Stop Setting Yourself Up To Fail
In my classes both in the studio and especially outdoors in my landscape classes, I watch students try with great difficulty to create a cohesive painting. The difficulty is due, in most part to their approach. Here are some of the most common problems.
- Equipment: Old, stiff brushes. Palettes covered in dried paint. Easels that do not hold the canvas steady.
- Materials: Probably the biggest problem students create for themselves is in their choice of paint either by having many of colors that they don't need and by not having the colors that they do. The other problem is the use of so-called "student grade" paint. Student grade paint has less pigment than artist grade paint, and some of the manufacturers use less expensive pigment which is not as strong as the real thing, so it requires more paint to achieve similar results, if it is even possible, and will ultimately cost more.
- Set-up: Paint that is laid out in a haphazard manner. Not squeezing out enough paint. Not having enough thinner to thin your paint or to clean your brushes. Placing things in the work area that do not belong there. Placing the palette too far away from the work causing you to reach around the easel. A palette that becomes a catch-all for cans, medium, paint tubes and brushes. The paint mixing area on your palette is valuable real estate, don't waste it.
All of this before we even start to paint. Painting is difficult enough without setting yourself up to fail. Here is how I set up my painting area to avoid these problems:
- Have a decent set of brushes at hand, preferably several of each brush. They don't need to be expensive (see my recommendations below). Keep them clean by simply using your paint thinner when you finish for the day. Clean them with soap and water, brush cleaner or a mechanics' hand cleaner every couple of weeks. When they wear out or get stiff, they will not do what you need them to do, so, retire them. Some students form an emotional attachment to their brushes which is fine. Don't throw them away, just don't use them any more. You're not cave dwellers (I'm guessing), so why paint with sticks?
- Clean your palette after you paint. This will help you avoid the question "Which one of these blobs is still wet?"
- Invest in a good easel. Again, it need not be expensive just one that holds a canvas firmly and does not wobble.
- I use seven paint colors and white. I can mix any color that I need with these colors. Period.
- I layout my palette the same way each time. I do this so that I don't have to waste time and loose concentration by having to search for colors. I know that layout is the same because I don't scrape off the excess paint that I've squeezed out along the edges. If I use this palette within the next few days, most of the paint will still be usable. Indeed, I've had some of the cadmiums last for months.
- I set up my painting area in a way that insures that I don't have to reach for my palette or solvents. I keep my tubes of paint within easy reach while removing some of the less critical items like hand cleaner and drinking water to the periphery. Think of it in terms of zones: Zone 1, the happy zone, contains the easel, canvas, palette, cans for the paint thinner, jar of premixed medium, brushes and palette knife, several sheets of paper towel. These are the items that are directly needed for painting. Zone 2 purpose is ts to replenish zone 1. This is where I keep paint tubes, thinner (either in a jar or in a small can). paper towel roll. Zone 3 contains larger cans of thinner, additional tubes of paint and the box in which they may be kept and the aforementioned hand cleaner. Zone 4 has all the non-painting items such as drinking water, personal items and any additional boxes or bags used to carry your painting supplies.
- I keep the area directly behind me free of clutter so that I may step back from my work to see what I've done. I also keep the area directly in front of my easel open so that I am not leaning over things or kicking and tripping over them to reach the easel.
- When possible, I place my palette between the subject and the canvas. This makes it easier to mix colors from either the subject or the painting.
As a painting instructor I try my best to see every student in the class and to offer each of them an equal amount of time but I am only human and have come to realize that, fair or not, I gravitate toward students who have a well organized painting area. When a student has a cluttered work space the first thing that I do is reorganize it. this takes valuable time away from the more important work.
The Diagrams
Below are several examples of how to set up a painting area. Please believe me when I tell you that I am not someone for whom organization comes naturally, as anyone who has been to my studio can attest. That being said, good painting requires efficiency and efficiency demands a certain amount of organization.
Studio Set Up
Class Room Set Up
Landscape Set Up
These are suggestions and obviously do not cover all of the situations in which you will find yourself. The two most important ideas that you should come away with are that you should keep the things that you need handy, and, to keep everything else out of your way.
The Recommendations
Paint: There are several basic quality levels of paint which all blend into each other. For lack of a better grading system let's say A, B, C and D.
- A: Old Holland, Blockx, Schmincke, Sennelier -- Great quality, Very expensive
- B: Windsor & Newton, Utrecht -- Good quality, Expensive to Affordable
- C: Grumbacher -- Acceptable in a pinch, Affordable
- D: Winton, Georgian, Anything labeled "Student Grade" -- Avoid these at any cost!
If you're unsure of which paint to use, try a small amount of different brands. My favorite is Utrecht, not because it's the best quality but because it's the best quality for the price. Here is my palette:
- Ultramarine Blue
- Cerulean Blue Hue
- Viridian
- Yellow Ocher
- Cadmium Yellow Light
- Cadmium Red Light
- Alizarin Crimson
- Titanium White
The colors are somewhat different from brand to brand so you'll need to adjust how you mix them. Some manufacturers like Old Holland use an older naming system altogether. To introduce these colors to your palette look at a color chart or visit a store that carries them and ask to look at the actual paint. Some of the better stores will have a color chart made from actual paint.
Brushes: Brushes fall into four basic shapes: Round, Flat, Bright and Filbert. Rounds are barrel shaped with a pointed tip. They have a terrible consistency in there stroke, leaving the center thin while pushing most of the paint to the sides leaving a heavy build-up or bead. Flats are configured into a rectangular shape (the better quality Flats taper inward slightly at the tip); Brights are the same as Flats but shorter. Flats and Brights leave a good center area in the stroke but still leave a pronounced bead on the edges. Filberts are something of a hybrid of round and flat. They are flat with a rounded tip so that the beads that are produced with the other brushes are smoothed away leaving an even, brush stroke. I prefer to use Filberts, both in Bristle and Synthetic Sable.
Utrecht makes a decent, affordable brush. Here is what I use:
- Utrecht Series 209F (Natural Bristle, Filbert): #4, #6, #8, #10
- Utrecht Series 325F (Synthetic, Filbert): #8, #10, #12
Easels: Easels fall into two basic categories, Studio and Landscape or Portable.
- Studio: Best, Santa Fe II, or any Best Easel -- There are many good studio easels on the market, just be sure that you try them out. Find a store that carries different types. Make certain that they don't wobble. Put a canvas on it and make sure that it holds it steadily.
- Landscape: Jullian, French Box Easel -- I've had mine for 30 years and it still works beautifully. I have seen many other brands and no other easel comes close. The Jullian Half Box Easel is a good alliterative. It's smaller and slightly less expensive.
Easels are big ticket items (at least they should be) so shop around. The Internet makes this a relatively easy process.
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In our next lesson I'll talk about how the systematic approach translates into the act of painting.
(c) 2010 Holm. All Rights Reserved.
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