My Trusty Little Companion

Say "Hello" to my trusty studio companion.  This is my painting cart.  This little beast started as a set of Ikea storage boxes and has grown into what it is now.  Originally I just wanted something to set my pallet on when I painted on the studio wall.  For this I added the sides and a fourth drawer.  The trash can found a new home under it soon after.  Then I wanted a place to store items and sketchbooks so it got wider.  I wanted it more mobile so it got some wheels.  About a year ago I added the toilet paper roll holder.  I use T.P. for wiping brushes, pallet knives and my nose.  My last change on it was about three weeks ago.  It was a minor addition but an important one, I added a bar to keep the brush cleaners from sliding off the edge.

This cart been in my studio for about 15 years now.  The glass pallet originally had a cover and a handle and it is the same pallet I used to carry into Art Center for painting class.  So this pallet has been around for maybe 20 or more years.  Crazy Huh?

Here's a view from the other side.  I have sketch books, my goal organizer, misc. business books, a portable print portfolio, some magazines, brushes, paint cleaner, and such on this side.

On the other side (first photo) you can see where I store my mediums and varnishes under the T.P. holder.  Under the chemicals is the place I can throw reference material for the active paintings.  This space holds standard sized vanilla envelopes.  Each painting or series gets an envelope and all reference, sketches and notes get put in there.  This is held over from my commercial art days when I kept "job folders" for each project.

Here's a top view.  I have a coffee cup for a brush holder.  The cup is from Denali State park in Alaska.  I filled the cup with dried beans so my brushes stand up.  You can also see wells for pallets knives, a putty knife, paint sticks and larger brushes.  All the stuff up here kind of moves about depending on the painting and what tools I'm using.









Here's a peek inside the top drawer.  It is for extra brushes and some napkins for blotting brushes.  Lots and lots of brushes.  This drawer usually stays open so the napkins are readily available for blotting.  My pallet scraper is next to the napkins.  For oils, it's important to keep a clean pallet so the various colors do not get too contaminated with unwanted colors.  Sap Green can get into EVERYTHING if left smeared about on a pallet.




The Second drawer down is for the paints I most commonly use.  My basic pallet is Burnt Umber,  Raw Umber, Yellow Ocher, Ultramarine Blue, Naples Yellow,  Burnt Sienna, Ivory Black, and Alkyd Titanium White.  These colors are derived from what NC Wyeth used.  He's my all-time favorite artist and I studied his paintings all through college.  These colors are in the front of the drawer.  For the colors I use most often I purchase the large tubes.

Supplemental colors, located near the back of the drawer include Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Red Medium, Sap Green, and a few others that I hardly ever use.

The pliers are used to open the tubes. 





The third drawer from the top is for all my other oil paint.  These are extra tubes of the same colors as in drawer two or they are random colors that I just can't bear to give away but are never used.

Price range for a small tube of oil paint is $8-$25 depending on the color.  Brushes can carry the same price tags.   Yikes!!!!

 
The bottom drawer is for all the other "Stuff" that goes along with my oil paints.  It's a catch all.



Hopefully you found this kind of insightful.  I think it's always fun to see the behind the scenes stuff of someone's work space. Help gives you a glimpse as to what goes into a piece of art.


Take care,

Larry

The Final Killer

For me, most paintings develop and are finished pretty close to how I had expected from the start.  This isn't by accident.  I spend time developing the drawing, picking colors collecting reference and when it's time to execute, I'm generally ready to "get er done."  But with this killer whale painting, I just wasn't pleased with the direction it had gone.  I tried changing colors in the back buildings, I tried making the buildings lighter, I tried a few things but nothing was working.  I just didn't like it.  It had just too much information, your eyes wander around looking for something to latch onto and in doing so we lose the fact that the whale is floating.  I couldn't come up with a decent fix it plan so I left and went on a weeks' vacation.     

After my return I went back to my first few rough sketches.  Here's one to the left.  You can see in this sketch the back building are very meaningless.  They're just indicated with a few lines.  This is what I needed.  Let's start the buildings over - Auggggg!!!!    I either do this or I sand everything down and start a new painting.  I might as well try it, right.   If I don't like what I try I'll bring out the sander and completely erase this painting.  I've done it before and I'll do it again if I need to.      

     As soon as I put the first bit of sky color over the buildings I saw and knew what I needed to do.   As you can see the changes have been major.  The back buildings have changed dramatically, there is no more dome on the left building, the sign is getting filled in and there is a shape of a figure in the lower right hand corner.  The painting was crying out to me for these things, I just needed to listen.  I really love the new back buildings.  These where scratched in like a child's primitive drawing.  Here's a couple of close ups along with the figure getting fleshed out a bit: 

This idea of scratching the paint will be something I play around with more.  Below is the final painting.  What do you think?

Now I just need to come up with a name.
Killer Whale Painting?
Walking in the Shadow of my Gloom?
Checks in the Mail?
Walking the Dog?
Life is Good?

What's the painting about?  Well it changed from its original idea.  It's now about depression.  If a person is depressed they take this feeling with them where ever they go.  Some people think they hid it well, some pretend like it's not there.  I think the key to overcoming it is to acknowledge its presence and learn to walk outside of it encompassing shadow.  You'll never be rid of it, it will always be there so learn from it, deal with it, pray about it and press on.  A lot of time it's easier said than done, but just remember, Life is Good.  I know this from personal experience.

Take care,

Larry