences from others contribute to the total body of one's influences. I would also include,and I'm sure any artist would agree, that this includes the works of other artists, historical as well as contemporary.

No frames is good for the object IMHO. Framing often detracts from good art but you know the collectors have to have something to do.

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Hi, Joanne. Good to see you back. Sometimes frames enhance a picture, showing off its virtues, not just adding virtue to the total object. But I do agree that--and I think Osso has stated--frames should not compete with or eclipse the visual impact of the painting itself.

A couple of weeks ago I actually painted the frame onto the canvas it was kind of cool I thought.

OK are you guys sitting down - I actually sold three pieces of my stuff oh yeah and is signed it too. Still though I did not make any money since my set up cost more.

But I am entering a juried show in Kerrville next month.

It is hard to believe this is really me but then I have so many excellant teachers, mentors, and much good will behind me.