A Workshop With John Cox (part 1)

[Visualone]

Hello All,
I was asked to do this workshop and I was glad to accept. Some of you may have seen my WIP in the Oil Painting forum. This will be similar but much more in depth on a variety of subjects relating to classical art and in particular oil painting. This will be my first "cyber " workshop and it is slightly modified version of my "real time" workshops I've given in the past.
I guess I should introduce myself. My name is John Cox and I have been working as an artist for thirty years. I have taught many workshops and taught actual classes lasting three months at a time. I did that many years ago, but now I need my time for the business of producing art. My work is represented in several galleries in the United States and I do a few other national shows each year, my next one is at The Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming during Frontier Days. This is next month (July 2006). I am fortunate to be in this show for the ninth time, with many nationally known artists from all around the country. It is always a beautiful show.
While in this introduction I will be posting a selection of my paintings as they would be in the classroom in a real workshop on the first day. Some are brand new,others not so new. One or two have been posted on Wet Canvas in other forums. With each one there will be the size and the colors I used for each. You may be surprised at the very limited palette and have your doubts, but trust me, this is something I will go into extensively. Also in this introduction there are some lessons for those of you who are new to art or maybe just new to a medium other than what you have worked in. This may appear to be shameless self promotion, but it is not (well, maybe a little):). One note of caution, there will be one, but tasteful semi nude in this intro. My apologies in advance, no offense intended to those who may not prefer a nude. It will be the only one here. So don't look, if you don't wish to see it (you'll just miss a good example of values). A warning will be given.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Lake_St._Marys.jpg
"Lake St. Mary, Glacier National Park" 30"x 40" oil Palette: Cobalt Blue, Mars/Ivory Black, Winsor Red, Cad. Yellow Light and white.
I started my career in art by accident. I have drawn for as long as I can remember, started as a child, but I never thought of art as a career, a job, if you will. Fresh out of high school in 1959 in a rural part of South Central Texas, I joined the Navy. I liked the Navy, who wouldn't (in my eyes). In five years I went around the world twice. I saw things this Texas hill country boy never imagined. It was an eye opener. I would have made the service a career, but an injury caused me to be discharged Honorably in 1964.
Returning home, I did not have a clue as to what I would do. All my plans involved the Navy. Naturally I went back to my friends. They were getting deeper involved with hot rods and organized drag racing. Since I loved cars and racing also, I got into it also. Long story short, for the next twelve years I made my living with drag racing on a professional level, both as a driver and a custom painter of race cars.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Cox-vs-Garlits-AHRA-Gr.-Am-.jpg
Photo: AHRA Grand American Series, 1972 West Palm Beach, Fla
You may notice art was not in the cards at this point:) . Racing is a hard business, particularly if one has a family, which I did by 1969. Starting in 1972 there was a major change begun in drag racing though no one in it realized the extent of it. By 1974 expenses were rising so fast that it was beginning to force the independent racer out unless they could acquire sponsorship funds from corporate America. This was a formidible task in those days. I went from owner/driver/painter to driver/painter, then to part time driver. The handwritting was on the wall. By selling all my equipment and doing part time driver chores I could live and support my family for awhile and figure out what I wanted to do when I "grew up."
In my spare time (here comes a lesson) I drew pictures of things around me. Cowboys, trees, livestock, and the like. Art was not in the plans at all.
One day while I was away being a rent-a- driver, a friend, who was a potter came by and got all of my drawings from my then wife. He took them to a friend of his and had them matted and shrink wrapped, then took them to a mall show he was in the coming weekend. He sold a few, but more importantly he met a woman who owned an art gallery with her husband. She gave my friend a card and told him to have me get in touch with them when I returned.
When I got home, I was told of this and given the card. I thought, what the heck. I'll see what they want. What they wanted was to sell my drawings in their gallery. I was stunned. Yesterday I couldn't spell artist, now I are one.:) I went home and got the drawings I had, and returned to the gallery (dummy me, didn't take them on the first trip) and consigned them to the gallery. Well, time went along and they sold some at a regular pace and I kept drawing more. One day while I was in to deliver the latest drawings, the owner said if I really wanted to become a success at this, I needed to get in to color (I now realize that is debatable). I went home thinking, what in the world am I going to do? Oil painting is for "bigtime famous artists", that show in galleries and museums. Watercolors too. What was I going to do? Then it hit me. Watercolor! My "genius" mind told me "Kids do watercolor!" All I have to do is go home, make some drawings and "color" them with watercolor! No Problem! Well, with the first try at this infallible plan, reality rose it's ugly head and slapped me up side the head and said there was a problem! This isn't what I planned! But, I was stubborn enough that if kids could do it so could I. With a lot of hard work I got one done, then another and another that were acceptable to the gallery.
I began studying watercolors in galleries, reading books on it, talking with other artists, and practice, practice, practice. They became more refined in that the were looking more like a real watercolor painting and not a colored drawing. sales were getting better and I was making more money, but I was still doing the rent-a-driver to make a living.http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Dec__17_2005_005_copy.jpg
"Mountain Meadow Sunrise" 16"x 24" oil Palette: Black, Cad. Red Light, Cad. Lemon and white.
I decided what I needed was to somehow figure out oils. Somehow, it seemed to me it offered much more than watercolor (I was still lacked a lot of knowledge about art). I thought, oil is the "bigtime". What all the "great" art was done with. I saw so many powerful oils in books and displayed in galleries and museums. I saw things I wanted to do. I bought myself some oils and canvas and went back to "schooling" myself ( there was no art school near me) again with the books, galleries, museums, shows and most importantly other artists that so graciously gave me their help, knowledge and encouragement. I learned as much as I could as fast as I could, because I was already in my mid thirties and not getting any younger. http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Hill_Country_Evening_Texas.jpg
"Hill Country Sundown" 18"x 24" oil Palette" Black, Cad. Red Medium, Cad. Yellow Light, a touch of Ultamarine Blue and white.
One of the most important things I learned was to never to be satisfied. When that happens one stagnates and the work suffers. I do not take myself very seriously, but I take my art deadly serious. I can be impulsive, joke around. but I mostly appear as a very laid back, easy going person. In reality, my mind is going 200 miles per hour all the time. I spend as much time studying the composition of a scene on TV as I do actually watching the show, when I am supposed to be relaxing.
Well, enough about me. You probably know more than you never wanted to know about me and are wondering "where's the beef?" That is in the next post, tomorrow. This one is the introduction. So now I want to talk about what this workshop will be. But first a little homework. Make yourself this sign and place it where you see it everytime you mix a color or put down a brush stroke.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Sign_copy.jpg
You don't have to put all the paint and thinner splatters on it, just the wording.:) A very great artist, friend and teacher, James Reynolds had me make this about fifteen years ago. It is on my palette table (shown here on the easel for photo purposes). Everytime I look down at the palette to mix a color, this is in my line of site. I never block it out by putting things in front of it.
The first thing I want all to understand about this workshop is this is NOT the only way to make a painting. It is how I do it. I want all to understand that I believe that the only real rule in art is There Is No Such Thing As Always And Never In Art. There are some very strong suggestions that will make the job easier, more enjoyable, save you when in trouble and overall make a better piece of art. There also some strong suggestions that if you ignore them they will reek havoc on your painting and emotional well being.:)
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Cactus_Blossoms_57_copy.jpg
"Cactus Blossoms" 9"x 12" oil Palette: Thalo Green, Transparent Red Oxide, WN Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Cad, Yellow Light and white.
In this workshop we will go through my entire process of making a major painting even though the demo will be an 18"x 24" canvas. I will start with sketches, and photos (in this case), Value pattern studies and composition. Then I will talk about color mixing and limited palettes, brushes, canvas, paints and so on. I am assuming most of us know about some drawing, but I am going to touch on things like shapes, terminators (not Arnold) and a couple of drawing mediums I use in my everyday workings. Don't get the idea drawing is just pencil or charcoal and paper. I'm here to tell you it ain't. I am very serious about drawing and you should be to. It is the foundation of classical art and any realistic art no matter the style.
I've had people in workshops tell me "I don't want to draw. I just want to paint." Sorry folks, in classical/ realist art you can't do one without the other. Every brush stroke is part of a drawing. So if you wish to just spread paint around, go some place else. Now if you are serious about painting either professionally or as a hobby I will be giving you all the tools for this.
It will mean learning the fundementals to the point they are like breathing, you don't even think about it but you just do it. When you get to a passage in a painting and you can't figure out what to do, go back to the fundementals and they will show you the answer everytime. People think "If I could just find that special "secret" to making great art, I'd have it made." Well, I just told you the secret. All you have to do is learn them, as I said. The other thing about that thought of a "secret" is No! You won't have it made! That's a myth! No matter how good you get and how long you paint, each painting is a brand new beginning. You are back where you started, the unknown. The difference is this time you will have the "tools" to do the job with confidence.
These are the things I will do my best to show you in this workshop. I will warn you I am tough on the fundementals, so learn them. If you don't you will be depriving only yourself.
I tell each group I work with, that I hope they will enter into the class with a totally open mind to learning. They may have learned much from other teachers and I'm showing them something different. That's okay, but just remember the rule I gave you earlier. "There is no such thing as always and never in art." So, with that understanding let's move on.
LOOK OUT!! Here's the semi nude!!! Close your eyes and scroll down if you must. The rest of you look at the effect of light on the material of her robe. Do you see what makes it look like that? Think about it and we will be covering (so to speak) this. I look forward to sharing all I can with you over the next few weeks. I will try to post every day. I may miss a day or two due to business obligations. Tomorrow we begin.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/50323-Morning-Sun_copy.jpg
"Morning Sun" 16"x 24" oil Palette: Black, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, and Cad. Lemon and white.
John Cox
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[antgeek]

hi jon, i'm so excited you are doing this for us! your intro is interesting and funny, the paintings wonderful, and i am on the edge of my chair! what a treat, thanks so much.

[bjs0704]

Great job, John! Thanks so much! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Barb Solomon:cat:

[LGHumphrey]

Thanks for your fascinating and amusing intro, John. Looks as if this thread is going to be really great.

[Anita Murphy]

John - Thank you so much for this - I'm coming back to read it again in more detail and to take notes.

[TTHOMPIE]

OK, did my homework.
And....since I plan on paying attention......I wrote down "There is no such thing as always and never in art."
.................
terminators (hmmmm where eye terminates?)
medium (draw with paint and terp type medium?)
-------------

OK ---- don't worry......I won't do this all the time.....just wanted to let you know the one in the last row/last seat....is paying attention

[Robin Neudorfer]

You captured me when you said drawing is a necessity. I can't agree with you more. Since I am in the learning mode, I have pulled up a chair.

[royc8]

Thanks for doing this workshop John, it's very much appreciated. I loved your intro and your paintings. I've just started painting and lack most of the tools ; )

[cowgirl06]

Hi John, I'm excited like everyone else. To anyone who reads this, John and I have been friends for over 20 years. He is a wonderful artist and human being. And he's always been generous with his knowledge of art. I'm new to oil painting, even though I show in the same museum show as John. There is always something to learn in art. That's the beauty of it. I too, can hardly wait for the next lesson!!!!
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/17-Jun-2006/80637-soulplainspost.jpg

[Shadia]

Hi!
I'm looking forward to see the next lesson. From what I've seen of your work, I sure have a great deal to learn from you. Thanks!

Taking notes,
Shadia :)

[rosebard]

John, I like your way of talking about art. Welcome back by the way. Hope you had a joy of time preparing yourself for your own exibhition.

Thanks very much for this introduction and looking forward for the worshop! :)

[rohit]

hello john,

the intro was very interesting. it was asthough your speech at some class was noted down verbatim. seemed you were giving the discourse in person.

i will be checking the thread everyday and wont mind if you are off a day or so:wink2: i can think and try to breathe what you have said in the earlier thread during this time.

as for now i have one lesson to seep in "There Is No Such Thing As Always And Never In Art".

"Think!!! Edges, Variety, Experiment, Values, Simplify, Masses" is not clear to me now, but guess it will unfold only in the upcoming threads.

thanks for your initiative and will be back soon.

rohit

[Kline]

Thank you for setting aside the time to present this online workshop. However I feel like I’m already behind because I was not able to close my eyes and scroll down at the same time.

[Elain]

Oh wow. This is going to be great. I'm setting up here.

Nice to meet you John!

[blindhorse]

Hello, John
Hope I'm not too late to join in. This will be my first workshop of any kind so I am really excited. (I'm also a south central Texas native, tho it's been many a year since I was there.)
I've recently taken up oils and dearly love them.
Now I'm off to go make myself a sign for my pallette table.

[ryster007]

Fantasic, count me in. I've only been painting in oil for 6 months or so and need all the help I can get!!

Many thanks for what promises to be a great learning experience

Ryan

[ColorMyWorld]

I have been looking forward to this class!
When you did the WIP, you put things in such an understandable way.
I'm so glad this class has started. Thanks for taking the time to share this way.

[donn_granros]

John, thanks again for your effort and it is good to see you still around these parts. When I think of painters I admire and respect your name is prominent on the list.

[rain24]

John,

I can't wait for the workshop to start! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this on WC. I'm pulling up my easel and making my sign now!

~Rain

[Nickel]

John, thank you!!!!!!
I have my sign made & notebook out!
Best wishes,
Nickel

[Andrew]

You got my attention! How does one enroll!

Andrew

p.s. Sign made and sketchbook and canvas at the ready!

[AnnieSV]

Thank you for presenting this workshop. Your "How I Paint" WIP was great!

[Visualone]

Hi Folks,
Today, I am just going to have to pass on the lesson. Last night my air conditioner decided to take a dive. It is headed for a high today of 112 here in the Valley of The Sun. I got started on today's post. Typed for nearly two hours (I'm a painter, not a typist) almost finished todays lesson, checked a website address to give you and when I returned I had a blank posting window. All gone. Guess what, I'm out of here for today. My apologies. I will try to get something up tomorow, though my priority will be the A/C repairman. I ask your forgiveness.
I do want to acknowledge all of you, new and old to this workshop and all your kind words. I will give you my best. I especially want to say "Hi" to Cowgirl6. She is a new WC member and a very dear friend of mine. She is getting into oils and says she is here to learn something new. Actually, I think she is here to put the pressure on me during the drawing portions of this. I want you all to know this lady is one of the best pencil artists around. I hope she post her drawings in the drawing and figure forums and give all of us the pleasure of seeing her beautiful work. She's a master and wonderful person. Thanks for being here Cowgirl6 (and she really is, folks. A cowgirl)
Before I bolt, here is one more painting. Something a little different for me but one I really wanted to do. The model works at a local Restaurant/ Sports Bar. Wonderful model and a lovely lady to work with.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Jun-2006/50323-Wakhojo.jpg
"Wakhojo" ( the Japanese saying meaning feminine beauty within and without)
Oil 12"x 12" Palette; Mars/ Ivory Black, Cad. Red Medium, Cad. Lemon, and white.
Again, my apologies. Hopefully tomorrow.
Have a great day all!!!
John
Visaulone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[Robin Neudorfer]

There is nothing like agreeing to do a workshop/class that brings out all the gremlins out of the woodwork. One thing about the folks here at WC, John, there is incredible patience. Give that AC repair-person a cool one for us. Take your time.

[Anita Murphy]

Gives me time to absorb the first post!

[Jimser]

This sounds great, certainly want to join and follow along.
Anything in particular i have to do ?
Sorry, I just way new here.

[TTHOMPIE]

John........I think all you had to do was hit the back arrow a few times to get back to where you did all that typing ?..?

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Jun-2006/76411-Visualone.jpg

If your computer has word (or some program like that).....you're best typing in that. And then later do a copy and paste when you're ready to post.

Hiya Cowgirl!! :wave:

[Peter-MN]

Hi John,

I have a lot to learn in painting and you sound like the kind of guy I
can relate to so I'm all ears (or eyes, as it were).

Lead on!!

Peter-MN

[rohit]

hello john,

take your time and get the ac fixed first. it is important that the surroundings are conducive! we can wait for sometime.

one question - do we need to buy the canvas, paints etc now or we wait untill a few more lectures... before we get down to action. i feel like a kid eager to buy books, stationery etc when the new session begins. still remember the smell in those fresh printed pages. going off track maybe but its good to start something and be kids again.

looking forward to the lessons tomorrow.

rgds,
rohit

[artbyjune]

Hi John. Many thanks for taking time to do this workshop. I am very keen to learn..

[Visualone]

Hi Everybody,
Well the heat is still on, so to speak. I just got a phone call from the A/C repair man and nothing can be done until Wednesday, due to the fact the parts need to fix my unit is not available until Tuesday afternoon and it will be delivered to my house Wednesday morning. The installers have me scheduled for that morning also. So, I would like to restart this workshop next Saturday (post by noon Arizona,USA time). That way any problems should be ironed out and all will be cool:) .
There have been a couple of questions that I would like to answer. There is no charge for this, just log on and pay attention:) . You don't have to "sign up" either. When I get to the demo it will not be a paint-a-long. You certainly may if you wish. Obviously, there will be time to do so. I would suggest you make copies of the workshop since I will be putting out a lot of info and it will not be possible to remember it all.
The other question was about buying supplies. Any supplies I talk about will be what I use. If you wish to use them as well, that's great and I would hope that you do some of the color mixing exercises I will be showing you. You will learn so much by doing them. When I mention actual brand names, again they are what I use and I will tell you why I use them. My decision to use these products comes from years of experiementing with many different products and these are what I am comfortable with and give me what I need and desire for my work. I DO NOT have any connection of any kind with any retailer, manufacturer, or any other kind of art supply dealer, nor do I receive any kind of compensation from any one. I earn my income from the sale of my paintings and prints only. My recommendations also are not to be taken as saying other brands or products are inferior in any way. This workshop is totally free to any and all who wish to use it. Only the images of my paintings are copyrighted and are not to be used for anything other than this workshops purposes.
All that being said, many of the items and companies I suggest are reputable companies and will probably be able to save you a lot in cost of whatever products you may order. Most all ship anywhere as far as I know.
Well, art fans, as I bake, I hope all of you have a wonderful week and paint and learn from all you do. I will be checking in daily and will try and answer questions or clarify anything I can for you. This delay will not cause me to shorten or condense the work shop as far as information is concerned, so no worries there.
Here is one more for ya'll. I understand cowgirl6 liked this one when she was in towna month or so ago. This painting is in the collection of another dear friend of mine and her husband. She also is an incredidable nationly know artist.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Jun-2006/50323-Navajo_Girl.jpg
"Navajo Girl" 12"x 18" Oil Palette: Black, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Cad. Yellow Light, Winsor Green, and white.
The model is a young lady that works at my local bank branch as a teller. She also has done modeling for the owner of this painting. The costume and jewelry belongs to the paintings owner also. The model was great fun to work with and it was a joy doing this for a fellow artist collection.
More later,
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[antgeek]

hi jon, no worries about the delay, a/c is a priority!
thanks for the visual treats while we wait...

[ryster007]

Cheers John
great pics by the way!
See you Saturday

Ryan

[Rosic]

Bravo John... thanks for doing this!

Barb... thanks for letting me know about this...

Bern

[cowgirl06]

John, What a beautiful painting!! I love portraits best of all. (I'm excited about your limited palette!) I don't miss those long hot Arizona summers!!! Hope you get your air conditioner fixed, 'cause we are all ready for your "pearls of wisdom"!!!

[Anita Murphy]

Another fab portrait - I hope skin tones will be in your colour mixing exercises as I am always in search of that elusive skin tone and you seem to be a master of it!

[rohit]

hello john,

wonderful painting,

like the smile and jawline and also the velvety fabric... real good. and most importantly with such a limited palette.... want the week to go by soon and eagerly looking forward to saturday.

rohit

[Nickel]

Hope today your ac is fixed!
Also, are you safe from the wildfire in Arizona?
Saw it this morning on the tv.

John like everyone else here, I look forward to your next lesson.
My sign is kind of lonely. :D
Need some color mixing going on next to it. :D

The Navajo Girl is lovely! Love the green/red and her smile!
You really captured her beauty!

Nickel

[Piper Ballou]

this is going to be great.
piper

[Visualone]

Hi Everybody,
Well, it is Friday evening and I am "chillin'" as the young folks say today, but in my case it means the air conditioning is working again. I"m ready to get going with the workshop tomorrow and hope you all are also. I plan to make the first post about noon or a little after on Saturday (I'm not a fast typer. Is that a word?:) ).
I'm going to start with some fundementals and some of the "craft" of painting. Please bear with me as this may not be the most exciting subjects but they are the ones that at some point will save your "bacon" if not daily. They are some of the most important things you can know. Some of it may be a little to basic for you, but remember there are people that may have questions about it or just flat don't know it and no matter how advanced you are it is always a good thing to hear again. You never know I might say something that rings a bell for you and you have what I call an "Ah ha!" moment.
So anyway, tomorrow we begin the journey into paint and canvas. It's going to be fun. Here's another warning...NUDITY AHEAD, but I want you to see what can be done with a very limited palette and I hope the textures show up. Look at her towel and her hair, then her skin. Three very different textures, all painted with bristle brushes and the same three colors (I didn't count white as a color).
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/23-Jun-2006/50323-Nudes_Tear_Sheet_1.jpg
"Kelli" 24"x 16" Oil Palette: Black, Permanent Alizarin, Cad. Yellow Light and white.
See ya'll tomorrow.:wave:
John
www.johncoxfineart.com

[Kline]

I have recently snitched to a limited palette in an attempt to achieve more harmony in my paintings so this sounds like the instruction I have been looking for

Thanks in advance John

[rosebard]

Cant wait for the first lesson John. Thanks again!! :)

[Julianne]

I just saw this, it looks great, I love your artwork, John so I will be following along and hoping to learn something.

[Julianne]

PS - that's a wonderful story about how you became a professional artist!

[idcrisis55]

I'm a devoted admirer of your artwork also, John, and will be reading this thread avidly. I really enjoyed your landscape WIP.

Ann

[Visualone]

Good Morning All,
I suppose I should just say hello because we are all international. Oh well,
it is morning here.
I want to apologize again for the delay, but in Arizona in the summer the last thing you want is for the air conditioning to go out. Mine is now fixed and all is cool, so let's get to work.
This first post, is the same lecture I give at the opening of every workshop less the introduction which I did before the A/C problem struck. I give this to both beginner and advanced students. It never ceases to amaze me how many relatively advanced paintiners barely know some, if any, of the basic fundementals. They may think they do, but are not clear or sure of what they do know. I would suggest these become like breathing for you. You just do it without having to think about it.
These fundementals are important for a number of reasons. When you are working on a painting and you keep looking at it and you know something is wrong but can't quite figure out what that something is, the fundementals will be the tool to discover the problem. They will also make for more stable (archival) paintings, they will help you to learn what some artist hanging in a museum, that you admire, probably did to achieve the effect that is so wonderful. They will be your guide to beginning a new painting instead of standing there thinking "Now how and where in the world do I start?" You will know and/ or figure out where to start, and they will make your paintings progress quicker and with fewer mistakes, producing a better painting. Have you ever noticed that when you know exactly what to do and how to do it, whatever it is, gets done with ease and is done well? Painting is that way also. I have paintings that just seem to "fall off" of my brushes and are finished in no time and usually are several notches above (quality wise) my regular level of quality. The reason is always I knew clearly what I wanted to do and how to do it. It is the fundementals that give me this "power", not some secret knowledge passed to me by some master. Nor is it some "trick" shown to me that works everytime, no matter the subject or problems. So as boring as this and learning these may be, do yourself a big favor and learn them. I was fortunate and was taught them early on in my painting career and 30+ years later I am using them daily. They are the painiting, in a sense.
By now you are asking "So okay, enough! What are these fundementals?" Well, they are many things. Some are just common sense, some are more "craft" of painting, and some are actual knowledge of painting itself.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/24-Jun-2006/50323-Palette_copy.jpg
This is my palette, again. I want you to notice that it has an order in the way it is laid out. Forget the tubes of paint. Notice that the colors are laid out just as a color wheel is, only in a linear format to leave mixing room. It is always laid out this way. If you were able to pul it into a circle you would notice the color wheel. I start with Utrecht White closest to me as it is probably the most used paint on the palette. Keep it handy. Next is Cadmium Lemon Yellow (a cool yellow), followed by Cadmium Yellow Light (warm yellow), Then Cadmium Red Medium (warm red), then Permanent Alizarin Crimson (cool red). There is a bit of Winsor Newton Permanent Rose next due to the painting I was about to do, but this is NOT usually there. It is a "convienence" color. Next is Ultramatine Deep (warm blue). followed by Cobalt Blue (not true cool blue, but cooler than Ultramarine). The last color is Utrecht Mars/Ivory Black. If I were to use Winsor Green (a Pthalo) or Veridian it would be placed after the black. There are reasons for this lay out. First the color wheel I mentioned earlier. I can almost reach for the correct color I want without looking and find it. Now you can use this or as some other artist do is place your warm colors first then your white, then the cool colors. It doesn't matter which you choose, so choose what is most comfortable to you and always lay you palette out exactly the same way. I use a system called by some as "color bridging". This is a method of moving from one color to another by going in the direction of the color wheel using the shortest direction. For example; I have a cool yellow passage and wish to go to a red next. I am at Lemon Yellow I go to orange to red. I mix the in between colors from my palette. I do not lay out more tube colors. Let's say you want to go from that same cool Lemon Yellow to blue. I go yellow, green, blue.Now at this point I want you to start thinking of black as a blue. I DO NOT use black for a black. It may be in the mixture but it is never just black. I would like you to think of all the ways you would use a blue, but instead of blue, use black. That is what I mean by think of black as a blue. Now this does not mean you have to use just black in one painting and no actual blue. You may use a combination. By using black, Ultramarine and Cobalt Blue and my two yellows, I can make a huge range of greens and never open a tube of green. Same goes from other colors. But right now I do not wish to get into color mixing. I want to stay with the palette lay out.
One of the biggest things that makes me crazy when teaching a class is to go to a student to help them one on one and their palette is this mess of colors placed, mixed, wiped, scrapped all over the palette in no discernable order at all. Nine times out of ten, they don't know where any mixture, tube color or what is what on their palette and the painting is most likely completely out of harmony colorwise. Remember what ever is on your palette will get to the canvas. Like it or not. right or wrong. KEEP YOUR PALETTE IN ORDER. There is other advantages to this order. You always know where a color is and where a mixture is, you will save large amounts of paint. I've seen messy palettes and they have a color squeezed out in several places when one nice neat pile will do. Add more as needed. You keep your house in oreder, don't you? Your palette should be too, for all the same reasons. I have a friend who does not follow this advice. She buys a bunch of panes of glass and when one is in such a mess she can't find her colors, she changes to a new, clean glass pane. I have gone to her studio in the past to help her with a color or something. She will hand me a palette (glass pane) covered with every color imaginable. If she wants to know how blend into a certain color, I'll ask where on the palette that color is. She doesn't know, so she gives me a clean glass. Now I start from scratch. I have had students start with a limited palette and when they can't figure out how to mix a color they look for a tube color that is close to what they want and add that to the palette. They do this several times in a sitting and soon there is no telling what was used to mix a color or colors and the painting is hopelessly out of harmony, the palettes a mess and they are completely lost. Then they usually blame they limited palette, "That color can't be made with only three colors." Oh Yes it can!!! If they had done their color charts and listen to what I said and showed them in color mixing they would know it can be done.
So please keep an organized palette. You won't be fighting and struggling needlessly instead of learning and doing good work. You can be thinking (remember the sign you made) about the important things. Think of this; your kitchen is a mess, dirty dishes, seasonings sitting here and there in no order, non perishables just scattered about the counter tops and you start to prepare a gourmet meal. It ain't going to happen, sports fans. Same goes for your palette and your studio. I think by now you get the idea. It's important, not just being a neatness nut. I use a double strenght, tempered glass for a palette surface. It cleans easily. paint mixes well and I put a neutral gray under it to see values better as I mix. It last forever practically. Mine is 20+ years old.
I want to say some things about quality of paints and your tools. Use the very best you can afford. Buy top quality brushes and keep them clean. Look back at my palette. There are two brush cleaning tanks full of thinner. I wipe the brush on a paper towel ( I love and recommend Scott Shop Towels, Costco, Sam's Club, auto parts stores. They are blue in color and thicker than regular towels). Next I wash the brush in the first tank closest to me. If I am through using that brush for awhile I will wipe it again and then wash it in the second (and cleaner) tank before laying it down. NEVER leave a brush standing on its bristles in a thinner tank. You will ruin the brush. Lay it flat if wet, stand on the handle end in a jar if clean and waiting for use. My extra, new brushes lay flat on a shelf in stacks in order of size and type in an open ended plastic bags, handle end in first. I also remove all those little clear plastic brush protector tubes that come on the brush and throw them away. NEVER try to put them back on. You will ruin the brush instead of protecting it. Each week I will wash all the brushes I used in warm water and soap, then shape them carefully after gently squeezing most of the water out and lay them flat on several thicknesses of paper towel to dry overnight. Before I use them again I will rinse them in clean thinner. Your brushes will last a long time and work beautifully.
Quality brushes can get expensive, but there is a company I use almost exclusively for about 6 years now. You will find them and their product line at www.trekell.com I use their bristle brushes exclusively. They are the best brushes I have found. Even to the point that a brush is worn down a quarter inch or more from when it was new it still performs like a new one. I love them. But wait! there's more! Trekell is a manufacturer. They sell direct to the artist, no middle man or dealer mark ups. You can buy their best brushes for less than you can buy cheap inferior, hobby store brushes of the same type. For sables they are as good. But I admit I buy a couple of sables from my local Utrecht store (also online or catalog). I buy so few, and I can buy them very, very reasonable from Utrecht. I use them for signing and for facial detail in a portrait or figure piece (eyes, usually). The soap I use to wash a brush is just a good grease cutting dish soap. I may use an old tooth brush always brushing from the ferrel to the tip in a single stroke, but mostly with the palm of my hand. Take care of your brushes and they will take care of you.
Another reason for buying the best brushes is the quality of you work will improve faster. True the way a good brush works, but mainly because it won't fight you and take your attention away from what is important to be doing and thinking about (the sign) You will learn better since you can stay focused.
Okay, I am going to post this, get some lunch and then later today,I will post another segment starting with your paints.:)

[Anita Murphy]

John - superb advice! I am one of those horrible people that has a mess on my palette. I am going to try and be more controlled! One thing about that though - at what point do you clean your palette. Because oils stay usable for so long I don't want to clean my palette daily. But then some colours dry faster than others - and then are impossible to clean off while others are still usable. Any tips?

[Rosic]

Gonna organize my palette John... promise!

Thanks!!!!

[Visualone]

Well, Well. It appears we have at least a couple of confessed culprits of messy palette:rolleyes: I'll bet there are a few more out there if the truth be known:) All I can say is everybody, do yourself a favor and organize and clean your palettes.
Before I get going on the next part I would like to answer a good question that was just asked. Clean your palette when it needs it. What I do is this; Let's say your mixing area is pretty much covered and you need more space for more mixtures, but there are some piles of mixed color that you wish to keep. I scrape just that color or colors with a clean palette knife and place each saved color at the top edge of my palette in order of light to dark. Then I clean off the mixing are and start mixing the new so I may continue painting. If it's the end of the painting day, I will save the colors I want to save just as before and clean the palette mixing area completely clean for the next day. This makes it always easy to clean. Besides a palette knife I used a razor glass scrapper, then wipe it (the Palette) down with clean thinner. As far as the tube colors I put our, I use most all of the paint well before it could ever dry, so I am constantly adding fresh color to the palette. This is another reason for an organized palette. Every color goes in the same place everytime, no matter what. Notice how the white is built up. That's about three or four years to grow to that height. Folks it is easy. Do yourself this favor. Make yourself do it the same way everytime and within a very short time you will do it with out thinking about it. It will be a habit. The messy way is just a habit also, but a bad one. Every pro artist I know or have met has an organized palette, save one. She just likes to spend money on glass panes to mess up, I think. Don't get me wrong, she is a dear friend of many years and I bug her about it all the time. No names, but it is not cowgirl06. It's another friend.
One other thing about when to clean. I am leaving town the middle of July for a show. Cowgirl06 will be leaving her home for that same show. I will remove all the paint from the palette. The dried tube color will be there, but there will be no wet paint and the mixing surface will be cleaned with a little lacquer thinner. This will remove all residue from the mixing surface. When I return (since I live in the desert) I will wipe the dust off with a clean towel, load my palette and get to work. No hard paint to scrape. A fresh, clean palette. When you come home from a trip, do you like to clome home to a messy house and dirty dishes? Of course not. Why should your palette and studio be any different. I will be coming home with hundreds of new photos and lots of plein air studies and all hot to get to work on all new pieces. The last thing I want to do is scrape the palette and clean the studio. I don't mean to "beat this subject to death, but it will make so much improvement to your learnig enviroment and your "muse" will be wanting to come in and work with you.
Now I would like to say some about your paints. Just like your brushes, you should buy the best paint you can afford. In this day of the internet and mail order, there are a number of suppliers that you can get top quality paints for a very reasonable price. I know I said some about this earlier, but there are suppliers like Utrecht that have their own brand (they make it themselves) and it is excellent artist grade paint. In fact I use a lot of this, because I like the color mostly and the consistancy and quality. The prices are very reasonable. I also buy from Jerry's Artarama. They carry a huge range of brands and products and are very inexpensive. Both of these will very often have sales and the prices are even better. I buy my oil primed linen at Utrecht and buy their "house" brand portrait grade Type 820 for all but my figures, then I buy Claessens Type 13 Ultra Smooth linen, also from Utrecht. But I urge you to find what you prefer to work on. I think though if you try working on oil primed linen for oil painting you will fall in love with the way it works and the way the finished piece looks. It is nowhere as absorbant as acrylic primed (so called gesso) canvas or linen. Oil primed is much harder to stretch and it cannot get a kink or dimple in it for that won't come out. Acrylic primed cotton canvas is very forgiving, but is not as archival and ease of working as the oil primed. Now you can buy these linens and canvas pre-stretched from Utrecht also, but this adds up and you are limited to standard sizes/ Which can be very limiting. I stretch all my own. I would recommend each of you learn to stretch linen or canvas. There will come a day when you get a commission to paint for a specific space. I did one that was 40"x 84" to fit an area in a home. Another was 60"x 44" to fit in a large stairwell of a country club. Neither are any where near a standard size. It is not just the big commissions either. What if you had a chance to get a hand made musum quality gold leaf frame for little or nothing, but it is 22"x 30"? Again not a standard size. You might say "What's the chance of that happening?" Well if you lived here in Arizona or were attending a workshop at the Scottsdale Artist School, they have used frames in great shape for pennies on the dollar. These are frames from the galleries and sometimes pro artists that have gone unused and they want to clear their storage space for inventory. There are usually some great deals to be had there. This is not the only place this might happen, so I would check these places out.
Back to the paint. Oil paint is made of three ingredients basically. Pigment (color), Oil (usually linseed or safflower oils), and filler. The cheaper the paint, the more filler and lees pigment or a synthetic pigment. The quality paints (artist or professional grade) have little filler, lots of quality pigment (more concentrated), and the proper amount of oil. Now, knowing this you can see why the following is true. You will use less quality paint to do the same amount of work a it would take to do it with cheap (student grade). Plus the quality paint gives you better color mixtures easier and with less color than cheap paints. Artist grade will cost more to buy intially, but this is a false premise. You will use 3 to 4 times the student stuff to every one of the artist grade. You do the math. Student is a sales gimmick. Besides with the suppliers I have already mentioned, the costs are not as bad as you may think. You will actually save money with the quality paints. Another tip. I use Odorless Mineral Spirits (paint thinner) from Ace Hardware (about $3.00 per gallon) instead of citrus scented mineral spirits called by several different names ( Turpenoid and others) from the art supply stores at $15.00- $20.00 per gallon.
Here is another advantage to limited palettes. I can buy a total 9 colors and mix almost everycolor you can buy or see in any subject. Add 2 more and I can mix the rest. I am not including white in this and I should because white will change colors completely as well as lighten and cool them. So say a total of 12 colors in all. Most of my paiintings are done with 3-4 colors plus white. Can you spell S-A-V-E M-O-N-E-Y? Now you can afford the good stuff, my friends.
Normally I would talk about keeping a Log of your work when it was handy and appropriate to slip it into the lesson plan, usually at the end during Q & A time. Due to this format I will mention it here before I get into the more technical aspects of painting fundementals.
I keep a log of every painting I do. I have a program on my computer called "Working Artist" ( www.workingartist.com (http://www.workingartist.com/) phone # 1-800-897-3758) by Kathryn Townsend. This is a great program for an artist. It is about $100.00 and well worth every penny. I can log in every painting with all it's details, its own inventory number, size, medium, price (wholesale and retail, with or without frame), date finished, where consigned to and that address, notes about the painting and a picture of it. That is just one page. There are folders for vendors you may use, client lists, supply inventory, and on and on. I recommend you look into this. I put every painting in this and make backups (CD's and Hard copy print outs). I can tell you where every unsold painting is and how long it has been there and a load of other info on each one. This program has saved me several times now when a dealer or customer asked about a painting or I wondered where it was or if I had been paid for its sale. If you don't do this, you have to do it all by hand (very time consuming and you could be painting) and it could save you from a "lost" painting. It has me. If you look at the back of my paintings, on overage canvas that wraps around the stretcher bars (primed side), you will see a number, title, my name, and a month and year written in permanent maker (Sharpie). This corresponds to an entry in my log and every thing about that painting is there. Think about the provenance 10 years, 50 years, 100 years from now also (if anybody will care then:) ). I recommend it and especially for the professional or artist that does sell some of their work.
Okay art fans, that's about it for the day. I hope I haven't bored you to much. Believe it or not this is important stuff and you will need it. If not now, but in the near future.
Peope think the business of painting is a simple one. It is not. In fact it is a full time job with many hats to wear. I hope I can give some ideas of how to deal with them.
Tomorrow we get down to the technical stuff ( not rocket science, but technical)
John
www.johncoxfineart.com

{[Edit by Rosic to fix broken link]}

[stoney]

Wow. All sorts of good stuff. Thanks John.

[Rosic]

John... in post #46 you mentioned you use Mars/Ivory Black... is that from the Utrecht tube or do you mix Mars Black and Ivory Black? If so what's the advantage of the mixture vs plain Mars Black or Ivory Black? Thanks in advance...
Bern

[Visualone]

Hi Bernie,
The Mars/ Ivory Black is a Utrecht tube color Ivory black is often used because of it's lower tinting strength, slow drying and semi tranparency, but to much under another color will crack if not pretty dry before being brushed over with another color. Mars Black is a very dense opaque black, but very stable and quick drying. The mixture seems to take care of the problems each have. It dries more like the other colors, not to strong, but stronger than Ivory in tinting strength. It just seems to be a good compromise. I like it alot.
John
www.johncoxfineart.com

[antgeek]

good info, i am getting ready! appreciate the comparison of the blacks, good to know.

[TTHOMPIE]

OK......read....comprehend.....and am arguing about the sense of not having a bunch of little piles of white all over the mixing area.

Fighting attitude problem. Darn teachers think they know everything!

Thinking of a compromise...

white...colors up the left side...white in the corner....colors left to right on the top....and white (only 3 piles of white)

[VArtist]

Hi Mr. Cox!

I'm very new to painting and I am trying to learn everything. Thanks for taking you time to do this! I started with a very limited pallette due to the class I took at the time, but the minute I was out of my teacher's watchful eye, I purchased a ton of pretty paints. I really had a hard time controlling them and my color harmony was aweful, so I'm back to using a very limited pallete, very close to yours actually. OK I'm babbling, I do have a question, if you don't mind.

When you speak of keeping your pallette organized are you also speaking of mixing colors (ie earth tones in one confined area, greens in another). I tend to make a mess of my pallette pretty quickly. I lay out the colors like you've demonstrated, but it has never occurred to me to be more controlled in mixing space.

Thanks!
Angie

[bjs0704]

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to let all of you know that John's been having a bit of trouble logging into WC. We've let Kerri know about the problem. I'm sure that he will post as soon as he can.

Best wishes,

Barb Solomon:cat:
Classical Forum Moderator

[Anita Murphy]

Great stuff - John! I am shamefaced about my messy palette but at least I stood up and said "My name is Anita, and I have a messy palette!" :D

The 12 colours you mention - could you list them for us?

[Rosic]

Hi Bernie,
The Mars/ Ivory Black is a Utrecht tube color Ivory black is often used because of it's lower tinting strength, slow drying and semi tranparency, but to much under another color will crack if not pretty dry before being brushed over with another color. Mars Black is a very dense opaque black, but very stable and quick drying. The mixture seems to take care of the problems each have. It dries more like the other colors, not to strong, but stronger than Ivory in tinting strength. It just seems to be a good compromise. I like it alot.
John
www.johncoxfineart.com

Thanks so much John... :wave:

[stoney]

Great stuff - John! I am shamefaced about my messy palette but at least I stood up and said "My name is Anita, and I have a messy palette!" :D

The 12 colours you mention - could you list them for us?

Mine turns into a disaster as well, but I'm working on it.

[antgeek]

poor jon, first the air conditioning, now the internet connection...the heat probably melted his modem!:eek: hope things get straightened out soon.

[cowgirl06]

Hello Everyone!

Like me, I know you are all waiting to hear those pearls of wisdom from John. He is still working on the internet problem. He can access every site but this one. Strange. He asks for your patience. I've offered up my son in Texas for tech advice so that may help. I have the same problem with the site for The National Wildlife Museum. My computer just brings up a blank screen. Has this ever happened to any of you? If so, how did you fix it? I know there is a solution out there somewhere!!:confused:

I will relay any advice you can come up with to John!

Sheri (cowgirl06)

[Anita Murphy]

Sounds like WetCanvas server is refusing to answer his computer - don't know why it would do that.

[stoney]

Hello Everyone!

Like me, I know you are all waiting to hear those pearls of wisdom from John. He is still working on the internet problem. He can access every site but this one. Strange. He asks for your patience. I've offered up my son in Texas for tech advice so that may help. I have the same problem with the site for The National Wildlife Museum. My computer just brings up a blank screen. Has this ever happened to any of you? If so, how did you fix it? I know there is a solution out there somewhere!!:confused:

I will relay any advice you can come up with to John!

Sheri (cowgirl06)

Hmmmm. How's his computer's fragmentation level? You start getting close to 72 percent unfragmented and things can get wierd. Crosslinks can also be odd. I'd suggest running Windoctor then Disk Doctor. If, for 'c' drive, it comes up with can't read/access partion c/d/e/f/g/...(or some such) tell it yes/yes/yes/yes... and to correct errors. It will probably say something about 'c' drive-click yes and if it does for any other partion(s). Regardless of what comes up like 'there were no problems' reboot the computer and let it fix the problem.

On occasion, the computer reboots, fixes the problem, then reboots into windows and you've got another problem. Run Disk Doctor again.

Another possibility (or both) is simply the CPU on the motherboard is overheating due to 'dust bunnies.' Power down the computer and remove the left side of the case. Don't touch anything, but use a flashlight inside the computer case. If the bottom of the case has lots of dust then you can be sure the CPU heat sink's full of dust bunnies.

Get a #1 phillips screwdriver *nonmagnetic* and a pair of forceps or tweezers. There will be a small fan on the motherboard. Keeping one hand on the metal frame of the computer (ESD protection) use the phillips in the other hand to gently loosen the screws from the heatsink behind the fan and dismount the fan. Use the tweezers or forceps to remove all the dust bunnies. Be careful not to bend the fins of the heat sink.

Either a can of dry air or by puffing via your mouth you can blow out all the dust from the case. Once that's done gently replace the fan and lightly snug the screws-make sure you don't reverse the fan. Replace the open side of the case and power back up.

[stoney]

Sounds like WetCanvas server is refusing to answer his computer - don't know why it would do that.

It's on it's coffee break? :angel:

[Julianne]

Thanks for this great information, John. Well, my palette is organised, and I put it along the color wheel, however I may benefit from putting white closer to me, for instance. Right now it's at the top left diagonal of my palette, my colors go along the top horizontal and the left vertical (if you know what I mean). I've noticed in a few DVDs I'd gotten lately that some of those artists have their white close to them as well and their colors laid out along different parts of the palette to mine. It's all very interesting, obviously there's no right or wrong way to do it as long as it's consistent and works for you. These are things that one can experiment with, I guess.

[cowgirl06]

Thanks Stoney,

I called John and relayed your message. He has tried all your suggestions. I'm having my son call him tonight to see if he can help.

Hang in there everyone. I know it's worth the wait!

Sheri (cowgirl06)

[idcrisis55]

Thanks Stoney,

Hang in there everyone. I know it's worth the wait!

Sheri (cowgirl06)

Definitely hanging in for as long as it takes :) Hope they figure out the gremlins soon because of how frustrating it must be.

Ann

[Suzun]

Sheri,

One thing that John might try is to flush the cache. I've seen many weird problems caused by the browser cache.

In Internet Explorer the way to flush the cache is to go to the Tools menu, then choose Internet Options. In that window, on the General tab, in the middle of the box is Temporary Internet Files and under that several buttons. To delete the cache - click the Delete Files button. If the cache hasn't been cleaned out in a while, this could take a little while.

In Firefox, from the Tools menu, select Options, then in the next window, select the Privacy tab and on that window there is a button for clearing the cache.

After I clear the cache, I generally like to re-boot the computer - with a complete shutdown, wait a few minutes, and turn it back on again.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that this may help.

[ryster007]

I combatted the dreaded messy palette by buying a pad of disposables. I just thought I was spending more ttime cleaning than painting, also the thought of cleaning was putting me off starting new pics!!.
Rest assured I will try to be more organised from now- can't wait for the painting to start!

Ryan

[Nickel]

Just a quick note from John to you all!

Please tell all I will be back at it asap.
John



John, we've all crossed our fingers for you and wish you much luck!


Nickel

[stoney]

Thanks Stoney,

I called John and relayed your message. He has tried all your suggestions. I'm having my son call him tonight to see if he can help.

Hang in there everyone. I know it's worth the wait!

Sheri (cowgirl06)

Welcome, Sheri. He tried them and none of them were it. At least he won't have to be concerned for awhile of overheating problems. Hmmmm. Did he try reloading his Windows Internet Explorer programme?

Firefox is a good browser and there's no charge for it.
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/central/

If he tries that and connects to WC then it would appear to be a gremlin in Internet Explorer.

[TTHOMPIE]

I might have had the same problem? I'm not sure. Couldn't get onto WetCanvas, but was able to get onto other web sites. I had a note in my book as to what to do to block/unblock cookies and web sites and followed these directions.....

START
control panel
internet options
privacy
edit

at this point.....your at an area where you can put web addresses that are to be allowed or not allowed. I removed....and added wetcanvas.com

hit OK and then OK again

Then I was able to get back on. I had to put my name and password again....that was being entered before by my computer....I guess whatever went wrong removed that.

I have no clue if this was actually the problem or not....but....after I did that I was able to get back on....and it's easy enough to try (at least for someone who can stay calm enough to read).

I also erased the PC cookies while I was at it.

[rosebard]

Sorry to hear that John is unable to log in. Dont know what to suggest. I will just keep my fingers crossed while waiting for him.

[artbyjune]

Sorry to hear about the pc problems. Hope it clears up soon...

[cowgirl06]

TThompie & Suzun,

Thanks for the hints, I've sent them on to John. Both sounded good to me. Hopefully one or the other will work.

Sheri

[TerriMarie]

Hi Sheri,

I think it could be Johns ISP blocking a port, which would block him from seeing WC - Maybe have him try to access WC through it's IP address -

Hmmm every time I type the numbers in it comes up wetcanvas.com LOL

I'll put spaces between the numbers - but when he types in the address do it with no spaces, and keep the "." in there too -

http:// 64 . 40 . 100 . 32 /

It's worth a try....

Teresa

[jdadson]

The problem might have to do with JavaScript. Wetcanvas uses it. Many web sites don't. Without a description of what he does and doesn't see when he tries to go to www.wetcanvas.com, it's hard to say. One question you should always ask when something breaks is, "What was the last thing you changed?"

Here are some things to try:

1. The wetcanvas web pages contain JavaScript errors. If he's using Internet Explorer, have him go to Tools/internet options/advanced. Disable script debugging, and uncheck "Display a notification about every script error."

2. Under tools/internet options/security, click on "internet", and then click on "default settings" if the button is not greyed out.

3. If he is running anti-virus stuff, be sure it's not blocking javascript. I don't know if any anti-virus stuff does that, but I've had problems with it blocking other kinds of scripting.

4. Download Mozilla Firefox and try that.

[Visualone]

Miracle of miracles!! After trying all of ya'll's suggestions and evrything myself and friends suggested absolutely nothing worked. This morning at 6:30 I tried to log onto WC and nada. I checked my emails in Outlook then ate breakfast. I came back in to read a few of my "favorite" sites and out of habit tried Wet Canvas. TA Daa!!! it came up immediately. I did nothing but click the link in My Favorites. They say a computer is a machine and will only do what it is told. I don't believe that for a second!:) I want to thank all of you for hanging in there with me during this time and thanks for the suggestions. Thanks especially to Nickle and Cowgirl. Thanks guys.
Well, let's get going! Now I hope all have cleaned and organized your palettes.:thumbsup: Those of you that are using a paper palette here's a tip. If your colors are arranged as I suggested or something similar, lay out your colors along and parrallel to the gummed (sealed side). This way when the mixing area is used up, take a single edged razor blade cut along (parrallel) between the palette colors and the mixing are as close as you can. Then just take away the dirty mixing area.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/27-Jun-2006/50323-Paper_Palette.jpg
See I've saved you more money since you won't need to buy so many paper palettes.:)
To start I would like to define some terms you are going to be hearing for the rest of the time you are involved in art and painting. You really do need a clear understanding of them. Some may be easily misunderstood, so please get these down firmly in your mind.
Hue: This is the color. Red, yellow, blue, etc. This is also known as "chroma" but some interchange it with intensity(more on this in a moment), so I don't like this as it can become confusing. I don't use it. If you hear or see someone using this term clarify what definition they mean. I won't be using it here.
Value: This is how light or dark a color is. There are 10 values. Some say 9, but I count white. I would suggest you get a gray scale like photograpers use. or make one for yourself. Each color has it's value. In fact a cad. yellow light is actually darker than you would think. Values are 10 (9) equally divided gray steps ranging from black to white. Value is the most important dimension of color. When something is "wrong" with a painting you are working on, the very first thing you should do is check your values. This is the most often made mistake made, aside from drawing, but we are talking paint now, so value is the most common mistake. See what I mean by the fundementals will save you. Learn them, know them, use them. Value will be used a lot in this workshop. To give you an idea of how important it is think of this. No matter what colors you use, say a face done with purple shadows and yellow and orange lights. If the values are correct, viewers will believe it. They will think the person depicted is lit by late afternoon light probably. But it is believeable. Values are IMPORTANT.
Intensity:This is how strong a color is in tinting strength, to the eye. Sometimes people are fooled by intensity and value. Intensity is often "bright", value is "light or dark". Remember when I said cad. yellow light is darker than you may think? I was referring to this concept. Yellow is "bright" but it is not as light as one might think. Look at this value scale and the colors value as an example. By the way I want to say that the color examples in this color discussion come from the Grumbacher Color Compass. I have one next to my easel and a Munsell color wheel as well. They are both extremely usefull almost daily.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/27-Jun-2006/50323-Value_Scale.jpg
I am going to explain this next part in the three primary color system. This is the most familiar to nearly every artist or people who work with color. There are other systems, but all are a variation or based on this system in some way. This is generally the easiest understood. It is not perfect, though and is even lacking in many ways. But I urge you to know this and then look into and learn other systems, particularly the Munsel System. I will give a list at the end of the workshop where you may find items and books mentioned in this workshop. I don't want you running out and buying a bunch of stuff, reading it and getting confused with what I am saying here. It is all basically the same info, just explained differently, but this can sometimes cause confusion though. After this workshop though I would recommend you look into many of these sources for reference and further knowledge.
While I am explaining this some of you may just skim over it since you already know this. I ask that you read this as I will be explaining some important concepts, ways of thinking, that I use for limited palettes. It will reveal a lot to you. So here we go....
There are three (3) primarly colors, red, yellow, blue. Imagine them arranged in a equal sided triangle with yellow at the top, red on your left corner and blue on the right corner.
Secondary colors, orange, violet, and green. Place each half way between the primaries. Orange between yellow and red, violet between red and blue, and green between blue and yellow. You now have two triangles, one pointing up, one pointing down.
Intermediate colors, these are the colors made by mixing a primary and a secondary and they are placed equidistant between the colors mixed from. Now you have a color wheel.
Tertiary colors, are the colors inside the color circle of intense colors (full strength). You can call them complimentary colors also as they are mixed by combining the colors directly opposite on the color wheel. They will be "duller" than the outer circle as soon as you mix any two colors it becomes a form of gray. Gray we will learn is not necessarily a mix of black and white. Gray can be any color. Red and white makes pink. It is also a form of gray and because of the white it is also "cooler" than the red it was made from. Even if it was made from a very "warm" red like Cad. Red Light (almost an orange). This is true about every mixture. Paintings are a combination of many grays with maybe a pure color to make a high note higher. Have you got that? By placing a very intense pure or almost pure color in an area surrounded by grays (of all colors), the intense color will appear brighter than it would with all intense (bright) colors around it. Now use a cool intense color next to warm grays and it is brighter yet. The opposite is equally true, warm intense color surrounded by cool grays. I have, and will demonstrate later used a very light Winsor Green (a pthalo) as a highlight from the sun on a warm colored cheek in a portrait.
Temperature is what a color is associated with. Reds, yellows, oranges and variations of these colors with sunlight, fire and such. Blues and greens suggest ice, water, etc. This can be a confusing concept to grasp and I will do my best to keep it simple and as clear as I can. The colors I named are a general statement, but a warm color can be a cool when compared to another warm color. Same with cool colors. Examples: Cad. Red light is warmer than Cad. Red Medium and warmer yet compared to Alizarin Crimson. Ultramarine Blue is warmer than Cobalt blue (slightly) and warmer yet than a Thalo Blue. Cad. Lemon Yellow is cooler than Cad. Yellow light or Cad. Yellow Medium. Now pay close attention here. As yellow moves toward orange and on to red, it is getting cooler. Yellows are the very warmest colors. All other colors are cooler than yellow.
Now, why is tempurature so important? The answer is because of it's usefullness in so many ways. As value can indicate shape and contour, so can color tempurature. This is very useful for all subjects, not just the following example. Say you are doing a portrait and you want to start "turning" a cheek or a forehead, but due to the somewhat "flat" lighting you are limited to how many values you can use to create the illusion of the cheeks form. By cooling the color on the cheek you can "turn" the corner as much as 40 degrees and not change value at all. Learn to conserve your values. Color tempurature is a tool to help you do this.
By conserving values you can avoid having your painting to look to "contrasty" ( a technical term:) ). Sargent tried to use only 5 values in any single painting, but 6 is okay in some situations (back lit bright sunlight for instance). You can choose 5 or 6 from the darker end of the scale or the lighter end or out of the middle. Your subject matter will dictate which values you need to use. Practice "squinting" to identify the dominant values and shapes to identify which values you will need to use. You can also use a valu finder, but I recommend you learn the "squinting" method. Otherwise you will be constantly "leaning" on the value finder and trying to match every value in the scene and you don't need them all. Just get what is important for each shape to be defined. Squinting also keeps your hands free for more important tasks,like brushes and paper towels.
An interesting exercise to try is if you wear glasses for distance, try doing a painting without your glasses. Kevin MacPherson does this in his book, "Fill Your Oil Paintings With Light And Color" It will surprise you.
Now that we have an understanding of the terms I will be using lets get a little more deeper into them. We started with color terms and how the color wheel is arranged, so I will start explaining about color mixing.
As all by now know I am a believer in limited palettes. I have been very fortunate to become friend in some cases and work with in others with many very fine and, in some cases, nationally and internationally famous artists and 95% use some form of limited palettes. I wonder why?:rolleyes: Hopefully we will find out here.
When I speak of a limited palette, it is not just three colors, though I often use only that. A limited palette can be 3, 4, 5, 6 and even seven colors, but anything after 6 or 7 I think we are really stretching to definition of limited palette. So I will confine this workshop to no more than seven, if that many. I want you all to be aware that I am not and do not count white as a color since it is used in most everything to some extent.
All of the colors I use (in fact all colors made) are a form of red, yellow,or blue. The main colors I use ( and always have a good stock of) are:

YELLOWS:
Utrecht Cad. Lemon; Cad. Yellow Light;
REDS:
Utrecht Cad. Red light and Medium; Winsor Red ( for special uses); Gamblin Permanent Alizarin; Winsor Newton Permanent Rose (for special uses); Rembrandt Transparent Red Oxide (for special uses)
Blues:
Utrecht Ultramarine Deep; Utrecht Cobalt Blue Genuine;UtrechtMars/Ivory
Black Mixture
GREEN:
Winsor Green (for special uses and used rarely and sparingly)
WHITE:
Utrecht White ( a combination of titanium white and zinc white made by Utrecht) I like the opacity, drying time and neutrality of this white
You will note that black is listed with the blues. This is because I use it as if it were a blue. Make sense? Well, think this way, any time I would use a blue in a mixture I can use black instead. For some interesting, greens mix my two yellows with black, for more variety add some red more variety add some white. This can be done with any of the other colors and black. A beautiful brown can be made with either of Cad. reds and black. Modify this with a little yellow for more variety.
I have asked about flesh tones. Try this. Make a light valued orange with Cad. Lemon and Perm. Alizarin and white. Now modifiy this with a little black I get some lovely flesh tones from this mixture. Look back to the beginning of this workshop at the nude "Kelli" a kneeling nude with a pink towel from hips down. The colors I just described are what was used for the flesh in this painting. This is only one way of mixing flesh. I will be doing two small portrait demos in this workshop later. In this demo I will do a white model (blonde) and a black model with the same colors. It is values folks not so much what colors are used.:) One will lean more heavily towards the yellows, the other more towards blues and reds.
I want all of you to think of this question. What color is flesh? I mean real human flesh. The answer in a moment. I want you to think about it while you look at this painting.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/27-Jun-2006/50323-After_Her_Bath_Full_Print_copy.jpg
"After Her Bath" 16"x 12" oil Palette: Permanent Alizarin, Cad. Lemon and black plus use of white.
The answer is.... TAA DAA! Any color you want it to be. I'm not being a wise guy, that is the answer. The reason is flesh no matter what race is a translucent gray if you look at it by itself. The color come from the amount of melaline (sp?) in the skin and the underlying muscle and blood vessels and veins. The skin by itself has no real color. The surroundings, and the light a subject is portrayed in are what dictate what color the flesh is. Look at the painting just above, it leans towards the reds, but the values and shapes give you the information you need to identify who and what the subject is. Check the palette. It is exactly the same colors used in "Kelli", shown at the beginning.
At this point I am going to take a lunch break and pray I can get back on Wet Canvas and post more today.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[jdadson]

TA Daa!!! it came up immediately. I did nothing but click the link in My Favorites. They say a computer is a machine and will only do what it is told. I don't believe that for a second!

Welcome back. You do know what happened, right? The URL stored in "My Favorites" was spelled correctly. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone.

[antgeek]

hurrah! happy to be reading the next installment, hope the computer issues are resolved. thanks for not giving up on this!

[lonestar]

this is great. john, you're very clear in what you write. i can see it all happening. i look forward to the next post.
thanks.
dawn

[Rosic]

Can't believe this one doesn't have 5 stars yet... ;)

[Nickel]

It has five stars now!!!
Welcome back John!!!!!!
Great tip on the paper palette!
Now to tear into the rest of this post, piece by piece....
I'll be busy for awhile soaking up all the good information.
Thanks

[cowgirl06]

So nice to be back in class!! I am copying all this into Word and making a folder so I can reread everything.

Thanks everyone for all the help and suggestions for John. This is a great place with such nice people.:D I

I've gotten lots of wonderful information from all sorts of places around the site.

Sheri

[rosebard]

How nice John is back!!!! Great!!! :) Welcome back John. :)

Sheri great to have you among us too. WC is agreat place. Being a home for me over an year now. :)

[Rosic]

Sheri mentioned saving this in a word file for future study and it made me think of a WC tool that many may not know about... simply click on the drop down menu at the top of this thread titled "Thread Tools"... you can then click on "Show Printable Version" for an easy to print and/or view version. You can even adjust it to show 40 posts on one page. COOL!

[Robin Neudorfer]

Welcome Back.
I think you knew there were a few of us that needed time to clean our palettes.
I love the paper palette suggestion. I use glass, but was around the perimeter not knowing why that wasn't a good idea. Now I have made note and will begin with a fresh approach. Limiting the colors will also help when I paint outdoors.
Thank you for your clarity and wonderful information.

[blindhorse]

John,
Can't thank you enough for hanging in there in spite of all the heat gremlins and computer gremlins. This work shop means so much to me. Already you have answered dozens of questions which I have had. Thanks a million.
Yes, I was a pallette trasher---I'm now reformed. Am also saving these pearls of wisdom for future reference. Can't wait for the next ones.

[artbyjune]

Welcome back John. I too am saving the notes to a file for reading as I go along.

[Visualone]

Hi Everbody,
I'm gald everybody is hanging in there with me. I am running late today, I forgot today is framing day. I just got back with my frames and will start posting the next lesson in about and hour. I just wanted to check in so you knew the Cyber gremlins were not back. I still have no idea what happened those few days. The problem first occurred starting from My Favorites and continued from there. That is why I tried all the other ways I caould trying to get in. When it finally let me on it was just as big a surprise to me when it worked becuase I always started from that point everyday. Oh well, what counts is it is now working. Be back after lunch. Bear with me.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[TTHOMPIE]

OK - read and re-read .... fell asleep at the keyboard.....read again.....and said OK...now that makes sense.

So....I'm with you!

[Visualone]

Okay! I'm back, lunch is over and I have run out of excuses.:rolleyes: So let's get to it.
I was dicussing colors, so I will continue. I do want to say though, that one of the most common things I hear from students and even a few artists is how expensive art supplies are, and it's true they are. You don't even want ot see what I spend each year in supplies and frames. It is not in the hundreds, both are in the thousands. Why am commenting on this? Is it just because I returned from picking up my frames? No neither is correct. The answer is to make a point about my methods and what I have been expressing in earlier posts. If you look at the difference in price of student grade and professional grade supplies it really isn't that much in most cases. But when you factor in the fact that pro grades last longer and go farther and do a better job, save you time and allow you to learn what is important instead of struggling with your tools and materials, the pro grades are actually cheaper. By using some form of limited palette you also have to buy less tubes of paint. I also save by buying, whenever I can, the 150ml tubes (148 ml). Same paint but for less money I get the equivelent of 4 tubes of color in one large tube instead of paying more for a box of three tubes (111 ml) It's like getting one tube free. Check the catalogs and compare.
In frames it is much the same, in a slightly different way. Put a cheapo frame on a good painting or even average painting it does nothing except maybe down grade it a step or two and make a sale harder to come by. Put a good frame on, you pay more, but look what it does for you work and it will sell faster and easier. You put a lot of hard work into your painting, tell the world you are proud of it. Why would you want to put it out there in a cheap frame and in effect say this is all I think of my work. Frames are expensive out of pocket and you have to wait for a sale to recoup the money, so try this. Put the best frame on your painting you can. A rule of thumb is buy a frame that is about 10% of retail price. If your prices are over $1000 or $1500 and you are selling through a gallery make that 10% of your, share usually 50-60% of retail. Otherwise you are giving the gallery part of the price of your frame. Buy the best you can for the best work you can do.
Back to color. I use a system of color mixing I call "color bridging". Now as far as I know that is not a commonly used term. I use it because the artist that showed it to me called it that. It is basically a way of working with the Munsell color system.
As most of you are aware each color has it's own frequency. Look at a rainbow or how the colors are arrange when seperated with a prism. They are always in a specific order. So if we arrange our colors on our palette and then use this when moving from one color to to another it will simulate nature and it will make sense to the mind of the viewer. A little convuluted maybe so let me try and explain. In color bridging when I change color I change from one color to the next in a natural progression. In other words; Let's say I have a light area that is a warm yellow and I want to move gradually into the blue shadow area. If the over all color of your painting leans towards warm, I would have the light warm yellow move to a slightly darker orange, a touch of red, then violet, then the blue. Now I am not talking about big wide bands of each of these colors, I talking about blending through this spectrum very quickly. All of these colors will be in the blend. This gives you the idea of how color is arranged naturally and how it moves from one color to the next. If you were to "bend this around where the two ends meet, the red and blue would make a violet and you would have a color wheel.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/28-Jun-2006/50323-Color_Mixing_copy.jpg
Using this method is a way of "holding a painting together" colorwise. In a painting if you were to just jump from one color to the next paying no attention to the natural order, you painting will look disjointed and contrasty (your values will probably be of as well because of this). If you do this and blend and soften your edges well you will have "dirty' color areas where two or three colors come together. I hope I am being clear. This is one of those areas where I can actually demonstrate for better understanding than put it in words, but sense this isn't a video I will give you this explaination and then when I start painting I will keep talking and pointing out what I am doing. I am sure there are going to be plenty of questions and this is an important area. It's color mixing for goodness sake!:) So please raise your hand and ask and I will answer this right away. I want everyone clear on this. This method is going to simplify your color sense, color mixing, color matching and values. Your paintings will be colorful and you will have an unlimited color range from just these few tubes of color. So, please speak up and ask your questions since I can't come around to each of you and show it to you as I would in an actual workshop.
Now in my last lesson post I told you all the colors I use. BUUUT, I don't want you to think I use all of them in each painting all the time. I do not. I will look at what I plan to paint and start asking myself questions. First, Is the overall subject warm or cool. This narrows my choices a little. Next is the painting High key or low key (value scale)? Basically how light or dark is the overall subject. By the way I am squintingwhile doing this. I will lay out the colors that will make the colors and values i see most accurately. If it is a bright day lit scene in the Rocky mountain springtime I may lay out two yellows, two reds, a blue (probably a Cobalt Blue) and white. If it is a gray, dreary day it may be one yellow, one red, one black (probably black) and white. Make sense? Back to the sketch now. I don't need any details, in fact even if I am going to do a photo realistic figure or portrait the details at this point tend to get in my way. Details are the last thing to worry about. Next I will ask myself what can I eliminate and still say what I nedd and want to say. Usually at this point I have a small sketch book and a pencil in hand or a canvas and brush as in plein aire or any live work. A sketch book is recommended though. Easier to make corrections. I will now mass in my dark areas and see or make a pattern of these. Note I said masses, not draw the eyelashes on a moose or the blades of grass.:) With this arrangement decided (this is part of composition also) because in doing the arranging we are also composing. Once all this is decided I will begin to paint.
I know this has been a little cold, just the facts, ma'am, but I wanted you to start thinking about these things. When I start the demos I will be going over them and showing each step. I found in workshops if I "talk" a painting, and how I start it "sinks" in a little better. You have heard it before and when i just go straight to the demo in class people are so busy watching what i am doing and saying the get behind taking a note here and there and start missing things. If I talk first then demo they are not surprised with a new idea or method. In this form (cyber) it is probably not as important to do this , but it's my habit and helps keep me organized.
Next post you are going to start getting pictures and some demos.
More later.:wave:
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[jdadson]

I have a "high chroma row" along the top of my palette that's blended between paint nuts like that. But I do it a little differently. I have lemon yellow at both ends. It seems right to split the color wheel at the color that's lightest at its highest chroma.

A typical line-up goes like this, from left to right:

cad yellow lemon
phthalo green
ultramarine blue
quinacridone red
cad scarlet
cad yellow deep
cad yellow lemon

If I decide to use some additional or alternate high chroma tube color, I just put it in its proper place in line.

[Rosic]

You put a lot of hard work into your painting, tell the world you are proud of it.

John... thanks for not only teaching us technique but sharing your philosophies on painting.
Bern

[TTHOMPIE]

Do you pre-mix the main colors you plan on using and put them in their own special spots?

Do you pre-mix and arrange in value order?

(guess who has absolutely no system)

[Nickel]

So, please speak up and ask your questions since I can't come around to each of you and show it to you as I would in an actual workshop.

Well if you could come around and show me.....
you'd say Nickel you don't have any paint on your palette!!!
Put some paint on your palette and try this out!!! :)

Ok I am off to mix...:) :wave: Nickel

[stoney]

OK - read and re-read .... fell asleep at the keyboard.....read again.....and said OK...now that makes sense.

So....I'm with you!

Yes, John was framed. :( Be durned if I know who framed him or for what.

[antgeek]

Hi again jon,
the color bridging idea is new to me, how do you know which way to go to get to the other color? and is the blended area a 'gray' or are the colors distinct? will probably see this in the demo, but thought it would be good to clarify.

[stoney]

Back to color. I use a system of color mixing I call "color bridging". Now as far as I know that is not a commonly used term. I use it because the artist that showed it to me called it that. It is basically a way of working with the Munsell color system.
As most of you are aware each color has it's own frequency. Look at a rainbow or how the colors are arrange when seperated with a prism. They are always in a specific order. So if we arrange our colors on our palette and then use this when moving from one color to to another it will simulate nature and it will make sense to the mind of the viewer.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

John, it's interesting you used the terms frequency and prisms concerning colour. Are you familiar with Don Jusko's Real Colour Wheel?
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/1201/363/

[Nickel]

how do you know which way to go to get to the other color? and is the blended area a 'gray' or are the colors distinct?
Serra good question!!! I was wondering the same things.

Plus another question

If you do this and blend and soften your edges well you will have "dirty' color areas where two or three colors come together.

This is a good thing right John????

Thanks

Nickel

[jdadson]

As most of you are aware each color has it's own frequency. Look at a rainbow or how the colors are arrange when seperated with a prism.

I love your work, but I gotta call you on that one John. Every color we see is due to a distribution of frequencies. The color is determined by how those frequencies excite the three kinds of cones in our eyes. (It is possible for two different distributions to result in the same color.) There is no purple or magenta frequency, nor will you see those colors in the rainbow. That's because purples and magentas result from distributions of frequencies that include light from both ends of the rainbow.

[artbyjune]

Keeping up with it so far!!

[bjs0704]

I hate having to put on the moderator hat, but this thread is supposed to be about John's theories and techniques. I can appreciate that some of you may have questions and it is fine to ask for clarification.

But let's not get into really technical color theory debates. There's too many other things that we would miss out on.


John - I've been enjoying this thread so much! Great job!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Barb Solomon:cat:

[Visualone]

Good Morning All,
I want to take a moment to answer some questions here before I prepare todays lesson for post later (gotta scan some stuff into the computer) and if I don't answer your question to where you are completely clear on it, please ask until you are. I want to help all to understand as best I possibly can.
TThompie wanted to know about pre-mixing and where I put them. Yes, I do pre-mix my many of the colors for a painting that seem to be re-occurring colors and/or are the "root" or "base" color", if you will of a lot of the colors in the painting. For example, I may mix two or three values and/or tempuratures of shadow colors and likewise the colors in the light (warm) that are common throughout the scene. I will be demonstrating this very early in the main demo I do here later on and I think you will be able to see what I mean better. But I want to finish your question as well, I don't want to push it aside at all with my demo comment.
Let's say we are doing a landscape and shadows are in the majority. I will pre-mix a greater variety of colors, unless the darks are pretty much the same in which case I will just mix a lot of that in two or three values. Then I will scrape all of these into their respective piles and I will place these piles of pre-mix closer to me in the mixing area as is comfortable for me, but leaving plenty of mixing room for other colors and modifications to these pre-mixes. If the painting is primarily light and warm i would reverse what I described , mixing the light colors and placing them near me. Did I make that clear or did I just confuse? I hope I didn't confuse. :)
Next I will clean the area for the next mixtures. If you are using paper palettes try and use the ones that can withstand some wiping (for cleaning purposes) with a bit of thinner on a towel. We do not want to contaminate our new mixes and others that will follow. Neat, organized palette, remember? :)
Now that the area is clean, I pre-mix two or three of the light area colors and place them out of the way, but handy and clean the area I mixed in again. I placed the shadow area colors closest to me because they are what I will be using the most at the begining.
I also want it understood, these pre-mix colors are "ballpark" in color and value and slightly leaning to the darker values. They are not exact sice the surrounding colors once on the canvas may dictate a modification. You have so much more control in making a color lighter, but you will waste huge amounts of paint and become very frustrated trying to make a color darker. It can be done, but I certainly don't recommend it.That's the reason for leaning towards "the dark side". :0
Antgeek asked and Nickle seconded "How do you know which way to go using color bridging?" (I paraphrase there). In some ways the color effects you want to achieve in your painting will tell you, but a rule of thumb is to go the direction of the shortest distance. By that I mean, to go from lemon yellow to blue. Lemon is a cool yellow, so I go lemon yellow (my starting point) to a greens (mixed using the lemon and the blue) to blue. If I am at orange and want to go to blue. I go orange, red, violet blue. The violet will be slight and only because of the red blue combo. That being said if you have a overall "warm" painting, you will probably want to use the warmer "routes" saving your cools for a "discord" that make a statement and give balance and interest to an area. Remember when I mentioned using a cool color to make a highlight higher in a predominantly warm area? This is what I am talking about. Not to be shorting the answer, but this is also something I will go into more and be showing when I do the demos. But I do want you thinking about these answers and trying them in some mixtures on your palette as an exercise. Or look at your color wheel and start at one color and see which way is the shortest to another selected color. This will give you the basic idea of which way to go. Great question, Thanks.
Stoney, I'm sorry but I do not know of Don Jusko, but as soon as I get a minute I will look at the link you thoughtfully supplied. Thanks, I will look at it. Color is one of my "things" so I am always interested in learning more.
Which brings me to Jdadson. Jive, I'm sorry you completely missed my point when I spoke of rainbows and prisms. I'll try to be more clear next time. I was only using them as a way to visualize how colors are naturally arranged in an order. I only use this because it is something that almost everyone has witnessed and can identify with, but that is light. We will not be painting with light in this workshop, I'm sorry to say. If I had the time, knowledge and technology I would be doing that (painting with light) and making millions of dollars. But alas, I am just a poor South Texas ex-racer turned painter, so I will have to stick with my brushes and oil paint. I've read about rods and cones in our eyes, but don't you think that is better suited for other technical discussions of light and how the different frequencies appear, since this is a art workshop not a physics class? By the way, those are rhetorical questions. Discussion of these subjects here, while interesting are not what this workshop is about and I do not wish to run off in different directions. Just something to think about. Okay?
Next question?
Oh yes. One other thing. If anyone wants to paint with a different palette, say a high chroma one, please do so. if you added Cad Rad Medium, substitued Alizarin for Quinacredone and added Black, it would be pretty much the same colors I use. So any one wishes to paint with something else, be my guest, but I will be teaching what I use, since that is what I was asked to do here. There are many very good palettes. I like what I use.
Okay then, I will close for now and be back later with the days post. Stay tuned all. Love seeing all here and participating. I really do.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[cowgirl06]

John,

This is such good stuff. Thanks. And thanks to all of you asking questions!!

Sheri

[Julianne]

Wow, all very interesting. Thanks so much for all the time and effort.
Now digesting....... color bridging is new to me also, very interesting.

[jdadson]

Which brings me to Jdadson. Jive, I'm sorry you completely missed my point when I spoke of rainbows and prisms. I'll try to be more clear next time. I was only using them as a way to visualize how colors are naturally arranged in an order. I only use this because it is something that almost everyone has witnessed and can identify with, but that is light. We will not be painting with light in this workshop, I'm sorry to say.


Thanks for the response John. I've enjoyed viewing your work, and the PM's we have exchanged in the past. I will read everything you write with great interest.

My point, if I didn't make myself clear, is that I use the same kind of layout, but mine includes the "purple line" that links the rainbow colors between deep blue and red, turning the line into a circle. I always put out either quinacridone rose or quinacridone magenta. What you wrote seemed to me to indicate that you considered rainbow colors somehow fundamental. I guess I was wrong.

The moderator wants me to keep quiet, so I will.

Keep up the good work.

[Robin Neudorfer]

I am interested in the way John paints. With his information I can then ask him questions on how he sees color, how he renders form, how he views his subjects. Will I make it my own, most likely not. Will I learn from how he proceeds, I would think so. I already have.

[TexasTabby]

QUESTION: Someone mentioned copying John's workshop by clicking on "tools" then, "printable version." I put this forum into my favorites file on my website and would copy printable version if I could just get all the posts John Cox puts into this forum. Is there another way? I don't want to be rude but I admit I just want John's information. It is so much information, I need to read and reread. Someone mentioned using Word Perfect? How is that done? Can you copy John's lessons onto Word Perfect as you are reading them from the computer?

John, this is a wonderful workshop for me. I will call it a workshop as I've just started painting in oils and I appreciate your time and effort.

Texas Tabby:clap: :clap: :clap:

[Robin Neudorfer]

I agree TT, I just wanted his posts and don't want all the comments printed, though the comments in the thread are very helpful. Others think of questions that I might not have thought of.
So I just copied and pasted his posts into a word document.

[Rosic]

QUESTION: Someone mentioned copying John's workshop by clicking on "tools" then, "printable version." I put this forum into my favorites file on my website and would copy printable version if I could just get all the posts John Cox puts into this forum. Is there another way? I don't want to be rude but I admit I just want John's information. It is so much information, I need to read and reread. Someone mentioned using Word Perfect? How is that done? Can you copy John's lessons onto Word Perfect as you are reading them from the computer?

Texas Tabby:clap: :clap: :clap:

No short cuts... you only get to print the whole she-bang. However, you can open any word processor program on your computer... go to the printable version of this thread... highlight John's posts (one at a time)... copy them... then paste them into your word document and print or read at your pleasure... don't forget to hit your save button... ;)

[TTHOMPIE]

TT, if you can't get that to work.....send me a private message and I'll give you the step by step.

John/all - yes, that was very helpful...and very clear. Thanks for going into so much detail. I'm amazed that I didn't know most of that already. Wherever I mixed a color is where it stayed. And....if there was a 4 inch mess around the mixture....well....naturally....that stayed there also. The bridging I thought I understood .... then you added the "fastest route" which confused the heck out of me...but....clicked on the third reading!

Thanks ! ! !

[Visualone]

Robin, You got it!!! Sorry no prize, except maybe pick up a few tips and things you can use in your own work. :) Folks, I am NOT saying "My way or the highway" And I am constantly being reminded by friends and family that contrary to my belief I am NOT the foremost and highest authority. I hate that they do that, but it's possible they have a point.:rolleyes:
I do this because I enjoy helping others. I don't need to do this and I'll bet there will be no pay check at the end of this workshop either. But, as I said, I enjoy seeing your "AAH HAA!" moments happen. It is a wonderful bit of Knowledge that was given to me by many generous extremely fine artists over the years and my only way of returning their generosity is to do the same for others. That's you folks. So learn, enjoy, use it all, use a little, see other options and ideas, but you are not required to paint like me at the end of this. In fact. Please Don't!:) I do my thing, you do yours. This is self torture, no help needed:)
Okay, get ready to cut and paste. I have just done a demo especially for ya'll. It consists of two small portraits done in the exact same palette. The are rather quick and I think, very illustrative of how I paint, how bridging works and the versatility of a very limited palette. Now here's the kicker. The first portrait is a black model I shot several years ago. The second is a blond Caucasian model shot back when also. I am doing them in a photo realistic manner (somebody alert the Figure Forum folks:) ) but I am just showing you the very start and the color layin of each right now. I will finish them both and post them later in this workshop. I think they will answer some of the questions you may have from the previous discussions in this thread. They are short, simple and to the point. The first is today, the second tomorow. Watch the palette itself and you can see that I did not pull a fast one.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_067.jpg
This is my reference photo and I have made a rough pencil sketch on a piece of linen taped to my drawing board. For very "tight" (very realistic and detailed), I work like this on a drawing board and mount the painting later. These are on scraps of linen so they will be mounted on Gatorboard panels after they are dry, since there is not enough to stretch them. They will be 10"x 8" My drawing is a little larger than the photo, but ehh, it'll work.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_068.jpg
Here are my colors close up. I'm using a paper palette. My big one at the easel is loaded for another painting I am working on.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_071.jpg
This is the set up. Reference photo, linen, two bristle Filberts and one flat. My tubes of color, Hmmm (looks like a run to the art store is in order.) and the palette.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_072.jpg
I have made a dark color using black, Alizarin a touch of lemon and a touch of white. It looks black next to the white of the palette and the linen. I "scrub in my large dark masses warming the color as I move down the jaw line. Notice I did not draw in the curls coming from the back of her head, but added them with a brush and this color.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_073.jpg
I"m begining to add more color as I continue with the larger shapes. Also look at the mixing. Note how from that dark I first made by adding more red or more lemon how I can modify the color and the value (to some extent). Since this will be very realistic when I finish I am extra careful about my shapes and drawing accuracy. This is very thin paint, no thinner added. I am "scrubbing" it into the linen.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_075.jpg
Almost covered, more color than one might have thought and notice all still coming out of the same dark mixture. Hmmm. It's magic!
I do want to say something here about the eyes and lips. So many people paint a face then paint the eyes and the lips on[I]to the face. They are part of the face and work with the muscles in it. The mouth and lips in particular are not just those lovely lips that the lipstick goes on. It is really the entire muzzle from beneath the nose to a little past half way down the chin and from cheek to cheek. There is a muscle that surrounds the mouth. Take a look at a good anatomy book someday. Paint it that way and you will see and immediate improvement in your portrait and figurative work.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_076.jpg
Okay, all color. The lay in is complete. The sketch took about 5-10 minutes and the painting took a lot less time than it took me to type this out. About 20 minutes. I had to answer the door, a couple of ladies wanting to save me. Boy, did they knock on the wrong door.:) just joking. They were actually very nice and understood I was very busy. You can see me working when you come to my front door. But I digress. The entire amount of color I have used came from the same dark mixture I made at the begining. I have some adjustments to make in my drawing and a couple of values, but there is plenty to begin refining it to the finished piece. I have not figured out how to show you in still photos how the refining is done, so I will probably show you the start of it and then the finished piece and write about what I have done. It's really pretty boring to watch an old geezer hunched over a drawing board makin millions of tiny strokes, but I'll do my best for you nice people.
Okay any questions about this one? We'll work over the blond tomorrow. HAHAA. I'll check back this evening and answer questions before I start tomorrow.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[stoney]

QUESTION: Someone mentioned copying John's workshop by clicking on "tools" then, "printable version." I put this forum into my favorites file on my website and would copy printable version if I could just get all the posts John Cox puts into this forum. Is there another way? I don't want to be rude but I admit I just want John's information. It is so much information, I need to read and reread. Someone mentioned using Word Perfect? How is that done? Can you copy John's lessons onto Word Perfect as you are reading them from the computer?

John, this is a wonderful workshop for me. I will call it a workshop as I've just started painting in oils and I appreciate your time and effort.

Texas Tabby:clap: :clap: :clap:

Yes, you can copy and paste into Word/Wordpad/Word Perfect/ or Open Office which doesn't cost you anything. Such isn't being 'rude.' It's simply grabbing the information which will help you, no need to grab 'fluff.'

[cowgirl06]

TexasTabby, Stoney is right. I just highlight John's words right in this thread and then copy them. Next I open up Word. I have a file for this seminar and each day I add the new info at the end and save it. Easy as pie!!

[bjs0704]

Gosh, I hate to side track discussions, but there's another way to go about printing just the parts that you want.

If you look on the upper right hand side, you will notice that each post in the thread has a number. If you click on that number, just that post will display. Then print just that post.

Barb Solomon:cat:

[Barbie]

John, thank you so much for taking your time to do this for us! I've been oil painting on and off for years -- this is a tremendous refresher course and in addition I've learned some new ways of doing things. There are many approaches to painting -- and many books about painting -- but not many go to the same depth of explaining why and how they do what they do. Every painter can learn something from your workshop -- whether it's their 1st painting or their 100th painting. Thanks again and I'm anticipating the next portion.

[cowgirl06]

Hey, Thanks Barb! That's even easier. Helping isn't really sidetracking!!

[Anita Murphy]

I am in awe, John! You make it look so simple - what has taken me months in the past, you did in how many minutes? This is a fabulous workshop! I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to do this!

[antgeek]

thanks for answering my question re: color bridging, sounds simple enough at this point. today's lesson is quite clear, no questions. see you tomorrow!
and thanks, bernie and barb for showing alternate ways of saving this valuable info!

[Nickel]

Wow, what a treat John! Thank you for the demo!!!

Can't agree with Anita enough!!!!!!"You make it look so simple"

We all know it is a lot of hard work.....to get to simple.

Thanks John. Now I need time to study today's lesson.

But before I go one question. Really big question!!!

How often do you wipe your brush clean???
I think I can say what I see is that you are mixing the colors with a brush on your palette, I do that. So that is why I wonder how often you are wiping the mix from the brush? Do you load your brush, apply the paint to the canvas, then wipe the brush clean before going back to reload? I quess maybe what I am asking is how clean does the brush need to be. What are your thoughts on how clean you need to keep your colors? That was one question. :D ;)


Nickel

[gmc]

This is my reference photo and I have made a rough pencil sketch on a piece of linen taped to my drawing board. For very "tight" (very realistic and detailed), I work like this on a drawing board and mount the painting later. These are on scraps of linen so they will be mounted on Gatorboard panels after they are dry, since there is not enough to stretch them. They will be 10"x 8" My drawing is a little larger than the photo, but ehh, it'll work.
[/url]


This is interesting....I just posted a question in the Oil Forum asking this very thing.

Loving your work and instruction, but, how do you "stretch" canvas after it is dried? to stretcher strips?

I have to say that I, too, am following along with great anticipation....
Enoying every second of what you are saying and showing....

Thanks for doing this...I have already learned a great deal.

geri

[TexasTabby]

THANKS TO YOU ALL FOR THE HELPFUL INFORMATION. WHAT A WONDERFUL INVENTION THIS COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!! TEXAS TABBY:grouphug:

[Suzun]

Hi John,

First, I would like to add my thanks for your workshop. I'm just starting out in oils and find your teaching invaluable. Thanks so much for taking the time to show us how you work.

Second, a question. In the demo, you said that the paints were thin and you didn't add any thinner. If the paints were not thin enough, what thinner would you use?

Thanks in advance,

[idcrisis55]

I hope this isn't a stupid question John, but I am curious about the paintings that you will be mounting on gatorboard. For drying, do you hang them in some way or do you dry them flat such as in a drawer? Second question, do you glue the canvas to the gatorboard (if so, what glue?) or do you staple it to the back or sides? Maybe this is a question that should be addressed in a PM as I sure don't want to sidetrack or anything?

Thanks again for your time, your knowledge and your very clear way of explaining things.

Ann

[Robin Neudorfer]

This is interesting....I just posted a question in the Oil Forum asking this very thing.

Loving your work and instruction, but, how do you "stretch" canvas after it is dried? to stretcher strips?

I was also discussing this with a friend, who is moving away for a year. We talked about different ways oil painting could be done flat, and mounted later.
This would be useful information.... when you get around to it.

Now I am understanding that you paint thin, meaning you are painting a thin layer. There would be no texture to your paint, or thickness at this point. I can't remember how you prepare your canvas, or board. Do you like texture, do you like it smooth.... guess I had better go back and do some reading again.

[blindhorse]

John,
Just joining the chorus of thank yous for giving us this workshop. I am so excited to finally be learning all this the right way! I also wonder about wiping the brush so will be looking forward to your answer.
Total of at least ten AHH HAH moments so far and counting!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. :-)

[Visualone]

Hi all,
My apologies for another delay. But this time it is due to Wet Canvas site going down last night for awhile (I was told) and then again this morning just as I hit send reply on a three hour lesson of exactly how I paint a small painting like the demo from yesterday and answers to all your questions. Now I see it was all lost and did not post. To say I am frustrated is and understatement. I have waited to start over again to see if by some stroke of luck that it may have posted. It didn't, so from now on I am going to write the rest of the workshop in Word, then paste in in the forum thread. I have never done this before but if you'll bare with me we'll get through it. I understand I will have to upload the pictures through Wet Canvas so I will be trying to give myself an easy to find cue to where the appropriate photo should be. There will be a delay now while I save all your questions and can re-write the Q&A and the "lesson". Hopefully it will be here in the morning for you. With all the problems this workshop has been through, admittedly mostly on this end and now on WC's end, I'm more than a little skittish about spending a lot of time composing and editing on Wet Canvas. Todays post is the second three hour post that has disappeared into the land of Oz. So I will go now and re-write this one. Please keep asking your questions. I will check in save them and answer in the offsite written "lesson" This may make some of the posts a little longer as I will cover more ground this way, but I want to get all the info out to you that I had originally planned and not give you the Readers Digest version. So I'm off now and will hopefully have a lot of good stuff for you in the morning. Stay Tuned. I know I am.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[Leonora]

Hi John,
Thanks for hanging in there for us. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed the lessons so far. Please spend as much time as possible on values because I really need help there.
Leonora

[TTHOMPIE]

Page 2, items 27, TTHOMPIE says to the teacher

Quote: "If your computer has word (or some program like that).....you're best typing in that. And then later do a copy and paste when you're ready to post."

Invisible in the last row last seat. :)

[bjs0704]

John - I've had that had that happen to me a couple of times. It seems to happen more often with long complicated posts too! How frustrating!

I'll second the suggestion of writing your post in a word processor and using copy/paste to transfer it. It lets you save the post if you need to. It's also good if you want to use spellcheck.

I'm looking forward to your next lesson!

Barb Solomon:cat:

[stoney]

WC's having a database problem. I got that via an error message.

[Visualone]

Okay! Once more with feeling. In re-writing this I hope I can remember all I had to say the first time. I’ll give it my best shot, but remember I’m a geezer, not a spring rooster. :)
This is mainly a Q&A session with a lot of relevant info thrown in to help more than a cut and dried answer. Like when do you clean your brushes while you are painting. Answer Yes I do. Forgive me Nickel for using your question. I want all of you to know Nickel has been a huge asset for me and helped me so much in putting this workshop on, in fact her efforts are why I am doing this. So please give this nice lady a big hand if you like what you are seeing. Ah Heck! Give her a big hand anyway for being such a nice person, even if you don’t like what your reading. :)
I will start with Nickels question since I used hers for fun. Nickel mentioned that I mix with a brush and wondered how and when I cleaned the brush. It is a very good question actually, not as simple as it might first appear. There are a number of things to consider in this. First this is a small painting, second the filbert I am using is well worn. It is another reason I love Trekell brushes so much. As worn as this brush is, it still holds its shape and performs as it should. The edge of it may not be as fine as it once was, but it worked great and will continue to serve me for quite a few more of these types of paintings. The third reason is I want thin paint so I am “scrubbing” (this method is a form of “scumbling”) it in.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/30-Jun-2006/50323-Gman.jpg

On the right is “scumbling” on the left thinned with thinner. See the difference? Ther’s the brush wipe towel also lower right.
This as most of you know or should know, this is very hard on brushes, so I never use a new brush for this. Right here is a good place to mention that when I work on a larger painting and need large piles of paint, as this one does not, I will use a palette knife. I have a couple of those that are very well worn also. But for this application (the demo) this method is quick and easy. Now, when do I clean the brush? The short answer is when ever I need fresh clean color added to the mix. The longer but complete answer follows. I start with a clean brush and mix my first dark. I get the value correct as this will be my darkest dark, the color just need to be in the “ballpark” as I said in the demo. After scrubbing this in all the appropriate places, I wipe the brush on a paper towel. You can see it in the most of the photos on my right. I do this first to get all the excess paint off and then I swish it in the thinner to clean it. This method keeps you thinner cleaner longer but more importantly you get a cleaner brush. I wipe the clean brush with a clean towel that I hold in my left hand and get it as “dry” as I can of thinner. Remember I don’t want thinner in my paint. I pick up some fresh clean color and mix it into the base dark I have started with to make the next color. In this case the dark need to move to a more reddish lighter value. The dark is already a dark gray purple and by adding more Alizarin I move it towards red. Now since Alizarin is such a cool red (lots of blue in it) I clean the brush again (same way as before) and pick up some Cad. Lemon. This makes it a little more reddish and not so much violet and the Lemon lightens the value slightly at the same time. This is the basic color bridging in act of painting. Does this help in the understanding? Take a look at the mixing area of the palette in this photo from the demo.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/30-Jun-2006/50323-My_Paintings_076.jpg

Now, I have mixed a new color, I clean my brush again before I pick up that new color and place it on the painting. So I am constantly cleaning the brush as I paint. This keeps my color as I want it. I stay in harmony because of the few colors yes, But more so because they are all coming from the same pile. They are really just modifications of the original color. Look at the mixing area. See how I move color around and “pull” color out of another? Meaning that I have an orangey color and by adding a little Lemon and maybe some white I can move lighter and towards yellow and then a touch of black and I move into a greenish yellow very close to Yellow Ochre, but more vibrant. As an aside, you can mix a more beautiful Yellow Ochre using Cad. Lemon, some Alizarin Crimson and a little Ultramarine Blue and then white to get the correct value and change the color to ochre. Try it. We could get into a whole other lesson on making better mixes instead of using the tube color, but we won’t right now. Anyway that is how and when I clean my brushes.
Next Robin, Ann, And Geri asked a three part question about mounting a canvas after it has been painted and then how or what do I use to mount it. And where do I put it to dry. Short answer is …very carefully and with glue. Then, I put it on a shelf. Doesn’t tell you much does it? Okay, see if this clarifies it. After I finish this demo, I will place it on a shelf that is very narrow space. You know how you see mat board stored at the art supply store? Well mine lay flat and are horizontal, like a book shelf compressed down. Much like a drafting cabinet without drawers. Easy to access and air can get in to dry the work. Here in Arizona paint drying is not much of a problem, in fact it dries to fast for me at times. The demo was dry to the light touch the next morning.
I allow the painting to dry pretty well and then I will give it a coat of Winsor Newton Liquin to protect the paint temporarily. If it is like this one, with no extra material for stretching I will trim it to the size I want and cut a piece of Gatorboard the same size. This one is 10”x 8”. I will use a thin black foam paint roller to roll Miracle Muck (this will be on the list later) onto the panel. Next I begin at one corner and align the two sides, then diagonally lay it down gradually in a “rolling” manner. Now the painting is lying on the glued panel lightly. Hold a corner with your finger and Start from the center with the outer edge of your hand (karate chop side) and work out smoothly to the edges, removing all the air pockets and bubbles. The Liquin protected the painting so any spot of excess glue can be cleaned off. Let dry an hour and your done. Varnish it, frame it, send to the gallery. This metod is how most artists make the linen panels for plein air working. It is lightweight, thin so you can carry a lot of them in a small space. And the panel itself is waterproof. You can even use Gatorboard to mount your watercolor paper to for painting. Another aside and very important tip. Never, never, ever put or get water on oil primed linen or canvas. Especially the backside. It will dissolve the rabbit skin glue sizing that separates the material from the oil primer. If this happens the oil will rot away the material. That’s a bad thing.
If you have enough material to stretch it, do it the same way you would stretch a new canvas. Paintings have been removed from their stretcher bars for many reasons. Sometimes for shipping, sometimes for restoration and etc. I have had a painting that for some reason “just wasn’t working.” After looking at it I saw that it worked better if I cut it down a size or two. I took it off its bars and re-stretched it on a smaller format. It made a mediocre painting a good painting. It is a way of “cropping” you might say. If you remove a painting from it’s bars to store it in a protective tube, roll it with the paintng facing out. It is less likely to get cracks. It is best to place a piece of archival tissue over the painting side and roll it in with the painting.
Here’s a little “Inside Pro Art” :rolleyes: Richard Schmid, yes that Richard Schmid uses shipping tape to tape his linen to a larger piece of Masonite. He will make up a number of these to take on a plein air outing. He will put it on his easel and do the painting. When he is finished, he leaves it mounted this way to dry. After it is dry he takes it off the Masonite and stretches it on bars. And it’s ready to go to the framer and then the gallery. He does this because he does not like to come off the canvas or stop himself when making a bold brush stroke. Worse yet is when he starts a stroke off the canvas and comes onto it. In this case when the brush hits the edge of the canvas or panel it unloads to much paint and misshapes the brush for a moment and the stroke is ruined. Watch for this in his videos and if you get the opportunity to take a workshop with him, do it! That’s an order! I have had the great fortune to participate in two of them. A great American artist and a equally great teacher.
Robin and Susan asked about my paint thickness. At this point I am just laying in my color, so I keep it thin. It dries a little quicker even without thinner in it and it is really just the Fat over lean. Thick over thin. As I proceed I will progressively lay on thicker paint with each layer. I will have a minimum of three layer before finish. Sometimes more, This will give it a glow and a finished appearance. There will even be some Impasto in a few places to make it sparkle.
I hope this answers your questions and you were able to learn a little more about the way I paint. If I have failed in some way and not fully or clearly answered it please let me know. I would much rather give it another shot and have you understand it completely than hesitate to ask because it has already been asked. Also Answers to one question bring up another question or two. This is the place to ask and hopefully get the answers. If not we’ll figure it out together.
Now remember that when I get to the large landscape demo there will be some changes in some of my technique because that will be a much looser style than my figure and portrait style. I’ve tried both subjects both ways and my preference is the way I do them now. Tight, realistic figures, and looser more of my impressions to the landscape. So don’t get comfortable in thinking that’s they way he does it every time. You will be wrong. I have and want you to have an artistic License with no restrictions and I use it all the time. I want you to do the same. I’ll give you time to chew this over a bit and then we’ll get into the next demo.

[Nickel]

Yeah! John ! I am just glad you got to post and wc is behaving.
Your answers are great. Thanks for rewritting all this.
Your time with us is much appreciated!!!!!!

You are the best for sharing this experience with us and
giving us all this workshop. :) Nickel

PS. the “scumbling” on the left thinned with thinner demo really helped me to understand and the detail on color bridging is very helpful!!!

[antgeek]

jon,
this workshop has really run into a lot of snafus, i am so glad you have not given up! using word to compose the posts and then copy/pasting into w/c is a great idea.
i agree that nickel is an especially nice person, and i think you are, too. :)

[Anita Murphy]

John - thank you for sticking with us! And for the tips on stretching after painting - information I have been seeking for a while. What incredible generosity to share your knowledge with us! Thank you!

[richhans]

We are all very fortunate at WC to have your considerable experience and abilities as an artist and teacher. Many thanks for you considerable time and efforts.

[Julianne]

Hi John,
I have a couple of questions. But first off, if you're typing into a word processor you can still just upload your images as you go and then copy/paste each line of uploaded image code into the text on the word processor as you go.
That way you don't have to hunt around to insert them later.
Alternatively you can upload all your images first and your WC text window will have the uploaded codes all sitting there waiting for you to copy (or cut) and paste into your word processor text as you go.

So there's almost no extra work required, just only a little :)

I often do this if I'm doing a largeish post with an image (or even more than one image). I just do all the work in another software program (actually, haha, I use my email program cos it's open all the time!!!) and upload files and copy/paste the code as I go. Then I can edit everything more easily than if it were in the small WC text window and then I just copy/paste the whole kit and kaboodle, preview if I think I need to and then hit the reply/post button. In fact I'm doing this right now sans any images. Just easier for me if there's a largeish amount of text.

Now for my questions:

First about your colors - your limited palette is very cool. Would it work on asian skin? I assume it would - I'd be interested in trying out some limited palettes at a life painting class I recently joined, and, being in Japan the models are all Japanese. So far I'm just working on monotone wipeouts, but once I start using color I'd like to keep things very limited, at least in the beginning. I'm sure there are other limited palettes with few colors that I can tackle also.

Second: I'm in my early days in oils, and all the canvas paintings I've done so far have been on canvas taped to foamcore (I do some plein air too, yes, nice and light!). More for convenience than anything else. I've simply never used stretched canvas, I must try it someday. My question is this - why would you need to mount your taped canvas onto a board once it's dry? Is there some kind of technical need to do that? I know, as you say, Schmid mounts his on stretcher boards and you say you mount yours onto Gatorboard (not sure what that is in this country :lol:). The only taped canvas I've ever framed I think they framers treated it like paper - ie - they framed it in a mat. I don't think it's actually glued to anything, but I will double-check this tomorrow and report back.

Many thanks to everything so far! Wow, if I could do an oil sketch that good in such a short time I'll be very happy indeed! Of course having the paint mileage would definitely help that, so I'm a few (!) years behind you on that still! :)

[artbyjune]

I found the colour bridging way of mixing to be very helpful. Especially to darken yellow.

I used to be rather frustrated with yellow getting muddy/mucky instead of just darkening in value. (I was darkening it with purple). I tried the colour bridging method of yellow, adding orange, and some magenta then purple to make a rich dark yellow which I could then lighten to the value I wanted by adding yellow again.

I tried it out in artisan oils and also in my OP painting.

Whether I did it right or not this first try doesn't matter too much to me...what I am pleased about is the 'aha' moment for me and mixing colour!! So thanks for that John.

[Rosic]

Nickel... a big hand for you organizing this GREAT event!:clap: :clap: :clap:

John... a big hand for you accepting the proposal and sharing with us... :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Mary Woodul]

I hope I am not too late to join here. That is what I get for having too many irons on the fire.

John this is something I really need and even if I spend all night reading, it is an opportunity that should not be missed by anyone. BTW I think I have seen your work in a museum in Kerrville, Texas. Am I right? I live in Mexico but I am also a Texan. You can imagine how impressed I was by your work because that was at least five years ago and I have not forgotten.

I'll join the big hand for doing this for WC.:clap: :clap: :clap:

[idcrisis55]

I haven't posted in the Classical Forum prior to this workshop so wasn't able to give mentor points but, I sure wanted to. So, joining in on the thanks and applause for Nickel, John, and all those "behind the scene" people who make this happen. :clap: :clap: :clap:

Ann

[TTHOMPIE]

I keep reading and re-reading. Then I read it again and another thing clicks. I’m in an art school! And, I’m paying attention! And, I am learning a lot! Now I can put yellow back on my palette! Really……I changed my colors and accidently did a rather nice painting of a child….without my muddy yellow. And….didn’t use too much red because I was turning cheeks inside out (hey…no 40 degree turn for me!!). :rolleyes:

Anyway…..I’m a bit on overload….but….getting there! Thanks John!

[gypsea38]

Golly I am excited as I have been thinking of taking some classes this is a great start for me beginner.

[gypsea38]

Golly I am excited as I have been thinking of taking some classes this is a great start for me beginner.
As this is my very first endeavor I hope I am not to late to participate and secondly I really am in the dark about how this process works. If I am being to big of a problem just let me know. Anyone who would like to help me get this right I surely would be most appreciative . Thank you all:)

[Visualone]

Morning All,
Just some quick answers and comments (doing this one directly to WC). I appreciate the help everyone has given to me with all the glitches that have popped up in this workshop. Never fear I don't give up. Modify maybe, but never give up. The way I am going to post now, using Word and then cut and pasteing worked pretty easy so I think i'll stick with that now. I'm not a computer guy at all. I have learned things I need and that's about it. I'm a painter and a wanna be writer and that's about it. I can find my way around an easel and some paints, but computers still have a little to much voodoo in their working in my book. I might click the wrong thing and make myself disappear.
Okay questions. Julianne ask several this time. The palette I am using in this demo and the next are just one of the palette I use. I am using this one to illustrate a point on how much variety is in limited palettes. If you recall I said I would be using this exact same palette to paint a Black lady and a White lady (Blond). Yes it is very cool, but does the demo look warm or cool to you? It is very warm, right. In the next demo of the blond, you will see it become relatively cool. All from the same palette. And by the way this is the exact palette I used to paint a Japanese lady and it is shown early on in this workshop. Look back near the very beginning and you will see her. Also re read what I was talking about when describing limited palettes. I mix the colors of my palettes up according to my subjects needs. I am not married to one palette. In my list of colors that I have available to me all the time, there are several reds, a couple of yellows (even a third could be added, Cad. Yellow Medium if one wished,), Several blues and a green. I will use many combinations of these colors, but I can't remember back to the last time I used them all in one palette. Usually a palette is three to four colors on average plus white, Sometimes I may use a "convience" color as a fifth color, usually something like Transparent Red Oxide by Rembrandt. From four color I can (and you will to with practice) mix any color with these limited colors. In actual workshops, when I get a group who are a little resistant or skeptical about the limited colors, I will do a "show" (showing off, actually). I will ask the students to call out common colors that artists might use, but none of the fancy mixes some companies make up that most have never seen and no primaries. That sound like I am narrowing the colors down but I'm not. A primary cannot be mixed, period. That's why it's a primary. The exotics for obvious reasons, who's heard of half of them and most all are made with dyes and not pigments. Anyway they call a color and I mix it and then open a tube and it matches my mix. My value may be a little off but that is because different maufacturers color are not the same. I mentioned how to mix yellow ochre earlier, so let's use that as an example. Look at Winsor Newton, Rembrandt, Grumbacher, Holbein, Old Holland. They all vary in value and color every so slightly to radically. It even gets worse when you look at the "student grade" colors. But all of you can learn this "trick" that is not a trick. Do your color charts and you will see, the colors I use will mix almost every color you can think of.
Julianne also asked about the mounting. Schmid only tapes his up to a panel (Masonite, a man made hardboard) for the reasons I mentioed and to be able to have a very portable support to transport and paint on. The tape is not permanent or archival in anyway. Also An oil painting should not be under glass traditionally. It should be either as a stretched canvas on stretcher bars or mounted with an archival adhesive to an archival panel. I actually prefer to work on stretched canvas (linen) because of it's give. It is so much easier to paint with soft edges with it. On a panel, or like me on a drawing board you have to work harder or modify your technique to get the softness. Notice I scumbled (scrubbed) the paint on for the lay in.
Gatorboard (a brand name)looks like foam core, but the "foam" part is very hard and the white (or black) is water resistant enough that It can be used for mounting you watercolor paper on it and paint in watercolor. If you have panels for plein air painting made with it and you get a few raindrops on it there is no problem. It is also dent and mash resistant. Foam core is way to soft, not archival generally and damages easily in many ways. I do not recommend this at all.
June mentioned darkening yellow. Yes as you found out you can do it very easily with this method. Most of use are taught to use a complmentary color to darken the other, such as yellow and violet (purple in some cases). It will darken the yellow, but at the same time it makes a "muddy gray". By using the colors as I described you have more control over the color and value to make the "muddy gray" that works best for you. You may think I'm being funny with that statement, I'm not. Any time you mix two colors together, you make a form of gray. Gray is NOT just black and white. When you add a third color, you begin to make a "mud" of sorts. So it will work best if you have more control. Don't you think? I can hear someone say, "But John, yellow and Violet are just two colors." And I will answer "Not true. Violet is to colors and yellow is one. 2+1+3
Does that help? Great questions all. Thanks. Her's a tip to all. I write like I talk, so sometimes there are bits and pieces of information sprinkled in another subject. Look back at the last Q&A. Nickel asked about cleaning my brushes and I answer by telling how I paint. I'm sorry,because I realize it can be confusing at times and a bit might be missed by readers. So please bear with this country boy and I'll try to be more direct if you'll help and be on the watch when I start "rambling" :) Now, please understand, I meant what I said, if anyone is not clear on something keep asking me until I give you the answer that "clicks" for you. I truly mean that. My response may seem a little shorter, but that is just trying to be more concise in my explanation, without the fooling around I tend to do.
Okay, I'm outta here. I have to run some errands and finish writing the next post of the "blond" demo. Have fun and play with your colors and see what you come up with, but do it in some orderly fashion that makes it easy to remember what you mixed. Limit your colors to a red, a yellow, and a blue (black is a blue remember) plus white. Mix them up, substitute one for another. Example, the colors we have been dicussing here that I used for the demo. Instead of Alizarin try Cad. Red Light or Cad. Red Medium. Only change one at a time. Trust me this can be fun. Then make a mix of any two colors, then see how many colors you can "pull out" of that mix just by modifying them with different amounts of the colors and white. It will be an eye opener. Have fun and "EYE-AL, BE BACH! (I'll be back for those who haven't seen the Terminator movies.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[Visualone]

One more thing. As I posted my last a few more posts were made that I want to address quickly (Yeah right! Like I could say anythiing quickly.) Nobody is ever to late to join in here and everyone is very welcome to watch and learn, ask questions, make comments, work the demos for themselves. The more the merrier. I believe that even after the workshop is finished, it will be available in an archive here at Wet Canvas I believe. Barb is better to answer that than I. But please all join in, take part, and tell your friend if you wish. I wish for this to be a good learning experience for all. The more good art we all produce the happier we will al be in our lives and self. Don't you think? I will give ya'll the tools and show you how to use them, you just have to do the work, and trust me it is work, but very satisfying at the same time.
Mlelevier, you very well may have seen my work there. My work was in a exhibit there a couple of different times, also I am from that general area (about 40 miles east of Kerrville), so there are many of my paintings all over that area. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing it.
Okay, Color me gone,
John
Visualone
johncoxfineart.com

[Rosic]

John... you've mentioned about how you mount your supports and that you use linen... my question is... Is your surface oil primed or acrylic primed? I usually use acrylic primed stretched canvas' because of availabilty in my area but I've heard so much about oil primed that I just recently purchased a couple oil primed 11"x14" canvas' at an art show... Can you put into simple terms for me the differences between the two and your preferences? I haven't painted on these canvas' yet...
Bern

[liveforart]

The third reason is I want thin paint so I am “scrubbing” (this method is a form of “scumbling”) it in.

My dictionary cannot translate the words “scumbling” or “scrubbing”. I’ve found “scum” but I guess that’s not what John meant.:rolleyes:

Is there someone who can explain both words or point me to another thread or article about this technique ?

[Rosic]

My dictionary cannot translate the words “scumbling” or “scrubbing”. I’ve found “scum” but I guess that’s not what John meant.:rolleyes:

Is there someone who can explain both words or point me to another thread or article about this technique ?

The WC glossary (http://www.wetcanvas.com/help/category.php?catId=11)shows the following definition...
scumble - A semi-opaque or opaque color brushed or drawn over another in such as way that the bottom color shows through irregularly.

What is scumbling? (http://www.wetcanvas.com/help/question.php?qstId=96)... A WC mini-article.

I take it that John scrubs with his brush just as one would wash dishes with a brush to achieve a desired effect.

Correct me if I'm wrong John... :wave:

PS... I have seen some dishes covered in scum that were beyond the point of scrubbing... :lol:

[stoney]

My dictionary cannot translate the words “scumbling” or “scrubbing”. I’ve found “scum” but I guess that’s not what John meant.:rolleyes:

Is there someone who can explain both words or point me to another thread or article about this technique ?


http://www.ndoylefineart.com/glossary.html

scumbling - A painting technique (the opposite of glazing), consisting of putting a layer of opaque oil paint over another layer of a different color or tone, so that the lower layer is not completely obliterated, giving an uneven, broken effect.


http://www.artlex.com/

Art Dictionary
for artists, collectors, students and educators
in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education

Welcome to ArtLex. You'll find definitions for more than 3,600 terms used in discussing art / visual culture, along with thousands of supporting images, pronunciation notes, great quotations and cross-references.


http://www.rexart.com/glossary.html

Welcome to Rex Art's Glossary of common Art Terms. Here we hope to give you a brief definition of various art terms which might be unfamiliar. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas please e-mail us.


http://dictionary.reference.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=scrubbing

v. scrubbed, scrub·bing, scrubs
v. tr.

1.
1. To rub hard in order to clean.
2. To remove (dirt or stains) by hard rubbing.
2. To remove impurities from (a gas) chemically.
3. Slang. To cancel or abandon; drop: We had to scrub our plans for vacation.

v. intr.

To clean or wash something by hard rubbing: Don't forget to scrub behind your ears.

n.

1. The act or an instance of scrubbing.



Translator Engines.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

http://www.freetranslation.com/

http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

[bjs0704]

I’m finally catching up after WC going down.

First, as the moderator of this forum, I am so glad to see everyone enjoying John’s class as much as they are. Nothing pleases me more than to see more new people! (Go ahead, tell your friends!) As long as all of you are having fun and John is having fun, we will be happy to keep things going.

About the 10 - 12 pg mark, I’m wanting start a new thread. This makes it easier, if you need to look something up later. So don’t get alarmed when I post a link to the new thread. I don’t mean to make you feel like your at the Mad Hatter’s teaparty and it’s time for a new cup.

Mary - It’s great to see you here!

Ann - Welcome!

John - Your doing a great job! I'm am learning so much following along.

[idcrisis55]

Thank you for the welcome, Barbara. :D I have truly enjoyed browsing through the threads, reading and trying to assimilate as much info as possible. This workshop has been especially helpful as there has been so much that is new to me such as color bridging.

Ann

[ByUSbrit]

I just wanted to express my appreciation for this wonderful workshop. I am learning so much from your style of teaching. I seem to "get it" quicker than a more academic approach. This is much is much more fun and interesting.

good work.:clap: :clap:

thanks

[TTHOMPIE]

Violet is two colors and yellow is one. 2+1=3

The old woman in the last row last seat is paying attention!

Filberts for a portrait!! Using a stretched canvas!! Makes me feel like a "real artist"......and I do get better results.

I bought several egbert brushes because the picture looked like it was some sort of filbert brush. Do the egbert brushes have a special purpose? I was thinking of cutting them down so I'd get some sort of use out of them. They're sitting there taunting me....saying that I wasted money.

I cut a bunch of canvas papers, 4.5 X 6, and have it into a little book thingie....and am going to use a few pages for paint color studies. And I have my premanent marker to put the color used. Wish me luck.

[Rosic]

About the 10 - 12 pg mark, I’m wanting start a new thread. This makes it easier, if you need to look something up later. So don’t get alarmed when I post a link to the new thread.

Barb... what do think about a seperate thread where those wanting to work along can submit their work... one thread where John could view them and wouldn't have to hop around so much. Just an idea... :wave:

[Nickel]

TTHOMPIE GOOD LUCK :D ;) You sound so excited!!!!
Me too!

It is really fun to learn all these new tidbits from John, like Cowgirl said
"Pearls of Wisdom"

It would be cool to have a seperate thread Bernie to show some of our
ah haws!!!!! I think I could do about 12 pages by myself. :D
What do you think Barb?

June you sound really excited too!

You all are a great group and it is so nice to learn with you here in this workshop.

Thanks again John, hope you've had a nice day!

You just have no idea......your pearls of wisdom are priceless!

:wave: Nickel

[bjs0704]

Bernie -That is a good idea! I'd be happy to have a second page if John wants to do that!

Barb Solomon:cat:

[TTHOMPIE]

Wait a second guys! John said he's not a youngster anymore. He also mentioned something about doctor visits. Can his heart handle looking at some of this stuff. I mean.....with all the work he's doing.....and the computer killing off his work....and then he gets to see the results of his hard labor. Can his heart handle it?

I selected a limited palette of 5 colors + white. But....if anyone asked why those 5 were selected.....or....which were warm and which were cool colors.....I don't think I could even answer that. But...I did mix those bunch of colors together and I do get enough pretty colors. I can make mud too. :)

[liveforart]

I take it that John scrubs with his brush just as one would wash dishes with a brush to achieve a desired effect.
Now I understand what "scumbling" really means :D

Stoney, thanks for all those very useful links.
I’ve put them all to my favorites, because I am sure that I will need them a lot in the future.

Bernie, Stoney, thanks for your help, I am back on track now.

Ivan

[artbyjune]

Hi Nickel. Yes, I am enjoying this terrific workshop. And a thread for us to put our try-outs would be useful, I think. John could comment if he has time or we could just cheer each other along.

I bought 3 new brushes. I have a postcard collection of female portraits (from Africa: so brown skin tones) and I am thinking of trying one as an experiment...maybe next week. First I will play with colour mixing though.

I have artisan oils (water-soluble) and also regular oil paints.

Happy painting to you all!!

[Rosic]

You are welcome Ivan... glad to have you on-board.

I figured I'd paint along with John so I could get a better understanding of what questions I NEED to ask... ;)

[stoney]

Now I understand what "scumbling" really means :D

Stoney, thanks for all those very useful links.
]I’ve put them all to my favorites, because I am sure that I will need them a lot in the future.

Bernie, Stoney, thanks for your help, I am back on track now.

Ivan


You are more than welcome, Ivan. Things easily become difficult when one is working with a foreign language. :wave:

[rosebard]

I have so much going on right now on my own life, that got behind and I am still catching up with this great workshop. No question from me yet. Still reading. The first demo is just so cool. Boy that is small, and the colors are beautifull and such limited palette. Learning so much. Color bridging makes great sense.

I do this because I enjoy helping others. I don't need to do this and I'll bet there will be no pay check at the end of this workshop either. But, as I said, I enjoy seeing your "AAH HAA!" moments happen. It is a wonderful bit of Knowledge that was given to me by many generous extremely fine artists over the years and my only way of returning their generosity is to do the same for others. That's you folks. So learn, enjoy, use it all, use a little, see other options and ideas, but you are not required to paint like me at the end of this. In fact. Please Don't! I do my thing, you do yours. This is self torture, no help needed


:clap: :thumbsup: THANKS AGAIN John!!! :)

I want all of you to know Nickel has been a huge asset for me and helped me so much in putting this workshop on, in fact her efforts are why I am doing this. So please give this nice lady a big hand if you like what you are seeing. Ah Heck! Give her a big hand anyway for being such a nice person, even if you don’t like what your reading.


So glad to hear how much you enjoying this girl company. Yep she is great. One of the best art friends from WC I have.

THANKS Nickel!!!! :heart: :heart: :heart:


Now me, back to reading. :D :wave:

[Visualone]

I’m Baaaack! I have the second demo of the blond lady done with the same palette as before. Now remember both of these are just the Lay-in of the initial colors. I will take both portraits to a very high state of finish, so that they almost look like a photo, yet the viewer will know they are actually paintings. This is the way I do my portraits and figures. The demo in a moment though.
I first want to thank Barb for all of her guidance as another one of the “behind the scenes” people that are helping me have so much fun and hopefully all of you. I haven’t heard many complaints yet, so I guess all are having fun. I hope so. Please give her a hand. Thanks Barb.
Sorry about the translation problem with the words scumbling and scrubbing, but I see ya’ll were on the ball and got the meaning out there with perfect definitions. Thanks Rosic and Stoney. Great job, both of you.
Now to answer a few questions.
Rosic asked about the difference between oil primed canvas and acrylic primed canvas. Oil primed is my preference because it is not as absorbent as acrylic primed and I seem to have better control over the different effects I am trying to create. As the painting dries there is a greater chance of some colors “sinking” in more than others, that even Retouch Varnish will not help. This leaves areas that are dull and areas that are shiny. I do not like this so I can totally avoid this problem by using oil primed canvas. There is some controversy about the oil adhering over time to the acrylic primed, but I have seen no proof or evidence of this problem. The oil primed has a different “feel” under the brush and I like this feel very much. So basically for me it is a case of preferring the feel and the less absorbency or the oil primed for me. Does that help you?
TThompie. Yes, you in the back row.:) DO NOT trim those Eggbert brushes!!! You will ruin them!! No if ands or buts about it. You did not waste your money. In fact you are lucky to find some. They can be hard to find unless one knows where to find them. You use them exactly the same way as a Filbert, but they have more “give” to them as the longer bristles give them more “spring”. They are not as good for the scumbling (there’s that word again! Dang!) because of the longer bristle length. That would be the only draw back. So if you wish go buy one more Filbert (a small one) and you are set and ready to spread some paint. Don’t worry about it. Many great artists use them. Brushes are a tool that should be chosen by personal preference. I was told early on in my learning to work in oils, by a famous very fine artist, “It does not matter what kind or size of brush you use. What matters is what you have when you are finished using them.” So use a one haired sable, a mop or something in between (my preference) and it’s okay. In a live class I demonstrate this by painting five or six different kinds and shapes of trees using only a bristle fan brush. Yes I can do that and so can you with some practice.
An idea was proposed to start another thread for this workshop and a second thread for all of you to post your work on as we progress. I think this is a great idea, so if all want this, Barb, please do so. My heart can take it. I’ll just tough it out. :) But please understand I may not be commenting and critiquing as fully as I do here simply because of my time constraints. Also I am a little hesitant to critique in public like this. In a critique I give what I want for myself when I go to an artist friend I respect for one. Honesty. I want to learn from it. I do not take it as a personal affront or criticism. If I want a “pat on the back”, I can go to my next door neighbor and they will tell me how great my work is. Problem is, I learned nothing. So if you wish a critique, say so, but be careful what you ask for, you may get it. I am not a cruel person and would never say anything hurtful or cruel to anyone, but I will be honest. So those are my only caveats.
Okay! How about a demo? As stated a couple of times I am doing two very different portraits of two different women, but I am using the exact same palette. This is more to demonstrate the versatility of the palette, not a show of how I paint a portrait, though you can see that. This demo is a little less descriptive than the first only to avoid being redundant. I did every thing the very same ways, using the same paint. At one point near the end you will see I added some more white to the palette only because I was running out.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/02-Jul-2006/50323-Blond_Demo_001.jpg
Here is my drawing on the linen and my reference photo. Someone mentioned that it was interesting in the first demo to see how I drew. So in this one I took the photo with very minimal clean up of the pencil work so you could see a little more. Some of the very light lines hardly show or not at all, but I think you can get a good idea that I make simple reference lines and mostly draw shapes and loosely at that. I should have checked my first demo as I think I drew this one larger than the other one was, but for this it will maybe work better I that you can see things better. I don’t know. Let’s see what happens.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/02-Jul-2006/50323-Blond_Demo_002.jpg
Notice that I have again mixed my dark (though not as dark as the first demo) and begin the same way scrubbing the color onto the canvas. Really I am defining shapes with color and value.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/02-Jul-2006/50323-Blond_Demo_003.jpg
In this picture I continue as I started, but I am adding more color and changing value slightly. I start from dark and work to light. That is what I am doing.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/02-Jul-2006/50323-Blond_Demo_004.jpg
Here I have jumped ahead with my photos and you can see I am filling in large areas I the appropriate color value and temperature. All this is coming out of the initial dark mix as in the other demo.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/02-Jul-2006/50323-Blond_Demo_005.jpg
Here is the completed lay-in. You can see the resemblance starting to come out, but she is still a little cartoo-nish. All the necessary shapes and color are there, it only needs to be refined. This will now be set aside with the other demo to dry. When they are dry I will begin working on them again. This time I will be very deliberate correcting drawing subtle value, color and color temperature changes as needed to make each come “alive”. Pleas look at the palette. All of the colors in this portrait are right there in what may be termed a mess by some, but it is actually a process of mixing color and staying in total harmony and achieving a wide range of color and value from just three colors and white. It works every time. Here is something else to think about. Because I do mix this way, when these two lay-ins are dry, I will have no questions about what color to use. I could do ten paintings, all very different from these in between this stage and the next stage when I finish them and I can match every color instantly. This speeds up your production and increases the quality of your work. Time on this one from start of drawing to finished lay-in about 30 minutes.
That is today’s lesson and now I am open for any more questions you have or if I need to clarify some things for anyone I hope you like this one also.
A note to Barb, I think this would be a good place to start the new thread. I will be moving on to some new subjects next.
To end this here is the last painting I finished for my upcoming show. It is a 24”x 30” oil on linen and the palette is Cad Lemon, Cad Red Medium, Cobalt Blue and I touch of Winsor Green in the sky mix. I hope you like it.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/02-Jul-2006/50323-Notch_Mtn..jpg
Cowgirl 6 will see it in Wyoming so she can give you all the real scoop as to what it really looks like.
Happy color chart making all.
John
Visualone
www.johncoxfineart.com

[bjs0704]

Hi Everyone,

I started a new thread for John’s workshop over here. Make sure that you drop by.

If you look at the blue menu at the top of the thread, under “Thread Tools”, you will find an item that says “Subscribe to this thread”. If you mark that , you can subscribe to John’s new thread even if you aren’t ready yet to post in his new thread.

If you, stop in and say “Hi”, your subscribed automatically!

Here’s a link to the new thread. I don’t want to lose anybody!

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4761947#post4761947

[bjs0704]

Here's a link to our new workshop gallery thread. This is where you can post your work, after trying John's techniques.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4761967#post4761967

Barb Solomon:cat:

[Rosic]

Rosic asked about the difference between oil primed canvas and acrylic primed canvas. The oil primed has a different “feel” under the brush and I like this feel very much. So basically for me it is a case of preferring the feel and the less absorbency or the oil primed for me. Does that help you?

Sure does John... Thanks! When I purchased the oil primed canvas' the dealer told me that feel would be the difference... he said it would be like spreading soft butter on warm bread.

[Lap3]

Hi, everyone. TThompie turned me on to this workshop from the oil painting forum. (BTW, Thanks T for the heads up.) I have been studying all the info all morning and have had so many AHH-HAA moments--too many to count. I am currently working on a portrait and am so frustrated. I plan to but some of this great info from the first 2 demos to work and give it a go. Thanks John so much for you time and effort. THIS IS GREAT STUFF!! Looking forward to joining the group!!

Cheryl

[stoney]

Hi, everyone. TThompie turned me on to this workshop from the oil painting forum. (BTW, Thanks T for the heads up.) I have been studying all the info all morning and have had so many AHH-HAA moments--too many to count. I am currently working on a portrait and am so frustrated. I plan to but some of this great info from the first 2 demos to work and give it a go. Thanks John so much for you time and effort. THIS IS GREAT STUFF!! Looking forward to joining the group!!

Cheryl

Welcome to the "Ah-Ha" chorus. :)