ROUND THE CAMPFIRE August 2012 - Page 10

Colorfur Critters · #**136** 08-30-2012, 12:54 AM

Howdy campers!
I'm just flying by, I really need to work on my time management skills so I can spend more time in here.

I do manage to lurk a bit.

All I've recently accomplished painting wise is a 4"x4" acrylic and it ain't that great.

Linda - I have to say that I have a box of frozen NM Hatch chiles in my deep freeze. I love them, but they sure last a long time!

Donald_Smith · #**137** 08-30-2012, 06:08 AM

Cyntada - very nice drawing! I bet it was fun with all those reflections. Ever try water color pencils? You could draw it with them, then add water later.

Donald

PS: today is the last day of working 4 - 10s. back to a normal 5 - 8 work week, so I'll have a little more time to post, but less to paint. Unless I keep getting up 30 minutes early so I can paint for 30. Is it worth it though? It takes 5 to 10 minutes just to clean up? I paint with oils. I have a lot of exercises I need to finish. I'm still debating this. 30 minutes of sleep? or 30 minutes to paint? LOL

**jennaboo88** · #**138** 08-30-2012, 02:11 PM

Hi everyone!

Hi Lisa. So good to hear from you. We've missed you. What fun that you found those new kittens. Better to find kittens than skunks, right?

Thanks for the tip on the cat food. We have HyVee stores around, but I don't typically shop there. I'll be sure to keep clear of their cat food.

Hi Ron. I can't wait to see the painting you do of my dad. It will be wonderful, I just know it! Maybe your skunks have moved on?

Hi CK. What a great drawing! Fixatives are an interesting topic, and it can be intimidating to choose one. Several years ago, I bought my first can of fixative, and am still using it. I have no complaints about it. It's Grumbacher Final Fixative (for Pastel, Charcoal and Pencil - but the reviews say it's terrible on pastel, just a head's up). It works very well for my graphite, charcoal, and even ink drawings. I have no complaints. Just keep the pastel issue in mind. It seems to apply evenly and looks great. Sometimes, if I apply it a little heavily, it might darken the drawing just slightly. I never had an issue with that feature, but some might really hate it. Here is the link to what I use.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/gr...kTracking=true

Otherwise, just go to your local art store and check out the fixatives. They should state pretty clearly whether they are for graphite/pencil or not, and you can even choose a finish with some. I use the matte, as a high gloss sheen seems a little unnusual on a drawing, but that's just my opinion. I hope you find a great one. Excellent work on your drawing!

Hi Catherine. Thanks for the encouragement! I'll try to paint today.

Hi Linda. Hope the dentist appointment went well. Thanks! I'll try and paint some after lunch.

Hi Lola. What, no details? What did you paint on this 4x4 canvas? Inquiring minds want to know.

Hi Donald. Great that you'll have more free time from work now. I say it's definitely worth it to get up to paint. I know that if I am not doing something creative, I get pretty cranky. Art is soothing for people.

djstar · #**139** 08-30-2012, 05:07 PM

Thanks for the help, folks. I am still a bit torn. I looked at the gallery and it has a really good location but it appears to be open only three half days a week! Not very good chances for sales. Smallish but good windows. And a delivery time dead middle of a meeting with a potential l client!

and if anyone cares..... my favorite fixative is sooo hard to pin down. Winsor & Newton is so wonderful, but they have a manufacturing issue. The top keeps literally clogging and popping off! I have half full cans all over the house. They took it off the shelves years ago and then brought it back and all was well for a few years, now they are popping again! IF you find it, it comes with a yellow label and is WORKABLE FIXATIVE. Not sealer, not protector. It keeps it on the page but doesn't change its character but most of all, it smells like witch hazel! Not that horrible plastic Krylon or even Grumbacher. For graphite any will do, but if you want to buy a really great product, go W&N... but save your receipt. (SERIOUSLY, you may have to take it back)
End of report.
dj*

**rugman** · #**140** 08-30-2012, 07:15 PM

CK- I would recommend no fixative. Most of us pastelists dont use it. It dulls and darkens colors, but I dont use on my charcoal drawings. If you think you must have, try Spectrafix fixative, its the one that pastelist like the most. I would securely tape glassine or acetate over the drawings, so they dont move and smudge- even if its in sketchbook

**jennaboo88** · #**141** 08-31-2012, 12:39 PM

Hi everyone.

Interesting discussion on the fixatives. I do agree that Grumbacher does have a stong odor, but the good news is that once the fixative has dried, I can't smell it any longer. Straight from the can, yes, it smells somewhat like spray paint. If possible, I spray my drawings outside where the smell quickly dissipates.

Ron, how is it that you can get by without fixing a charcoal drawing? When I use charcoal, it seems to smear if I so much as look at it.

Hi to everyone else. Hope you enjoy this last day of August.

Donald_Smith · #**142** 08-31-2012, 01:19 PM

DJ - Don't know if this will work, but buy yourself an airbrush. Poke a hole in the top of the can and let all the aerosol out. Then make the hole bitter and pour it into a thick glass jar with a good lid. Use the airbrush to apply the fixaitve rather than throw out the old cans. If it dries out in the jar, well, you couldn't use the cans anyway.

Donald

djstar · #**143** 08-31-2012, 02:18 PM

Donald, I have a thing that is a little do it yourself aerosol sprayer you can buy at home depot. But the amount of product you would need to make it spray pretty much means saving up a few pictures in a stack to do all at one time. (and much cheaper than an airbrush set up!)
BELIEVE ME, I am holding on to these and waiting until the good spray comes back and returning them with the new receipt!!!

Ah the debate about fixative!
I am a pastellist. I use a LOT of fix, and it is a tool.
I have found that (for the sake of my long suffering framer and the happiness of my clients) it is good to learn to anticipate the changes and plan ahead, like an acrylic artist who adjusts for the change in color when it dries.

I have a trade out with my framer when the pastellists who don't believe in using fixative have art that falls off the paper. I do the repairs, but he has to struggle with putting it under glass .. and on to the final wall.

As most of my stuff is either still stacked or in galleries, not on a client's wall, it is a little fool hardy to think putting it up and taking it down, driving from show to show and the jostling that comes along will keep your piece presentable for the sake of integrity. (I knew an artist who RE-FRAMED everything after each show. Obviously on a better budget than I have!) For a CLIENT, it is different, but for shows and personal use I have a procedure of using strong stable semi hard pastels for the bulk of the darks and fixing in layers as I build to my lightest lights. Workable fix is the trick. It just holds it on the paper without a lot of drenching (also, for charcoal and of course graphite, workable doesn't affect the tooth of the paper so you can work into it, unlike a final sealer)
If I have a lot of layers of colors they stay more stable with fixing below. It helps bring back lost tooth and makes a framer happy.
When I finish a piece, I will always mist it as lightly as possible. IF I see the lights drop down, I will redraw them and leave them. My framer kisses the ground I walk on.

.... but that is an opinion formed from years of trying it all ways. If I did more direct sales, I MIGHT be tempted to go prima donna and say NO FIXATIVE, but I really feel more in control OF, rather than BY the sticks. No beautiful dust is going to push me around (or end up on the inside of the frame!)
OPINION, not law...
dj*

tuzigoot · #**144** 08-31-2012, 02:50 PM

Re the airbrush? If it's anything like the one I have it would probably clog after about 5 minutes and require 2 hours of cleaning to use it again. Damnable contraptions!

MRSBB · #**145** 08-31-2012, 07:32 PM

Hi everyone. Long time no see.......Just was checking out the new challenge and thought I'd stop by and say hi to you all. I am hoping I can get inspired to paint again. If not I should put all this art stuff up on EBay.

It's been a very trying year to say the least, thank goodness for my faith in God to see us through it all. We lost Bob's son in May, his only child. So our world has been revolving around attorneys and courts. Do yourself a favor and make out a will. You don't want to put anyone through what we have been and are still going through.

Enough of that. I do stop in and take a peek at all the great art I see here. I've even downloaded some of the challenge pictures in the past, but I swear my muse took a hike. Hoping I can get back at it.

We have a very green Arizona. I have emptied 20 inches of rain from the rain gauge so far this summer. Bob bought us an ATV and it is really a kick to drive. We have 4 wheel drive (2 miles) to our mail box and it saves a lot of wear and tear on our car. Our road is pretty washed out.

Take care everyone..............Lenore

Cyntada · #**146** 08-31-2012, 11:39 PM

Lenore! I didn't have the pleasure of participating here when you were around more regularly, but given how many folks here remember you, and how often they wish you'd come back, it's an honor to spot your post.

I am so sorry to hear about your loss and related burdens. No wonder it's been hard to paint... I hope things take a turn for the better soon. You and yours will be in my prayers.

djstar · #**147** 09-01-2012, 12:57 AM

Kind of cool morning. I dropped off my entries (kid with puppy, kid and mom on beach, bride, two bulldogs and spiderman..... size and neighborhood, not quality drove me...they moved the show out to during a very busy season so I went for college parents types) and went to the gallery to drop off my final piece for the show.
They did a little phone interview yesterday and I went for photos. I will have a PR article on next Friday for the opening!(still no sales, but you would think I was famous!!!)
And spent the afternoon with another good artist friend who broke her leg 8 weeks ago. On Sept. 8 she gets to put weight on it. I AM so lucky!!!!
dj*

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