Boy oh boy do the months fly by don’t they? Once again I would like to thank you Geoff, for hosting my favorite thread on wetcanvas! I really love seeing everyones paintings in here and it is really nice to be able to discuss things with like minded painters. My tube of maroger just arrived in the mail! Yayy!!! I can’t wait to try it out, but I am busy at the moment and have to run a couple errands, but I’m sure I will get a chance to paint this evening. I hope I like it! I will let you know what I think of it

I just want to say that I’m finding this to be an especially valuable thread. What I notice is that the main characters here –
you, Geoff, and t1 and DMA – all seem particularly serious about painting, and striving to improve, and I already find it helpful to be in such company. Thanks Geoff for hosting!

These are comments I had started writing for the August thread, but didn’t manage to finish before the new one was posted.

Geoff and DMA, it is so much easier to mix with a brush, but the risk is getting paint into the ferrule, which can end up wrecking the brush. I tend to mix the big piles with a knife, and do the variations from those main colors with my brush, but even then I sometimes goof and get the paint too far up.

DMA, your plein aires are so soft and peaceful. I especially like the last one with the two rocks in the water. The color is perfect and it has such a lovely, dreamy feel to it.

Geoff, DMA, t1, thanks for the nice compliments on my portrait. Yes, the model did see it, and took a photo. Painting quickly and accurately is indeed a challenge – it was quite a milestone for me to get as far as I did with that last portrait.

DMA, I’ve read that zest-it can leave a slight residue. Have you tried Gamsol? You can also use spike lavender oil as a solvent; it’s the only non-toxic solvent I’m aware of. It’s quite expensive, but goes a long, long way and smells wonderful, although some don’t like the odor. But the drawback is that it’s a very strong solvent and slow-drying, so it doesn’t seem to work for doing a first washy layer.

The 5-week portraiture class I’ve been taking just ended. It met once a week and the second portrait was done over the last two sessions, which worked really well for a relative newcomer to portraiture like me. My first two portraits for the class were awful, mostly because I know I’m very slow, and so tensed up due to the pressure of less than 3 hours to complete them. So having two sessions to complete the portrait was ideal for me. The instructor was great and taught a limited palette, systematic approach to alla prima portraiture that she said also works for landscapes and still lifes. I got a lot out of the class and will use the system for future work.

t1 and Geoff, maybe you could convince your group to try a 2-session portrait too. It’s twice as good as just one three-hour session! It seems to me the speedy folks could just do a second painting of the same model from a different perspective, so everyone would be happy.

t1, I’ve never used maroger and instead am planning to try some of Tad Spurgeon’s impasto putties, made with water-washed linseed oil. I’ll be interested to hear your take on maroger, although I’m sensitive like Geoff and shy away from anything toxic. That is except Gamsol, which I try to limit but find indispensible. Kelli Folsom is a terrific artist and thanks for introducing me to her work. Enjoy the workshop! Congrats on your gallery entry and*best wishes on that solo show, too! When do you hear on it?

Geoff, I like the storefront a lot – it’s charming! I had hoped to enter myself, but didn’t manage it. Has a winner been announced? But for me, the mall painting is the standout. There’s a special kind of light effect when the day is overcast but the sun is starting to burn off the haze, and you nailed it!

t1, I remember seeing that river scene earlier. It’s a wonderful painting and I easily can see why it was accepted!

DMA, I hope the rain went away so you could continue painting!

Geoff, if you’re near a Hobby Lobby, you can also find 12x24s there, which are very reasonably priced (it’s probably wise to apply an extra coat of gesso on them). Blick also carries them, along with 18×36 and 24×48 and similarly-proportioned canvasses. I imagine the other major art supply stores carry them too.

I’m not certain I’m ready to try to pull off a nocturne, since I feel I’m still learning to keep all the painting elements I’m juggling up in the air at the same time! One more (darkness) may be more than I can handle at the moment, but who knows, maybe I’ll be reckless and give it a try.

P.S. – Annie: thus far my maroger has a very very mild scent that i find quite pleasant. It is much less smelly than say Liquin for instance. I cant use normal turpentine in the studio, not cause i dislike the smell, because i love how it smells, but it really just makes me feel ill when i use it in my studio, even with my windows open and a fan blowing out one of them. The maroger on the other hand is having no ill effects on me whatsoever. I use normal turpentine when i paint plein air, i do prefer its extremely quick evaporation rate. When i need a straight solvent in the studio i just use oms, usually either mona lisa or turpenoid, those dont bother me. But even hardware store oms is heavy on the nose indoors. I always start out my paintings sketching in the composition using pure solvent and paint. Then after i get it sketched in i switch to whichever medium i happen to be using. I like to experiment with all sorts. So far my favorite is Sennelier Flow N Dry, but maroger may become my #1, we’ll c, i havent much experience with it yet and its also painfully expensive, so i dont foresee it becoming my main medium, if only because of its price

T1, I exactly know what you mean. I joined wetcanvas not a too long time ago, unsure of what to expect, but this thread is quickly becoming my favorite. It’s inspiring to see everyone trying their hardest to improve and not only that, support each other. It’s inspiring! Your latest painting is actually great. I am glad you didn’t scrap it. I love the aggressive brushwork. Did you use this new medium on it? I’m curious what you think of it so far. Love the colors and how you used some soft glow there and there.

Annie, thank you for your kind words. I always liked my art to be dreamy and there you said it. Yay! I’m happy! About being in one’s company, I too enjoy yours and everyone’s else too! And the paint getting into the ferrule, yeah, that’s why I got long flat, it’s nearly impossible that way, unless I’m really careless or using huge amount of paint (that’s where knife comes handy anyways). Ah zest-it does that? I didn’t know or notice that. I know it dries to matte finish, but I think that’s normal for all solvents when thinned with it. It’s not really a big deal because I only use pure solvent for underpainting, then usually just walnut oil for later on if I need it to be more smooth. When I sign it, I find it easier to control if I mix 1:1 part walnut oil and zest-it as a thinner. Then it won’t finish off with a so-matte-finish nor will it bead up (if you use too much walnut oil, you get that effect). Not that it really matters because at that point I’ll just use a retouch varnish to unify it for a gloss finish. I haven’t tried Gamsol, just got zest-it because it’s supposed to be “better alternative” of all solvents. I could be wrong ofc. I like it and it’s powerful in cleaning my brush so I’m happy. I’ve heard of lavender oil spike, but from what I have read, some people could not handle the smell and it stays in the painting for a long time due to longer evaporation point which I don’t want. Zest-it is a bit slower than turpentine, but it still does the job and evaporate fast enough. However, if I ever have an opportunity to try it out or so, I definitely will. It’s just that like you said, it’s rather expensive. And finally about your portrait class, I hope you’ve learned few things from it. Of course you’ll start out badly, don’t we all? But hey at least you did see some progress right? I’m curious about the limited palette your instructor showed if you don’t mind sharing that?

Whew, what a long post. And again Geoff, like I said in my last post in last thread, thank you for this thread. I love it!

And yeah, I’m now at home. The weather was going to be raining for 3 days straight, nonstop and our vacation was coming to its end anyways so we packed early. It’s good to be at my pc with my lovely keyboard again. I also looked up on when moon’s full here and it’s on Sept 6. I’m going to see if I *CAN* pull it off… I’m making it my “one time challenge.” Let’s hope I’ll do it. Haha! Bye for now.

……by the way, I only mentioned receiving no comments on that painting to point out the participation is low sometimes on WC, not that I need anyone to comment! It didn’t come out the way I intended……

DMArtist7, thanks! I think maybe Facebook took many away? My thing now is, I don’t know how to find “artists” on the social media sites. I often think well I’d like to go “hang out” around a bunch, but don’t know where they are. Used to be here……..

I’m glad for any thread that gets activity here! Having leftover homemade pizza for breakfast, and contemplating what to paint next.

Cloth is my latest hill to climb. I want to try a solid color cloth now. Did white, now color, then I’ll move on to pattern. What are you up to next?