How to ship a large painting with a truthful shocking end.

The Introduction, 36x54, oil on canvas

There comes a time for all artist when hand delivering your art across town evolves into shipping your art across the nation.  When this time comes do you know how you'll package it up?

The small works are easy to figure but what if you have larger paintings, like 36 x 54 inches, do you put it in a box and cross your fingers?  Build a bomb proof wooden pallet?  Take it apart and ship it in a tube?  There are a lot of different ways so I thought I would add to these ideas and show you how, and why, I ship my larger paintings.

What we are dealing with is: an oil painting on canvas that is stretched on wood bars and does not have a frame.  Knowing this we need to make sure the canvas does not get ripped, the wooden bars are not broken and everything stays nice and dry.  When shipping, size and weight are major concerns too.

This is a lot to account for.  So, here we go:

Supplies needed:
Cutting tools - scissors, box knife = 0
Sharpie permanent pen for labeling = 0
One large envelope = $1
Packing tape - one large roll = $5
Heavy duty packaging tape one small roll = $3
Duct Tape- optional = 0
2ml drop cloth = $3
Two cardboard boxes 45x36x6 = $32
Two polystyrene insulation panels =$25

The prices above are rounded and estimated but come out to about $67.  This is assuming I have the knives, pens, and tape dispensers on hand.  With these supplies, I can make a sturdy box that I am confident will house my painting safely until it arrives at its destination a week later on the other side of the United Sates.  Not a bad price to pay for this.  In my situation, the gallery would like to reuse the shipping container for getting the painting delivered to a buyer or back to me if it does not sell.  Keeping this in mind, I need to take some additional steps to make sure it gets repackaged correctly a month or so in the future.

First thing we need to do it make sure the painting is wired and ready to hang, has information marked on the back of the painting (my inventory #, painting title, dimensions, medium and a copy right sign followed by my name), make sure my business card is taped to back and tape an image of the painting along with same information as above but also include my name and contact information as well as the name and contact information for who is receiving the painting.

Wired and ready to hang      /       wrapped in plastic

This last piece of paper is useful for the gallery staff as they can grab it and take it to their desk for logging in the work.  It also may become my last bit of information for the carrier if by chance my packaging gets absolutely destroyed and lost.  This is no joke - I worked a few years at FedEx and daily we would have contents that had no packaging or information.  With no packaging and no information, they would sit at the ramp and be lost to all.  I mark everything with my name and list my address and phone number multiple times throughout the packaging process.  I want whatever remains of my painting back!!.

Second thing I do is wrap the painting in plastic.  This is a layer of protection from rubbing and serves to help keep the painting dry.  I can ship the painting from sunny Southern California but where it's going may be wet or places along the way where they change planes or trucks may be wet as well.  FedEx and UPS all have hubs where all the packages get downloaded from one container, divided up and repacked into other containers.  Believe me, the chances of something getting wet is huge.  The plastic cost $3 so it's a cheap investment.

The interior box made of foam            /         the painting inside the foam box             /        the outer shell box

Third step is the roughest.  I make a box out of polystyrene insulation.  It's a complicated name but the stuff itself is simple.  It's just white foam.  I buy this in the insulation aisle at Lowes and it comes in 4' x 8' sheets.  It's very light weight.  I build the box 1 inch bigger, in all dimensions, than my painting.  Example: painting is 36 x 54 x 1.5 so the box I building has inside dimensions of 37 x 55 x 2.5.  This gives me wiggle room to slide the painting in when complete.  The box is made by cutting the foam with a box knife (very easy to cut) and then taping together with light weight packaging tape.  When the insulation is cut it is very messy and you'll get white bits of foam everywhere.  A true nightmare for you and the receiving party.  To correct this mess in my studio I vacuum the floor -A LOT.  To correct this mess for the receiving party I cover every cut side with the light weight packaging tape.  If I make a cut- the edges get taped.  I use an entire roll of the packaging tape on one shipment.  It's tedious but keeps everyone happy in the long run.  I also make a hinged lid just for the receiving party and I write directions so they know where to open.  I don't want them to cut my painting and by guiding them I can make sure the box is usable again for return shipping at the end of the show.  At this point my painting is pretty well protected.  But there's more.

The fourth step is to make the outer shell.  Due to the size, this shell is made of two boxes.  The image above shows only the bottom half of the shell.  Here I'm using a 36"tall by 45" wide by 6"deep box.  This is a shipping box rated to 300lbs - it is different than a moving box purchased from U-Hall that is rated for far less.  Make sure and get a rated shipping box so any insurance you put on your shipment will have a chance of being approved.  I purchased my shipping boxes from the local UPS store.  The boxes I used here have openings on the 36" side - no good since I need at least 39" to fit the inner box within.  So I taped the box closed and then cut open the long side (45" side) so my white box will fit in.  The top half of the box - not shown- is made the same way.

A look inside the bottom half shell       /      the corner brace

Since I am putting a 39" box into a 45" box there is a bit of extra space to fill.  To fill this area, I make corner braces out of the same foam.  I make a brace for both ends of the box (top and bottom).  Here you can see the brace inside the bottom half of my outer shell.  These corner braces also add padding to my painting so it's a win - win.

white box in shell            /           details of instructions on inner box

 Here's a shot of the inner box inside the bottom half of the shell.  The detail picture shows some of my instructions for whom ever will be opening the box.  I have "Remove this piece first" written on the top corner brace piece.   See also that I have a black and white image of the painting too.  On this piece of paper there is the same info as before - name and contact info.  If this paper is removed I have also written my contact info in permanent pen underneath.  It may be over kill but it's cheap and quick insurance.  I should note that the corner braces have my name on them too.  Now I'm sounding crazy - huh?  My intention is that all of this stuff stays together for the return trip.  If one piece gets separated during the opening process and is found a day or so later then they know whose it is and can save it.  Marking everything with TOP and BOTTOM also helps them put the puzzle back together a month or so later (in this case the show will be up for 6 months).  That's a long time for a gallery employee to have to remember how one particular artist (me) packaged their painting.  I try and help as much as I can by labeling all.

Side fillers

To fill up some of the gaps between the interior box and exterior shell I made some half boxes out of the foam.  This will keep the painting centered in the shell.

sliding shell together    /    All taped and sound

After putting in the side fillers, I put the top corner brace piece on the top of the interior box and then cover all with the top half of the shell.  The top half of the shell overlaps the bottom half by maybe 12 inches.  Once they are pushed all the way down I again label everything and then start taping all sides with the heavy-duty packaging tape.  Use the thickest tape possible for this.  The interior box is only padding so you can get away with cheap tape inside but the strength of this package and what keeps everything together is the shell - so use good tape!   On the corners, I probably have 4 layers of tape going every direction.  In the middle, I use multiple vertical strips then I do a couple of passes all the way around the box.  The edges that were previously taped, get taped again with the thicker tape.  Lots of tape here.  Take note that I have written my name and contact information for both me and the gallery on the box.  Then you can see below I cover this with a white envelope and do it again.  Inside the envelope I include the painting information again, my consignment sheet for this painting and a copy of the artists agreement for the gallery.  This is like my invoice bag.  But, if it gets ripped off I still have my shipping information written on the box - so important this minor step.

Sheets for envelope and the finished box ready to go.

The box is now ready to ship.  Final dimensions were 45"wide x 6" deep x 58"tall - note that this is just about the max size that UPS will ship.  This package only weighed 25.5 pounds which is very light for its size.  The cost to ship this from California to South Carolina was $251.  If we include the $67 in supplies the total is over $300.  This is a major expense!  Just imagine shipping a show full of art - 12-15 pieces.  I shipped using UPS and the delivery time was 5 days, the box takes a good day to building from start to finish so make sure to leave a weeks' worth of time for this.  

I haven't shipped anything bigger so I don't know exactly how I would go about it in the future.  But knowing the limitations of UPS and having a game plan for packaging I could start calling around a month or so early to get an idea on what to do.  I would speculate that the delivery will be a bit longer than 5 days so plan accordingly.

One final note - be ready for the shipping price shock.  After purchasing the supplies and spending the time to produce the art, standing in line to ship your art out is not the time to say, "Oh crap, I can't do this!"  You have to do this; your art career depends on it!  Be ready for it.

Wishing you all the best,

Larry

Composing the perfect picture.

So, what goes into composing a picture for my next big painting?  Grab a cup of coffee or tea and have a seat, for today I am long winded.

First, I need to get an idea and sketch it out.  Sometimes I am thinking along a certain line; like for a show theme.  This usually means I must create new ideas just for this reason.  To the right is one such sketch, it is one out of 7 other ideas I had.  To be honest this was the last one to be sketched out.  I was happy with my other ideas but there was something missing, I just couldn't put my finger on what it was missing.  I showed my wife the sketches to get her input and she said - your last painting was romantic.  These sketches are missing that romantic vibe.

Oh.  I didn't think of it that way.  Good point.

I went to bed thinking about it and woke up with this new idea.  My romantic element - "A Message in a Bottle."  Yes, it has been done before, I just need to do it my way. I went to the studio and made these quick sketches.  What do you think?  Am I ready to paint yet?

Well, not quite ready yet.

The main idea of the painting is the message in the bottle (the vibe) and includes the dog (for the show) and the boy (my link and the common element between bottle and dog) but the main element of the painting is the boat.  I can picture a boat in my mind with sails and all, but is the picture in my mind correct?  I need to verify this so I go to the internet and google sail boats or rowboats with sails.  "Oh, that's what they look like and there are so many different styles too."  

Left is my sketch of what a real boat looks like and is at kind of the same angle and direction I had in my sketch.  It's based off a few references I found that includes double sails, wooden sides, what a rudder looked like, what seating is like, and a man (sized for comparison). Now I know what a boat really looks like but I'm still not ready to paint just yet.  I need a good drawing.

With my new knowledge of boats I- tilt it, tweak it, widen it, play with it, hate it and love it into something that more closely resembles my original sketch.  I draw a lot with a blue pencil and red pencil then go over the top with a mechanical led pencil.  Working with colors lets me scribble a lot more to get what I want.  When I see what I want I go in with the led pencil and do final line work.  I can then scan in my drawing and remove the blue and red lines and I'm left with just the dark final drawing.  The picture to the right is a full scan of the plain typing paper I generally work with.  I drew the boat first, then figured out where I wanted the boarders of the painting to be (that's why it looks skewed).  The most important angle for me was between the body of the boat and the top of the water.  At what point is the boat skimming the water and not just jumping out of it?


I should point out there is a difference between a sketch and drawing.  A sketch is loose and sometimes uncontrolled and usually revolves around an idea or thought.  A drawing is controlled and is based on something.  I can sit an apple down on my desk and draw it.  If I had an idea of an apple and pear falling in love I could sketch out ideas on how to express the love between these two.  Once I had a god concept (sketch) I could make a final drawing.  Makes sense?



So, am I ready to paint yet?  Silly - no.  I still need the boy and his dog.

Here's a sketch of what I was thinking for the dogs.  Yes plural.  My original thought was to have three dogs in the boat.

Here also is a drawing of the boy.  You plainly see the difference between drawing and sketching now right? 

The boy still needs some help.  I like the top hat better than the one he is wearing and his arm is too long.  No worries, I can fix this digitally.  No need to redraw.




Do you see the balls I drew?  I was thinking of adding these to the front of the boat but decided not to.  There is a buoy near the front of the boat that didn't make the final cut as well.  At this point I am still collecting info and it's when I put everything together that I can really see what works and balances well and what doesn't.

Here's another version of the drawing, updated with the boy and the balls in place.  I have also removed all colored pencil leaving me nice grey lines to look at.  It looks nice but the balance is off and it looks a bit cluttered.   I haven't quite figured out the composition yet.  I need to get the dogs in so I can focus and make final decisions.  I'm also thinking about adding a light house to the lower right corner. The light house will help balance the image since the boat is so far to the left.  There's another fine line here because you want to leave space ahead of the boat so it has room to sail into, otherwise it may look like it's going to sail off the page.


Here are more small drawings.  The light house I drew is from the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.  I thought this would be a good tie-in since the painting was going to be displayed in the area.  But after adding the light house the drawing got way too cluttered and it was taken back out.  Sometimes simple is better.

Included in this group are drawings for the dogs. I opted for two dogs instead of the three. There was no need to redraw the dogs.  I liked what I had so I'll just adjust the red color digitally.


I'm also re-positioning the sails a bit so I have needed to redraw the tops.  I also changed the lower tie point on the sails.  These are the drawings to the far left above.

And Finally, here is the final drawing with all the pieces put together.  Changes I have made that may not be immediately noticeable include: repositioning the front sail (moved lower and changed angle), moved both sails and mast to front portion of the boat, shortened the length of the boat, less water disruption from rudder, entire boat moved to right, the angle of the sails have slightly veered to the left to give a better dynamic angle, boys hat reduced, boys arm shortened slightly, the bottle has been slightly repositioned and reduced in size, the number 7 was moved higher on the sail, and all elements in the lower right have been removed.  I have shown all of my sketches for this painting so all of the remaining changes noted were completed digitally with Photoshop.  No need to redraw.




This drawing is approximately 6 x 9 inches.  When I transfer it to the final canvas it will become 36" x 54".  When it gets this big I will do additional changes like add the rope rigging, make the boys hand more atomically correct and just pay attention to detail over the entire thing.

Am I finally ready to paint?  I feel confident about the drawing, the composition, what I am saying, etc., so I am saying YES to the painting!  I put this in for my daughter - she loves the "saying yes to the dress" show :)

Here's one last thing I would like to point out: the message in the bottle is the vibe, this is what the painting is about.  The boy and dog are support elements and help tell a story.  Notice how the boy, in reaching for the bottle, makes a line. The bottle points to the dog's face and the dogs body is online with the arch of the boys back back.  Combined, these elements create a triangle, a very strong design element.  You can see that in my initial sketch the triangle is kind of there but it needs to be defined.  This is why I do all this work and just don't just start painting.  I have said this before, it's the little things in life that make things great so it does good to pay attention to the details.

Cheers,

Larry
www.larryreinhart.com

My secret ingredient.

Seek and Ye Shall Find  oil on canvas 36x54

Want to know my secret ingredient for making a work of art?   It's complicated and I am constantly seeking the answer myself but today I had to pony up and answer a similar question to a gallery director. I think I gave a pretty good explanation, let me know what you think.   I was asked -

"I just wanted to send a quick note to tell you how much I love your painting for Cats vs. Dogs. I loved it from the images you sent, but the surface texture and little carved surprises make it ten times better. Thank you for taking the time to create such a thoughtful piece for the exhibit. We will treasure having it on display here. (And I’ll send photos once we’re finished with the installation!)

If you have a moment, I’d love to get any stories behind the piece - anecdotes or what the composition means to you."

and I replied:

So glad to hear you liked the painting!  So what's behind the scenes here......Hmmm.

Most of my art tells a story, some are very complex stories, some simple.  The subject matter I paint is very personal to me but I like to present it in a way that most can relate to it and develop their own idea or story.  Seek and Ye Shall Find is kind of a simple story, to me but may be a complex story to someone else.  An example would be the empty bird cage, it could mean a lot of different things.  A lost bird, a dead bird, looking for a new bird, a new friend, setting a bird free, freedom, etc.  Actually for me the bird cage means very little - sorry to say - but it's something I put in just for the curiosity of it.  Some people may call this simple minded trickery but I am doing it for the viewer.  I want them to get lost in my painting and create a story, so I added this detail.  Things in the painting that do mean a lot to me are: my daughters name which is Aspen, my sons name  which is Seven. In most of my work you will find a number 7 (obscure or obvious),  I've been including 7's for twenty one years now.  People that know my work enjoy looking for the 7's and letting me know they found it. The dog pictured is my German Short Haired Pointer, her name is Lucy. She is a rescued dog from my local shelter.  The Mallard Ducks in flight were my dad's favorite bird, he collected decoys and such and I remember being in awe of these as a child. Some of the earliest paintings I was exposed to were of these ducks pictured in their native homes.  The fact that the boy and dog are sailing away reference going off on an adventure.  They are looking for something - the dog pointing may mean they have found something - who knows?  Personally, I am an adventurer by heart but all of my adventures happen on land. I have always wanted to build my own boat and learn to sail, I don't know why, but it's always been romantic to me.  This is surprising because water is one of my biggest fears.  Drowning, sharks and giant octopus - all freak me out, but still I long to be out there.  I also like flying.  As a child my dreams were filled with me flying or floating.  As I got older I learned to control the dreams and I could get myself to fly in a certain direction and see things from this different perspective, flying high or skimming the surface of the water.  These dreams really influenced me and ignited a fire in me to constantly explore.  Here on land I am always finding myself looking up to the high places and wondering what it would be like to be there, who else has stood up there, what could you see from up there, how do you get up there? I am a mountain hiker/climber.  I know this sounds like I am all over the place with ideas but that is the purpose of my art.  It grounds me and lets me put all these ideas together to make an image for all to enjoy.   

Those little carved surprises and surface details you see are things I do for "eye candy".  I have always thought art should look good from a distance as well as close up and the closer I bring someone to my art the more I want to give them for their effort.  The carvings are put in as I paint and many actually get painted over and lost.  They may be thoughts I had, random doodles, things added to help tell the story, etc.  I have had paintings hang for a month before anyone notices these details and they are always so excited to discover them. Once they do discover them, they will spend an hour looking for others. Sometimes I'll get calls months later because they have found something new and are excited to let me know. They become very personal with the work and I like this.  It's like knowing all of the birth marks and bumps & bruises on your child.  I think, in a way, these discoveries also help bring out the kid in all of us.  It ignites something with us.  

So, overall, the painting is about adventure with a boy and his faithful companion. What they are seeking and how close they are to their goal is up to the viewer.  But overall, this is classic stuff, like Old Yeller.  Makes you want to adopt your own dog and start your own adventure - right?  Lucy is the third dog in my life.  She hasn't even been with our family for a year yet but she has already settled in and become a part of us.  I know she will be with me, and my daughter, on many, many adventures yet to come.

I hope this helps you and everyone else understand a little bit more about me and my art.

-End of response.

So what did you think?  Did I let you in my head a little bit?  A little larger version of this painting can be seen here Seek and Find .  There's also added information regarding the show here too.  I know you still can't see the carved surprises, sorry.  It would kind of kill the meaning if you could as they are meant to be for you all who visit the painting in person.  If you can't see this one in person wait for the next.  I've got a lot of ideas, adventures and surprises left in me for many years of painting.

Cheers,

Larry

www.larryreinhart.com

A simple setup.

Desktop setup

I think simplicity it key to making good art.  Not simple art but a simple set up.  In the picture above you can see my setup that I have used for years.  I have a movable slanted board, a pallet, paper towels and brushes.  I have been using this same setup since college.

Side view of slanted board

In fact, I used to haul the piece of board around from class to class back in the college days.  I liked it because I could tape my drawings and paintings to it and I could use it in perspective class and run T squares along the edge.  I also used it outside, in the car, on camping trips, took it to moms house, etc.  It's simple, it works and I have painted hundreds of painting on this board.

From this board I have produced paintings for Warner Bros, Mattel, Harcourt Brace, Leap Frog, Spider Magazine, and many more.  This board has felt water colors, acrylics, oils, gauche, colored pencils, pastels, pen and ink and probably every other medium you can imagine. When I reflect back on this board I am amazed how a few scrap pieces of lumber from the wood shop and six wood screws could earn me so much money.


I'm amazed and humbled.



The other pieces of equipment that are here are my pallet, paper towels and brushes.  My pallet is a frame that was picked up at Michael's.  It's simple glass that has a wood holder, AKA - pallet.  Nothing special.  The paper towels are bought in bulk at Staples.  One big box of towels lasts more than ten years.  I'm on my third box.  The brush holder is an old jar filled with beans.  The beans keep the brushes upright instead of falling over to the side. This old jar is probably from some blackberry jam I bought - it's my favorite.

Pallet, towels and a bit of a brush holder

You can go to any art supply company and find many expensive things that are made just for  these purposes.  The thing to remember is to keep it simple.  Spend your money on good brushes and good paint, not on insignificant things like a brush holder.

I hope you found some delight in this post.  I think it's always fun to see how different artists are set up for their work.  It's almost like getting a special backstage access to a ballet or concert.

I suppose I can always tell people that the secret to making good art is to have bears, foxes and caribous on your painting pallet and black beans in your brush holder. But I'm sure they'll just think I'm nuts.

Take care,

Larry

Through the turbulence a new painting arrives.

One of my newest paintings completed. Through the Turbulence, 12x24 oil on Canvas.  Are you interested in my process?  Read on and I'll share a little bit of it.

original sketches from sketch book.  These are about 2-3 inches across.  Very small

First comes the idea.  Recorded in a sketch book.  Sometimes just one sketch is needed, other times I play around and do different sketches.  In this case I did multiple sketches, different times, the key thing is the image kept returning.  Since I am always working on something the sketches will sit in my sketch book for a while, untouched.  Then, when the time is right I go through my sketch book and choose a few possible sketches to work out.

reference material

After deciding on a couple of sketches I gather reference material if needed.  In the bottom reference shot, the guy in the boat, left side figure, is actually from a kayaking picture.  I used Photoshop to cut and paste.  The boat at top center ultimately inspired me for shape and color.  At this point I am considering adding tribal marks to the side of the boat.  I'm not 100% sure of the direction yet.

final drawing

I use the sketch and the reference material to create my final drawing.  I'm pretty sure there will be no tribal markings but I still feel something is missing.  I just haven't figure out what yet.

color study

I use a copy of the final drawing to make quick color studies.  I usually do these in colored pencils and acrylics.  Above is the color choices I liked the best.

Stormy seas. Is this what I am missing?

Katsushika Hokusai's - Great Wave of Kanagawa from his series of 36 views of Mt Fuji, 1830-1832

Halfway through painting the sky and water I realized what was missing.  I wanted Iconic Japanese Waves, like the ones in the pictures above.  I was already thinking the canoe was emerging out of the darkness and going toward the light but the consistent water on the bottom was what was bugging me.  I thought it would be more exciting if he was emerging out of a storm.

Through the Turbulence 12x24 oil on canvas

And here we are today with the finished painting.

What do you think?

Cheers,

Larry
www.larryeinhart.com
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7

Seven

This started out as an abstract but morphed into this.  As I worked my thoughts were to have scrapped concrete on the lower portion for a rough textural surface.  I would then fill in the upper portion with a leveling compound and finish it off with a shiny enamel paint.  After all dried and cured I would scratch the 7 back into it to resemble graffiti or something.

This image is just oil paint on paper and at 5x7 is quite small.  The one I was dreaming about would have been in the 24 x 36 inch realm.  Unfortunately, after completing this little study, I can see now the bigger version just wouldn't work out right.  The contrasting surface treatments would be good but I do not feel the overall image is enough to sustain it's life.  It is simply too simple.  At a larger size the white enamel would give you nothing to look at and ponder over.  Unless I had more images and words scratched into it at a smaller scale - Hmmmmm?

This is a complete break away from anything I have done in the past.  It's good to experiment and try new things but also good to know when to stop. 

Larry

Lift Off- Where's it going?

Lift Off, 5x7 oil on paper

This abstract painting started with a streak of bright yellow paint.  And with only this bright yellow paint it sat in the studio for a week before I touched it again.  I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't think the placement of the yellow was good as it was way off balance.

When I did start working on it again I started laying in colors around the yellow.  The yellow still really bugged me though.  I kept thinking it looked like projectile vomit.  I had this vision stuck in my head and I couldn't get beyond it.  You know what I did?  I tossed it in the trash can.  Actually, I flicked it into the trash like when you flick a playing card.  It landed perfectly in the trash can from across the studio.  It was a good shot!

But that's when I saw it, the yellow streak was up top and I was looking at it from a distance.  It looks like a rocket flying off the paper. Where's this rocket going? Is it one my son makes (He's in school to be an Astronomical Engineer - go boy!) I retrieved the art and went back to work.  No more vomit, just fire and smoke now.  Hopefully I have chosen the right title.  If I would have named it "projectile vomit" you would probably be looking at it differently right now.

Sometimes it helps to clear your mind and take another look.

Larry

An angel appeared

Angel , 5x7 oil on paper

The initial point of abstract art is that it is void of any recognizable shapes or items.  This is what made  Jackson Pollock so famous.  He eliminated everything but the color by dripping the paint onto the canvas.  For the time, this was the pinnacle of abstraction.  You have to understand that a simple brush stroke on a canvas is in fact a line, a recognizable element. Well, there's a lot of different theories you can study and learn more about Abstract Art in books, or online.  My way of thinking of abstraction is simple and I'm not here to say who's right and who's wrong?  Actually, the person who's right may be the person paying for the painting?

In my abstract art I am simply playing with color, texture and maybe a bit of form. Most of the recognizable elements in my art come from the scratching or doodling I do directly into the wet paint.  Often times the doodling is simple geometric shapes, other time they are simple icons, like a heart or a cross.  Everything I add to an abstract is there for the beauty and balance of the image but the individual elements do not necessarily tell a story or convey an idea.  In fact the titles have more information or may lead you into a certain direction more than the actual painting or doodles.

In my painting Angel, seen above, an angel appeared in the paint.  I thought it was interesting and so I kept her there.  I did touch her up a bit to make her a little more prominent, but not much.  I think I achieved balance in this painting when I added the little yellow dot near the top.  It almost appears as a moon or star.  I have noticed that when I make something recognizable (like the angel) other things take on related shapes (like the star) and our minds start to put conceived puzzle pieces together to try and make a story.  This is interesting to me because the Angel is just a blob of paint.  No story to be had.  The yellow dot was just a bit of warmth added to compliment the bottom warm colors.

Funny how things develop.

Larry

A studio tip. Keeping things at hand.

My paint brush holder.

Paint brush holder or pen, pencil, Exact-O knife and scissor holder or cooking utensil holder or screw driver and wrench holder, the list can keep going but I'm sure you get the idea.

I use old coffee cups to keep these types of things in.  I can buy these cups with bears, or trees or whatever I want on them for decoration.  I think they look better then some generic plain container or a tin can.  Have I ever mentioned I hate plastic?  Plastic has got to be the ugliest thing in the world.  I love ceramic, clay, cement, rock, wood, glass, etc.

To keep the items upright, I fill the vessel with dried beans.  The beans could be marbles, sand or whatever else you can think of.  I use beans and I like the multi-colored beans.  With a paint brush covered in oil paint, I can stick one in and I know it won't fall out or touch something unwanted - like a clean brush.  I also know it won't roll across the pallet and get stuck in another pile of paint  - I know, you know, what I mean - fellow artists. 

The secret is the beans.  What makes it look good is the cup.  A win / win.  If things ever get really dire, I can always make bean soup and I'll have something to eat it out of.  I'll just need a spoon.

Speaking of spoons......I've got spoons in my studio too.  Want to see them? - LOL

Until then, cheers,

Larry

Commited to what?

Committed  oil on paper  Larry Reinhart

I have just started the next phase of committing myself to my abstract art.  I am now working on my web site, adding a new portfolio page tilted "Abstract World."  When I get it complete I'll share it and you'll be the first to see it.  I'm not exactly sold on the title yet, still pondering it.  I'm guessing the new portfolio will take most of two weeks to get it up and published online.  I like to think about things, a lot, before I go public.  I also tend to be a neat freak when it comes to design.  I want things to line up and be balanced so there is a lot of nudging two pixels this way or that way.  I see this neat freak stuff a lot in my personal life too.  Not a squeaky clean sort of neat freak but more freaky about other things.  I like my ducks in a row.  That's probably why I love painting so much.  In my Obsessions work there is the organization of the sketch, the reference and the color choices but when it comes time to paint, I just paint.  I get lost in it, it's like a break from reality.  It truly is -  I can be yawning and tired but if I pick up a brush and start painting I'll have to force myself to go to sleep 3-4 hours later.   This break from reality is true for the abstract art too, but there's a lot less preconceived work and a lot more getting lost.

The painting above, tilted "Committed" was a piece I was getting ready to abandon.  I wasn't happy with it.  It was mainly a color issue, but I don't like tossing paintings at the slightest problem.  I do have some patience and I will think about the painting a great deal before acting upon my initial thoughts.  Eventually this one got a couple layers of glazing and certain areas got wiped back out.  Metaphorically it was buried under layers of paint then wiped clean for a rebirth.  That's not squeaky clean but it's still a bit freaky - Ya' know.  I am happy with it now though.  I guess that's all that matters.

Have a good day and stay committed to everything you do!

Larry