Lake Thurmond Hickory Knob State Park 11 '15

 My 12" x 12" painting of Lake Thurmond at Hickory Knob State Park 

This is third week  of mentoring from Jef Sturm, He had originally suggested we paint the same scene together this week, but when I didn't receive a  source photo from him I thought he had changed his mind. Earlier this week I had started a painting of Hickory Knob State Park from one of my reference photos .  I had finished painting all the landscape portions of the scene and was really anxious to  complete the  painting while the vision was still in my head.

Reference photo for Lake Thurmond at Hickory Knob State Park.

The day the reference photo was taken it  was raining.   All the landscape colors were vibrant, but the sky and the lake were just a dull boring gray. I was hoping that Jeff would give me some tips on making the sky more dynamic. He did  look at the colors I was mixing, but  I guess he like the direction I was taking it as he didn't offer any direction so I finished it off on my own.  ( see the final painting above).

Meanwhile Jef  and another artist  started painting from a photo of a woodland and stream that he was projecting onto the wall.  It was very  informative watching how Jef paints.  The traditional way most of us learn to paint with oils is from dark to light. We start by putting down the darkest shape in some sort of dark blue, then the next darkest in the next  coolest color, and layering lighter shades atop the darker.  

Jef  uses a medium he mixes himself to thin his paint:   5 part gamsol, 1 part stand oil, one part  Damar Varnish (shake together until completely mixed) .  He dilutes his oil paints with this mix down to the consistency of water.  Then he paints large transparent shapes of every major value using various hues to cover all but the lightest part of  the white canvas.He uses a very large brush to do this.  The medium dries fairly quickly so by the time he has finished covering an 11 x 14 canvas, the first hue is dry enough to start adding another layer of transparent color atop of it.  When he is finished it is almost like looking at a watercolor, except that because he is layering atop dry paint, there is no mud. and the colors really sparkle.

I tried mixing some of this formula myself and playing with it at home.  It is wonderful for water with reflections, skies and other areas you want the light to show through (like leaves back-lit against a sky), but is less helpful for creating the heavy texture I love so much in oil paints.  In the next session,  Jef and I are each going to paint from one of my source paintings.  This will help me to better understand his technique for working with such thin layers.  I am pretty sure I will use  his approach in some parts of my paintings an continue to apply impasto like texture with a palette knife  in other sections.  Every new technique I learn has the potential to reshape my style into something even more exciting. So I am really looking forward to the next session.

Gamblin Solvent Free Gell Review 7 '13

As most of you know, Gamblin Oil Paints are my brand of choice. I love their thick pigment, but sometimes their density is a bit too much of a  good thing. I had been successfully using Walnut Alkyd oil as a solvent to dilute the paint when I needed it a bit thinner for the initial layers, or for glazing.  But one day I knocked the bottle over and  most of the bottle spilled out all over my palette.  While looking to purchase a replacement, I stumbled upon Gamblin's Solvent Free Gel and decided to give it a try.

I must say, I am very impressed.

 

I've been using Gamblin's new Solvent-Free Gel for about a week now. And love it.  For one thing it comes in a tube so it is easy to squeeze out just the amount I need.  For another, unlike oil, the gel stays in a  neat pile so I can scoop off small amounts to add to the paint until I get the paint to just to the right consistency.  The creamy textured gel  blends easily even to the densest of my Gamblin oil  paints, and adds to the workability.  Like my Walnut Oil it contains a alkyd so it helps speed the drying process; that's a big plus for someone as impatient as I am.  

I can definitely endorse this product.

For another  review of Gamblin's new Solvent-Free Gel from painter Sue Favinger Smith as she puts this medium side-by-side traditional Maroger. http://ancientartist.typepad.com/ancient_artist_developing/2013/06/the-partners-we-want.html.

Sue also has some other great tips about artists tools on her blog .