Wood, wood, wood

*note - suffering technical difficulties. Photo camera on the skids. Thus, am forced to take very dreadful webcam images. Also have lost some data which has made me sad. Will be receiving the tool that's supposed to fix the issue next week*

Wood acquisition has been a somewhat collective process - from Marshall to Hot Springs, raw materials have come our way, ready to be prepared. This rough cut video shows Jim explaining the process.

Also, I present first capital investments in the project:

Miter Saw - $100 through Craigslist

Circular Sander - $30 through Craigslist.

New CF card & reader - $22 through Amazon.
As well - order placed through local store FINALLY - more on that forthcoming.

As we see here, a vast collection of wood exists. Out of this 90 must emerge - but we begin with baby steps, preparing just 7 at a time.

I have chosen a specific shape for a specific painting. The first one to appear in the book is the moody Fishermen at Sea, an early work from 1796. The panel chosen for this has an actual hole right along the angle of the break in the clouds. This might be a disastrous choice, or it might (as I hope) augment the dramatic force of that sun doing away with the general darkness and causing the chiaroscuro elements of the piece.

Morning Amongst the Coniston Falls (image at right)(1798) seems so epic that I have opted for a larger-than-usual canvas. Possibly a bit too much to digest so early into the project, but the piece, to me, really calls for it.

Buttermere Lake (1798) requires the use of one of the ones I dearly wanted to experiment with: the slightly rounded cross-section of a tree trunk. The ray of light and the rolling hillsides relate well to the natural grain of the wood rings - here's one I might try with transparent gesso.

The week takes me through The Goddess of Discord Choosing the Apple of Contention in the Garden of the Hesperides (1806), which is quite a mouthful, as well as a lot to take in visually. Woods have been chosen for all, and will soon be prepped and primed.

(love this site)

Materials Questions and Acquisitions

OK, so I have spent far more time than I would have liked researching the materials needed and intended. Part of this problem has consisted of not ever really having KNOWN some technical aspects of the trade, such as the technical names of brushes, primers, gessos, etc. I have used either default materials or intuited a lot when it came time to acquire supplies - I never undertook a systematized study of the whole thing. At some level I realize I need to just base what I am to do on what I already know, but I feel that, since I am already making an investment in purchasing new supplies, I need to know what I am getting and why.

So, the first part of my process has involved brushes. Through catalog consultation and web research, I have found out the names, sizes, and functions of various brushes.

Sizes: As above illustrated, sizes range from less -than - zero to 24. The typical brush range I use (since I tend to work small) is less - than -zero to 4 or 6. However, having a few larger ones at hand facilitates many things - especially when it comes to glazing.

Types: for a good primer, here's a very basic site. I will review what has affected me most directly.

Round brushes come to a point, are round, and are the most traditional shape associated with painting. They hold a lot of fluid, but can be too soft for some work. They are also not particularly good for filling in large swaths of space, flat or bright brushes are better for that. These two also allow one to cover wide space while still maintaining a sharp outline edge. Bright brushes have shorter, often stiffer bristles, which make it difficult for them to hold paint, they can be great for texturing, however. Filberts are similar to flats and brights, but have an oval shape at the top which will soften the edge and makes for a less 'square' painting experience. Rigger brushes are great for detail and long, thin lines such as tree branches, though I find them hard to work with due to being difficult to control. Fan brushes can be fun - their unusual shape allows one to do unusual things or blend colours in a gradient. Specific detail work is also possible, though generally the shape makes it a fairly inflexible brush to use all the time. The mop has become one of my favorite kinds, especially when doing any glazing - obviously fatal for any detail work, they however have the magical ability to apply a uniform layer of paint without leaving a single brush mark.

Some new brushes I am excited to learn about are the rake, the deerfoot stippler, the dagger, the spotter, and the angular shader. In particular these last 3 are indispensable to fine detail work - that which I anticipate most doing.

The second phase has involved - of course - the paints. This has meant cataloguing every single tube of paint I have (comes to 78), checking which are viable, which are almost expired, which are duplicates, and, in general, which hues or pigments am I really lacking. This has taken the better part of a day - as did the brushes study the better part of a morning.

It allowed me to make a mini-painting on which to try.

The main thing I want to discuss re. paints is the concepts of hue, saturation, and value. Here's a short & sweet video explaining the issue, and here a more involved glossary tutorial.

In a nutshell, hue is that which we call the colour. Blue, red, etc. In its purest state - unmixed with black or white, a colour's chromacity is at its highest. Saturation is a similar idea - does the colour appear weak or strong? A highly saturated colour will look stronger, an unsaturated colour will look weak or washed out. We can think about magenta vs. pale pink to get an idea of what that means. Value relates to a hue's lightness or darkness - a lighter colour has a higher value.

Tint, tone, and shade are additionally useful concepts. A tint is a colour of lower saturation due to the addition of white. Tone is a colour modified by gray, and shade is a colour darkened by black, thus lessening its value.

My next challenge will be to ascertain which is the best sort of gesso or primer to use. I have used the standard white acrylic gesso by default- occasionally using a grey or transparent gesso for effects. However, I have found out about other primers and painting grounds which, though more expensive, seem to offer something closer to what artists have traditionally used - in addition, these grounds promise colorfastness and better permanence.

I may spend some time looking at this, though, since I do not have unlimited time or means, I may end up just using the same gesso I have for a while.

Hoping that by next writing I will have gotten around to submitting a final materials list to the supplier. Even if delayed, I have enough with me to begin on schedule, on Feb 24th.

Official Painting Day: Feb 24, 2012 & some thoughts

I have decided to begin on February 24st, a good New Moon time to begin any venture. Plus this would be the JH + AA anniversary date, which bodes well.

Not that I have not begun already - I have spent much time poring over various books, documents, so as to get a technical sense of what I am undertaking. Am also sketching out a schedule. The wood has all been found - the last difficult thing involves ordering the materials, which has involved poring over a vast, often confusing website - True Blue Art's supplier - so as to ascertain what is really essential, not just for the oil painting process, but for rewards fulfillment. The last slightly difficult thing before actively beginning will be the wood prep process which I supposedly will have little or nothing to do with.

So saying, would like to briefly share my thoughts about what I hope to capture, from an artistic perspective, in this project:

• full, total immersion: the artistic benefits of subjecting oneself to full immersion beat almost any other attempt at skill and crafts acquisition. From instructors assigning 3 paintings a week, on top of other projects, art students come to learn the inevitable rhythm of creation. As well, Gladwell's writings give food for thought: 10,000 hours of focused practice creates a foundation for mastering any complex skill. In particular, what interests me about immersion is what happens when you reach a point of saturation (always happens - you want to throw the thing as far away as you possibly can), you find it in yourself to work through it - and come to find you've achieved a huge breakthrough, and broken through a previously unbreakable plateau.
  
• absentee mentorism: in a word, I would like the experience of learning from a true master's process. Obviously JMW Turner is no longer with us - however much can be gleaned from following his process, from his first paintings which still had some of the dark atmospheric weight of El Greco works, through to those works in his last years which come to resemble Chagall. This is an artist who left more than 500 oils, 2,000 watercolours and more than 20,000 sketches to posterity - thus the surprising divergence from his earliest styles to his latest cannot surprise. By painting each work chronologically, I hope to experience in true flesh some of the stylistic processes and even psychological changes he might have undergone, leading him to his maturation as an artist.
  
• daily discipline: I seek, through this project, to embrace a challenge requiring most of my time and attention, with a stated goal and time period. This project will be my version of an Iron Man marathon or NaNoWriMo or a Buddhist meditative retreat. All these differ widely in aims and results, but have a similar aim: to temper impatience and mold the temperament in service of something larger. I understand that at some point the process will seem burdensome, tiresome, and even unnecessary. Some days will bring obstacles in my way which will seemingly prevent the daily production. No matter - the obstacles must be borne. Part of what's so spectacular about tying this project to a fundraising campaign involves the stakes involved - over 60 people have hedged their bets on my ability to complete this enterprise - this will 'keep me honest', and provide that needed kick to get me going when I really really want to quit!
• art history: I would like to learn more about this artist, about his personal life and how it intersects with his creativity, and how all of this was formed by and helped shape the larger world he inhabited in 19th century Britain. I am sure to find out that, though things are radically different in his Britain than they are in 21st century Madison County, NC, many similarities - cultural, economical, creative, etc - also exist. More than that, I would like to find out exact pointers regarding his style, habits, techniques, process, etc.

I also have serious reservations - the biggest one being an inability to come through. Branching off that big one, other little fears crop up when thinking about this project - that I have overshot my mark and that my designs are wildly impractical, that force majeure prevents the completion of this project, that 70% of it will be garbage and not worth looking at, that I will go crazy with the process, that the generous backers will come to seriously regret their generosity, etc - thousands of things. But in the end, as in life, fears must be borne as best one can and brushed aside when the time comes to work.

For today's image I submit a fun portrait our friend and local Appalachian artist, Freddie Henderson, made of me when he found my article in the local paper. Freddie's a cool and talented guy, and has overwhelmed me with wood besides! In particular these cool rounds, cross sections of trees on his property, which I MUST find a way to integrate.

Chinchester Canal - his and mine

Even before I conceived of this tremendous exercise, I had a taste of the project last summer. I can't remember why I set out to complete 3 of these, but complete them I did, within a 2-week period.

I have shown the other 2 repeatedly, in my videos/photos for this projects' promotion, but the third one, the Chinchester Canal (c. 1828) is one I kept under wraps - mainly because I was not entirely happy with how it turned out. We might consider it the red-headed stepchild of the Epic Painting Series.

Above we see his, acquisition # 560 in Turner at the Tate book - a canvas measuring 25.75 x 53, once again, considerably larger than the one I came up with. According to Wikipedia, George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont commissioned this maritime scene which some say depicts the atmospheric ash from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in its use of brilliant colours.

When I first set to paint it, I did not make a detailed study of the technique employed. I decided that most likely an indirect painting technique - where a glaze dilutes the paint, allowing for multiple layers to provide a realistic, multidimensional look - was responsible for a lot of what appeared. Whether true or not, I was not 100% satisfied with my attempt - possibly I would need more layers. Possibly I blundered with those trees at the left. After looking at it one more time, I come to believe I may just need to add another layer of blue - definitely the far-off hills require it.

Turner used many techniques to finish his works, something which I plan to go into further along. According to this article, one of his trademark flourishes was.... finger painting! Wow... I would love to experiment with that. Something about throwing oneself into his painting style is fundamentally appealing, even if the thought of oil on my hands is not.

SUCCESS!

I wanted my first post to show the actual screenshots showing this one as a successfully funded campaign.

In the next few days I will have to get very organized to be able to accomplish all the things mentioned (as well as general lifestyle tasks) all in as best a way as I can. I will need to

• take inventory of what's needed
• come up with an action plan regarding gathering/preparing wood for preparation - IE speak to the neighbor about possible collaboration
• set up a work space (issues - such as lighting, permanence of position, space required are all things to take into account)
• take inventory of backers so as to provide the appropriate gifts (including the 2 that mailed contributions due to not wanting to deal with the site) - this includes subscribing them to this blog since frequent updates are part of the package deal
  
• start where I can till the funds arrive (a 2 week wait from the day the campaign was deemed successful, and
• paint!

I also have to give a shout-out to my dear mother who went in there and PUSHED the thing to everyone imaginable right when the campaign was more than 75% done and only 25% funded. Her efforts made the pledges double, which gave me the impetus to go after the rest.

I also wanted to note that at one point, unbeknownst to me, my project actually appeared as 'most popular' in its category for a full week. That was fun, and definitely a first for me as well!

And, of course, I cannot forget the wonderful friends and strangers who saw fit to donate to my artistic process. I hope I will not let you down. The trust you have put in me and my process is immense.