Practice

This is a little further along that the image below, but still a lot to do. Much detail work, including slight color and value changes throughout. Without the gradations, the form would be off. This is the stage of a painting when it helps to have very good quality paint, that is highly pigmented, and a has a loose texture. The changes will need to be scrubbed on thin, but a medium will also need to be added, to insure proper adhesion, and to protect the integrity of subsequent layers, by the addition of increasing amounts of oil, with each sucessive layer.

This is an 11x14 oil painting, for practice. For this one, I am working in layers. Rather than my usual charcoal drawing, which is then fixed with shellac, I used a toned canvas panel, and drew with paint and brush to establish shapes. Then I painted the image. When this is dry, I will change brushes, and focus on details, including values and color.

The paint for this was titanium white, burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, Venetian red, yellow ocher, ultramarine blue, and cobalt violet. I made the titanium white and Venetian red by hand. The Venetian red pigment came from Sinopia, and the titanium white was from Kremer Pigments.

The mediums for this were cold pressed linseed oil, and a medium composed of stand oil, Canada Balsam, and oil of Spike.

Repair of an Icon (Finished)

This is an image of the finished repair of the damaged icon, shown below.

Many months later, and after a great deal of work, the repair was completed, and the icon was delivered back to the Cathedral. They were happy with the repair, and I was very relieved.

This painting was quite interesting, as it was originally completed in layers, using glazes and scumbles. In repairing the image, it could not be painted alla prima. In order to match the surrounding undamaged areas, the image had to be painted in layers as well. I used Winsor and newton oil paints, and an alkyd medium, for the glazes. A year after the repair was completed, and the paint sufficiently cured, I varnished it with a synthetic varnish.

Repair of an Icon

I thought that I would post before and after images of a repair that I completed for The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, in Columbus, Ohio.



The first image is of the damaged icon. The icon was painted in oil on canvas, and not the traditional tempera paint on rigid support. Although it is old, it was completed in more of a Western style.



I was told by a church representative, that the icon was damaged by young people playing with a ball, that inadvertently got away from them. This left a significant tear in the image. The church then contacted an artist who reported to them that he could repair the image. I was told that the restorer soaked the painting in water. I was told that this restorer subsequently went to lunch, never to return. Apparently as the painting dried, the paint film surrounding the tear delaminated from the shrinking canvas support. I was asked if I could repair this piece, and although at first I was a bit over whelmed, I took on the task, and set to work.

This task at times seemed almost insurmountable. The damage was extensive, and there were literally hundreds of highly detailed tasks that had to be completed.

Red Cloud

Red Cloud is quite an impressive creature. I had never been up close to a bison before, and had always thought of them as more or less a big cow. Well, they may be in the same family, but they are certainly not a cow. They seem to have a personality, and although he is big, he has kind eyes, and seems somewhat friendly. I wasn't deluded into believing he wasn't dangerous, but he appeared much more friendly than the ranch's other dominant male Crazy Horse.

Funny thing about bison, is they are very watchful, and as I sat sketching them, I found that they were all facing and watching me. Who was studying who? I have never observed any group of animals do this, and it was quite eerie. What impressive creatures they are. The only megafauna to survive the last ice age. Standing near them convinced me that they are tough as any creature on earth. The hump on their backs belays the power they can generate, and the size of the head is what amazed me the most. Unlike cows and farm animals, they have no need for a barn, or shelter, and can survive just fine in the open outdoors. They do stand shoulder to shoulder and face the wind together, as they have very thick hair on their heads, and they conserve their body heat.

Perhaps they are an example for humans to follow. Perhaps if we stood shoulder to shoulder and faced the winds together, the world would be a much different place.

This painting was inspired by Red Cloud. It is 8 by 10 inches, oil on cardboard canvas. I also used amber varnish, in the paint. It is thin in the darks and impasto in the lights.

Pears

Paired Pears. This is oil on canvas coverd wood panel. It is rather thick, and completed with hog bristle brushes. A lot of scumbles on this one.

On The Easel

This painting is 18x24 inches, and is oil, applied rather impasto in many areas, yet thinly in others. A few more glazes, quite a bit of detail work, and several layers of varnish, and this will be finished.

On the easel at present. This painting is coming along very slow. Have been at it now for almost two months. This is 30x40 inches, and is relatively large. It is oil paint with a medium composed of stand oil, Venice turpentine, and oil of spike. This permits the oil to level, and the various sections to fuse better. For some reason the medium has been causing the paint to dry very quickly, and this is surprising due to the components, none of which is known for being quick drying.

I have very much enjoyed working on this, as the paints are Permanent Pigments, which later became Liquitex oil paints, and have long since been discontinued. Liquitex is now known as one of the finest Acrylic paint manufacturers, yet they were known to make some of the finest oil paints around. The Permanent Pigments are simply awesome paint, and were made in Cincinnati, Ohio. The tubes are over 40 years old, and are just as good as if they were made yesterday. The reds are from the old Grumbacher Finest oil paint line. Now that the major areas are finally covered, I will work on all of the small details, and this will take quite some time. There will also be numerous glazes, and several varnish layers, before it is completed.