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This pallet table was made after moving into this studio. With the casters on it, it can be moved about the studio. This studio got much smaller after building the 4'X8' work table and placed it smack dab in the middle of it.
That too has become an asset that would now be hard to do with out but the space lost is missed too. It's not possible to have a studio that is too large....
The glass pallet on the table was cut to fit into one of those plastic pallet boxes that have a lid. I place the container over the glass when piles of paint are on the pallet that are going to be used the next day or so. The top drawer is were my paint, brushes and pallet knives are kept. The second drawer is for larger tubes of paint and extra brushes. The third drawer is for tools and mediums. Below is were the solvents, Gesso, and other mediums are stored. |
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This is a sweet thing. It's a set back price wise, but well worth it. This fits into another box that holds brushes, paints, and up to four 8X10 panels. It is great for Plien Air painting or when at Life Drawing.
If I had more patience, it would have been better to hold out for the 11X14 size of the Open M Box.
My pallet consists of Cadmium Yellow light, Cadmium Red Medium, Colbalt Blue, Alizarin Permenant, Viridian and Titanium White. Have been working with this pallet for the last year or so and found it to be very helpful in learning the range of color you can get with just these colors. |
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These are the brushes that are used most often. Connoisseur Hog Bristle Flats in the sizes of #1, #4 and #8. They may not be a high end brush, but they are what seems to be the best you can buy in this area.
Using much larger brushes when blocking in the main shapes.
The pallet knife in this photograph is what is used for mixing, scraping and applying paint for most of the paintings done. They are Connoisseur and RGM pallet knives and there are six different sizes and styles from the one seen here for when doing paintings with the knife.
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"Crazy Days" is on the easle while this photograph was taken. In the lower left corner, you can see the tops of my Sable brushes that are used when looking for a smoother finish to a painting. "Motel 6" is an example of a smoother finished painting. The upper right hand corner shows the 2X2 screwed to the wall for my drying rack. The easel is stuffed into the corner and the wall to the left is were reference photographs or sketches to be used can be pinned up while painting. To the right are the paintings of other artist who inspire me by showing how much more there is yet to learn. |
Mediums; At first much more mediums were used then are now. Following the Fat over Lean principle you really don't seem to need much in the way of mediums.
Refined Linseed Oil is good to get the paint that is too stiff out of the tube to a softer consistency, trying to keep all the paint on the pallet the same consistency.
It is adding oil, making the paint "fatter", so you have to keep that in mind and use it sparingly to begin with. It also slows down the dying time of your paint.
Liquin is good when glazing. There is a school of thought were some artist will work there paintings in stages, letting them dry to the touch between stages. They will then coat the entire painting with Liquin and begin painting again.
The thought being that blending is made easier. You may find that you'll get a yellowish tone to the painting doing this and the painting looks very soft, as if viewed through a vial. It has it's place, but is not a practice that I have continued to use.
If your paint "sinks", becomes dull in places, coating the painting with Liquin will help. When paint does sink, it is because it has become muddy. Earth tones used in mixes and mixing temperature opposites will cause sinking.
A limited pallet like what I have been using will solve that problem for the most part, but you can still get mud.... Liquin will accelerate the drying time of your paint. When painting, make large piles of mixes that are to be used then pull a little bit out
and separate it from the pile, then add the medium. This is because if you can't finish the painting in that same day, the paint with the added Liquin to will be dry the next day, and you will have to remix that color.
Alkyd is actually the same product as Liquin, only it does not have the oil additives to smooth it out as Liquin does. If you use Alkyd straight in you mix, it tends to have the sticky consistency of honey. Also an accelerator to a much stronger degree then Liquin.
Paint will begin to dry and become sticky within the hour of it's use. The paintings being done recently are life drawings and do not lend themselves to using mediums.
Varnish; I have used Liquitex Low Viscosity Soluvar Gloss final picture varnish and really like it. Since moving to Bozeman, the art supplies here are very limited and have yet to locate someone in the area selling it. It is an archival removable varnish for oil paintings as well as acrylic. One thing learned the hard way is to photograph your work before you varnish. My portfolio has photographs of works that look like raw canvas is poking through all over in spots. These were taken before buying the digital camera that is now used. It would of taken forever, but if the photographs were taken with the digital, you could of touched up all those highlights.
Richard J. Miller
101A E. Southview Ave
Belgrade MT. 59711-1894