Studio Notes

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

Scott Adams

I took the sander to both paintings over the weekend. With this new material (Presto Patch*) I used on the larger painting, sanding is an even bigger mess than usual. It sands to a very fine dust. I absolutely wore my mask, and my house vacuum cleaner is now installed in the studio. 

The gray painting (on which I used FlexAll*) has not progressed much. The 36” x 36” piece got most of my attention. I decided to balance the top of the canvas with the texture and depth of the bottom part. So I added wire. 

Then applied more Presto Patch. This is my first time using that material. I used up a whole bucket of it on the bottom of the painting and when I went back to the hardware store they only had the powder form. I figured it would be one quick extra step to mix it. How long could it take? How much trouble could it be?

Well, it was probably upward of eighty degrees in the studio that day, and while the initial mixing went quickly, so did the drying. It was setting up as I applied it! I managed to get the first batch onto the canvas but when I tried mixing another batch, it was impossible to apply. It hardened right in the mixing bucket. Fortunately, I had applied basically all I needed, and it was late in the afternoon, well, getting to be evening, so I closed up shop for that day.

One of the biggest challenges in this painting has been color. That’s an unusual problem. I’m having trouble getting, what I might call, my color orientation with this piece. I am doing some calligraphic line with blue water-soluble pencil on strips of adding machine paper, adding it as I go along. (Sorry the photo isn't very good.)

I'm also adding those markings along the top of the painting. That blue may eventually lead me to the right color balance. Or, it may disappear all together!

Another issue with this piece: It’s the heaviest piece I’ve ever done. I have to have something propped up under the easel tray to hold it in place! That won't be easy when hanging. But there's no turning back now!

(These two items are Trademarked)