Oil Painting

“The self expands through acts of self forgetfulness.”

 – Mihály Csíkszentmihályi

What is Flow? Why is it important in the creative arts and how do I find it?

Flow can be defined simply as “Optimal Experience” or “as the mental state of being completely present and fully immersed in a task, outside distractions recede from consciousness and one’s mind is fully open and attuned to the act of creating. There is very little self-awareness or critical self-judgment; just intrinsic joy for the task.” –Barry Kaufman

As artists there are times when we feel blocked, stuck and frustrated with our lack of artistic output and there are other times when we are riding the great artistic flow, living in the optimal experience of hitting our artistic goals and producing art on a regular basis. By better understanding our own creative flow, we can diagnose where the kinks in our creative life are so that we can get back on track.  Not only is it important to look at how we can facilitate artistic flow, but also how we can create flow in our everyday lives. One thing that has helped me keep centered and be better able to be in flow artistically is to exercise regularly, take a long walk in the outdoors, spend time at the gym, or go for a swim; these do wonders for me. Visiting with friends & family, listening to music and reading also put me in a good state of mind. As does a great glass of red wine.

Being in flow contributes to overall happiness. Mihaly states “Happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person.” I believe that you can find opportunities to cultivate happiness in your everyday life.  You don’t have to wait for an annual vacation or special event.  Any day you can go to your favorite restaurant, visit a friend, walk on the beach or do your favorite activity. These outside activities will help you achieve your artistic flow more easily.

The following are six characteristics based upon the leading research of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” that are present when we are operating in flow.

1. Intense and focused concentration on the present moment (You are in the now.)
2. Merging of action and awareness (You are in the flow.)
3. A loss of reflective self-consciousness (Your self gets out of the way!)
4. A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity. (mastery)
5. A distortion of time (Time flies by or slows down because of your complete focus.)
6. Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding (based upon the goals you have set for yourself.)

Three components that Csikszentmihalyi also lists as being essential to flow are:

• Immediate feedback
• Feeling that you have the potential to succeed
• Feeling so engrossed in the experience, that other needs become negligible.

Mihaly explains, “Optimal experience depends on the ability to control what happens in consciousness moment by moment, each person has to achieve it on the basis of his own individual efforts and creatively.”

I believe flow is a very important component in the visual arts. The paintings I have painted while I was experiencing flow are by far better than the ones that I have tried to push (or force my way) through. These are the paintings that seem to fall off my brush and are readily noticed by art lovers, collectors, friends and my fellow artists. They are also the paintings that get usually get accepted into national shows or have won awards. Flow is the state I am always aiming for.

One of the keys to understanding how flow works for you is to understand how you best work as an artist. For me, flow happens three different ways and I need all these approaches to do my best work. I can achieve flow through:

1. Participating in art competitions (combines 1, 2 & 5)
2. Focusing on my own deep study (combines 4 & 6)
3. Painting with my fellow artists (combines 3 & 6)

When I compete in a plein air event, the elements of flow are usually present for me.  I am intensely focused, I am challenged by the changing light, time constraints and fellow competitors, time flies by and I find the experience very rewarding. Because you are in a competition the feedback on your efforts is immediate, you can judge your efforts based on your own goals, by viewing other artist’s work and sometimes by the award results.

Mihaly states that “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

This painting “Out on the Edge”, 12×12 was created at the Mendocino Open Paint Out this past September. I remember painting on the side of the cliff and just experiencing the wonderful weather, the crash of the waves hitting the cliffs and the strong light and shadow pattern in the water. This painting was later accepted into the California Art Club’s “A Journey Through Central California” exhibition. Being in a competition and painting alongside many artists created a flow experience for me.

I know that I also need my quiet time as a painter and time to study on my own. I was recently an Artist in Residence up in Mendocino. Unfortunately, the month that I was there, the weather forecasts were for wind and rain.  Not conducive to plein air painting!  So, I brought up several books on painting ocean waves. I had a choice to study or complain. I chose to study.

One of the books I read was E. John Robinson’s “The Seascape Painters Problem book.” I read about the form of the wave, how to set up a stronger composition and how the light in the sky relates to the ocean. There were a couple days where I was able to get great photos. One such day was at Mendocino Botanical Gardens one day; where I saw incredible waves and gorgeous cloud formations. This painting “The Onslaught” , 11×14 was painted from a photo I took, but also from my experience on location and from the information I learned in Robinson’s book. Later, I learned, Robinson lived in Mendocino for a time and had a mural at St. Anthony’s Church there. It was great for me to see his work in person. The Director of Marketing at the Mendocino Art Center was also Robinson’s son in law. We had a great conversation about his work and his life as an artist-there are no coincidences. I felt this experience put me in Flow; focused effort, mastery over my understanding of the area and painting technique, rewarding experience and completing my goals. I feel that the connection to Robinson’s work and the area was my immediate feedback.

The third component of Flow for me is engaging in activities with other artists. I really enjoy, listening to artist talks, seeing demos, viewing another person’s artwork and painting with them. These activities all produce flow for me. Studies done by St. Bonaventure University found that students rated flow to be more enjoyable when in a team rather than when they were alone.

Last month, Jeff Sewell came to San Francisco to do a demo on painting oceans for the San Francisco Chapter of the California Art Club.  Jeff did his demo to a packed house and it was great to learn about his approach to painting seascapes. Jeff focused on composition and creating form in the wave. Jeff invited everyone who attended the demo to join us in Pescadero for an impromptu paint out. For me, not only did I learn from the demo, but I learned from the other attendees. On Sunday, things just aligned for me to experience flow, we had great weather, a wonderful group of supportive & enthusiastic artists. There was lots of camaraderie among them. I chose to stand on my own on one of the cliffs, but I could see everyone from my vantage point. I felt calm, focus and very contented. We all established a great creative atmosphere. I painted “The Surge”, 12×12 that day in Pescadero and was happy with the result.

As artists we need to find that voice inside us and inner calm to be our best artistic selves. Each of us has different motivations that we operate best at and types of stimuli that will help us achieve our artistic goals.   As the Swiss physician & alchemist states “Thoughts create a new heaven, a new firmament, a new source of energy, from which new arts flow.”

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

–Aristotle

To see and learn more please visit ellenhowardart.com

Do you ever find yourself wondering what’s important in your painting and what is secondary?

I remember when I was younger and not clear about this, (what was of primary importance and what to do about it). This confusion caused me to over-work a number of works, as I tried to get everything I could into a painting. It was a sickening feeling, when I sensed at first I had something and then suddenly I didn’t. And I was blind as to what had happened to the painting!

As I look back I think it was because I hadn’t realized what was important and what was not important. I worked and reworked without clarity, weakening what I had or even losing it completely. This problem plagued me for a few years until finally, I figured out how I could deal with it. This is my personal approach to that problem:

I was taught, I had to paint from edge to edge before I could even consider the painting a painting and also not to get into any specific part of the painting beforehand. This idea for a painting is valid in its own way, but for me only to a limited degree. I felt for me that too much concern about everything else kept me from a certain amount of intimacy or focus for the area(s) of the painting that had originally thrilled me to start the painting in the first place.

I decided to try Vignettes and not paint from edge to edge. Vignettes basically mean just painting the area that interests one, and leaving the rest of the paper or canvas untouched. It also meant forgetting about the concern if others would consider it a study, or a sketch, or worthless. Since I was painting daily I was able to experiment with a number of works to explore this idea.

Something interesting about Vignettes

It seems that if I painted a vignette on a toned ground, it was more acceptable as a painting than when I painted the same vignette on a white ground.

Then what about the portraits I painted with oils or pastel on a pre-toned surface? Since there are no actually painted backgrounds, these portraits were vignettes, yes? Yet they are accepted as finished paintings.

This made sense for portraiture, but what about the landscape?

As I was painting mostly with pastel on location, I decided to start the pastel with a watercolor under painting. These transparent watercolor washes added an unexpected texture and contrast to the “backgrounds”. Watercolors also have what is referred to as “watercolor accidents” which if not tampered with are quite beautiful in their own way.

Then with my pastels I just focused in on the area(s) I wanted to paint, had to paint, and painted them. This was very direct and clear to me as to what was important. The unimportant area(s), in order to give the pastel breathing space, I basically left alone or it would be painted with just a minimum of detail or the suggestion of detail. Or left alone completely leaving the watercolor washes without further ado.

For my oils…

I have always mentioned in my workshops: “the nice thing about oils is that they are wet, and the problem with oils is that they are wet.” What to do?

I start my oils, which are mostly painted in the studio and are larger than my on location pastels. My paint medium is fast drying Gamsol. My initial transparent color washes are applied and scrubbed on with a sense of abandon, very much like my watercolors for my pastels. Dark areas will have dark transparent colors varying from warm to cool tones. The lighter areas will have lighter tones applied again considering only where the warmer or cooler tones are located.

Then, painting from the center of interest out, painting the areas that I wish to focus on which is basically the important area(s) which by themselves made up a vignette, then letting the other areas simply “drop  off” so to say, or simply  painting them  with much  less  emphasis or detail. I also found these untouched, unfinished areas are perfect for a signature, which finishes the painting.

Untitled
By Albert Handell
Pastel – 12″x 18″

“Plein Air Painting has a language all its own.” 

–Mark Kerckhoff

Moment, Place, and Feeling

“Capturing the moment” is certainly a worthwhile endeavor in plein air landscape painting—sometimes it seems almost impossible. Changing light, atmosphere, and weather, not to mention windy conditions, insects and onlookers make it a challenge to create that perfect masterpiece that succinctly describes in paint your chosen moment.

But then, that’s what life is made of: subsequent precious moments, none of which will be repeated. That’s why the artist should try to describe the transient and the temporary. Sunsets, shadows, that glimpse of the deer in the grove: here one instant, gone the next. It’s precisely that unique ephemeral quality that gives the plein air painting its charm and power, like setting the rarest diamond in its most appropriate setting. In brushstrokes and imagination of the artist, we see the superiority of the plein air painting over the analytical photograph, which freezes the moment rather than expressing its innermost character. As Andrew Wyeth confided, “It’s a moment I am after–a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment.” In my plein air work, I would like the viewer to glimpse the precious and sacred essence of that painted moment.

Secondly, imbuing my plein air painting with a “sense of place” is significant for me. It’s not that important that my subject be a landmark, a hallmark, or a benchmark of some kind that everyone would recognize. It is more that the design I create would be true to the “spirit” of the place that is before me.

I believe that “artistic license” is a certificate that I should have to earn, after having already attempted to paint every tree, every trunk and every leaf in the forest. My ultimate goal is to express the natural in a simplified form, that the viewer would feel the place even more than see it in my painting. I have heard many workshop instructors say, that of all the problems students may be having, simplification would resolve most of them. Although all styles have their unique places in the arts, my intention for my own work is that I may paint a bit more like Hemingway, and a bit less like Faulkner.

Finally (perhaps I should say “last but not least”), I desire that my plein air work would have passion and feeling as its foundation. In the works of Sorolla, Sargent, Quang Ho, Jill Carver, Jill Basham, Patrick Saunders, Jason Sacran, Shelby Keefe, Marcia Burtt, Kyle Ma, Morgan Samuel Price, Randall Sexton, and many other plein air artists who have painted and are painting with confidence and conviction, one senses the impact not only of their brushes on the canvas but of nature on their own hearts. Surely that confidence can be gained only through working, and working consistently without doubt or fear. Perhaps the greatest advice I have heard to date concerning how to start a painting is that from Jim McVicker: “Just dive in!” I have never seen any diver do so tentatively.

What are some things I can do to be sure to incorporate each of these three important ingredients in my plein air work?

• I create rapid compositional value sketches of my chosen scene and take reference photos before painting to preserve the “moment” of my setting-up. I always try to have my camera and sketchbook with me whenever I go out to paint.
• To try to achieve that “sense of place”, I do a simple block-in in acrylic, looking up frequently to observe the shapes in front of me. As I paint over the block-in in oil, I am looking for atmosphere and subtleties that photographs can’t capture, including other details, such as texture, birds, figures, clouds, etc..
• Finally, I try to preserve the energy and “passion” of my under-painting as I guide the work through its middle and final stages. I study complementary shapes, the balance of warm and cool colors, gestures, brushstrokes, color choices, relative values, then the placement of final details. Everything in the painting should contribute to the expression of my idea, and to the feeling that inspired me to begin painting.

As I leave any plein air painting site, I remind myself that whether I am painting outdoors or working in the studio, that a great painting is a great painting, no matter where it’s done, and no matter what references are used. To me, any landscape painting created with passion, that inspires a sense of place, and that elevates the precious quality of each moment we are given, is worthy of consideration and praise.

Over the past two years I have done several posts on a progression of principles dealing with:

1. Drawing
2. Value
3. Color
4. Edges

For the final post in this four-part series, I will deal with the subject of Edges, which is really a discussion about paint application. You may have heard me or others talk before about “hard vs. soft skills”, and I would include edges in the ‘soft skill’ category along with other surface-quality related things like brushwork, texture, etc.  I include it in that category because it’s generally a secondary concern to the deeper issues of composition, value, and drawing that affect visual communication.  It’s kind of like the icing, not the cake.  (But oh, how icing can make or break a cake, right?!)  I would also go so far as to say that nowhere in a painting is the personality and temperament of an artist more visible than in their edge work and paint application.

People usually get really excited about edges because, like cake vs icing, edges are such an immediately visible part of a painting.  They are also one of easiest parts of a painting to imitate, and thus are often the first part of another artist’s style that will be internalized (often not consciously) as a developing artist searches for his or her style/voice.  If you look at the early work of any artist you will usually see that their paint application and edge work will more strongly reflect their influencers (or teachers) and then will diverge into a more unique style once they mature and decide who they are.

So that should be the first major caveat here: Edge treatment really comes down to preference, personality, and stylistic choice.

Edge treatment is also an important tool for emotional communication. If I were to describe a painting’s surface with words like: “Exciting” “Bold” “Aggressive” or “Intense” we would all have different ideas than if I were to say things such as “Calm” “Peaceful” or “Restful”.  There’s not one right way; I suppose I’m just saying: Match the delivery to the message.  Be purposeful.  And be true to yourself. 

Categories of Edge Handlers

There are a few major categories of edge handlers that I have observed (there are probably others, but we’ll just use these for now). I have chosen to use examples of four current artists employing these techniques:

• Focal-Pointers: This style usually tries to create a focal point by an awareness of how we see naturally.  If you hold your arm out in front of you and make a fist, that fist-sized area is about the visible space that is in our focus at any given moment.  Of course, our mind fills in the blurry parts with information and our eyes dart around to constantly see other focused areas, so most of the time we’re not aware of the lack of clarity.  But as artists, we are constantly seeking to direct someone’s eye to an area in a painting that we want them to look.  So putting the focal point in sharp focus and then getting more vague/suggestive in detail and focus as we move away from that area can be a powerful way to create importance and dominance in a scene.  Photography has pushed this idea into more extreme places, but it can be seen far back into art history and is generally associated with naturalism in painting. 

• De-Constructors:  Lots of variations on this, but it’s basically what the name suggests: Breaking down edges from their natural hard-edged state to create more interest.  Some use this technique to also create focal point, others to increase the feeling of light bouncing off an object, and some just love the way it livens up the subject/surface and is a means of communicating the emotional intent of a piece.  It is almost always seen as more contemporary.  Artists today employ it on every level from subtle pulled edges to intensive abstraction.

• Lost-and-Founders: This can look a bit similar to deconstruction, but is different in that it is just a loosing of an edge into soft focus or similar value/color rather than actually breaking the form. 

• Hard-Edgers:  Once again, the name is obvious, and this is basically about creating hard edges and graphic shapes.  This has been done for centuries in situations requiring more graphic solutions such as mosaics and iconography, but it is a relative newcomer to gallery painting.  This style also has modernist roots, as many artists were seeking ways to separate from past naturalistic styles as well as reacting to the harshness of industrialization. Not all were that way, however, as many of the early Southwest artists used this style as means of reacting to the intensively graphic shapes of the Western landscape.

Once again, there isn’t one right way, nor are these techniques mutually exclusive.  Most artists, including myself, incorporate elements of all four into their work to varying degrees.  But being conscious of what you’re doing and why is an important step to deeper visual communication.

A few final ideas/takeaways:

• Edges can help create focal point, but only in a supporting role.  Composition and contrast of value, shape, and saturation/color generally carry more weight in determining focal point.

• Understand focal area and use it to your advantage.  Don’t just flip the brush around willy-nilly because it feels fun and artistic.  Generally soft focus recedes and sharp focus advances.

• Often a good place to soften an edge is at the bulge of a shape.  Pull it tighter where edges come together because that is where things get anchored and carry a lot of visual weight/information. 

• Experiment.  Every once in awhile try a piece that is just for you in which you experiment with a completely different edge style.  Use different tools than you would normally use and get outside your comfort zone.

• Master copies: If you want to really grow in your ability to get more dynamic surface quality in your work, do some master copies of artists who you like.  Do multiple copies of different artists so that you don’t just end up being known as “that artist who looks like so-and-so”.

• Generally, my own rule on how much to work an edge comes into play when I step back and look at my piece.  If something is calling my attention that I don’t want to do so, then I lessen that attention, either by value, color, or softening the edge.

• Remember the old animation adage: “If it feels right, then it is right!”  This is to say that an edge treatment may not make complete sense logically but if it communicates the correct feeling or idea then it is justifiable.  Animation does this all the time with color and stylization.

• My general feeling about edges (and paint application in general) is that they should support the theme but not overtake it.  If gimmicky paint application is the first thing a viewer is bombarded with it can hinder the visual communication.

Hopefully something here is helpful! 

Most of us have been in this situation before – our painting has finally reached a point of completion, it’s dry and ready to be sent off but you’ve noticed that the surface quality is uneven – there are glossy areas in some parts of the painting and matte areas in others. Also, the darker values of the painting have lost some of their saturation and depth. This is quite common. Oil colors naturally dry to varying surface qualities, as different pigments require different amounts of oil binder. Also, using painting medium is some areas of the painting may exaggerate these variations. Perhaps the painting was done on absorbent, acrylic ground (“gesso”) which pulls oil away from subsequent paint layers. Not to worry…these issues of surface quality and color saturation can easily be remedied through the application of a final picture varnish.

Picture varnishes address two important concerns – one in the short term and the second in the longer term. First, a varnish layer solves those immediate aesthetic concerns outlined above by achieving a uniform surface quality and, in the case of gloss varnishes, increasing the sense of depth in your finished works. Second, the varnish layer protects oil paintings from environmental dirt and dust over the life.

The information below discusses both the issue of choosing the appropriate surface quality for your work and the benefits gained by protecting your work for the long-run.

It’s the easiest way to make your painting look better

As mentioned, it is common for paint layers to dry to different surface qualities. Some pigments used in oil colors require more oil and dry with more gloss, other pigments require less oil and dry matte. During the painting process, it can be beneficial to even out the surface quality to better evaluate the values of the painting and deepen the color saturation. We recommend “oiling out” the surface of the painting with a mixture of Galkyd painting medium and Gamsol for this. As the small amount of painting medium will bond permanently to previous and subsequent layers, this procedure is preferable to using retouch varnish. “Oiling out” has its benefits on a recently completed painting as well, since it not only unifies the surface quality but it reduces the absorbency of paint layers – allowing the subsequent varnish layer to remain on the top-most part of the painting structure.

Whether you “oil out” the painting or not, varnishing is the best way of unifying the dry paint layers with the desired surface quality for your work. But what type of surface is right for the painting? High gloss? Dead matte? Something in between? Finding the appropriate surface quality is a very personal choice. Gloss surfaces beautifully saturate dry paint layers and increase the sense of depth in paintings. Matte surfaces give paint layers a very direct appearance, but can lighten the darkest values of a painting. Historically, representational painters preferred a gloss surface because of the increased sense of depth. Abstract painters adopted matte surfaces to enhance the physicality of paint layers. This, of course, is an over-generalization. What’s most important is that you find the right surface quality for your work.

The other aspect of this is how the environment affects the viewing of the work once the painting is installed. Paintings that have a gloss surface can be difficult to see if they are not lit properly. This can take away from the painted image to the point of being distracting.

What makes for a glossy or matte surface on a painting? Gloss varnishes encourage the reflection of light in a specular, or mirror-like, direction off the surface of the painting. Gloss surfaces deepen values and saturate colors in paintings. Matte varnishes are formulated with matting agents (solids) in the varnish layer, which act to scatter the light at the surface of the painting. Depending on the amount of matting agents in the varnish layer, matte varnishes lighten the darkest values in paintings.

Varnish protects paintings

It is generally recommend that finished paintings are varnished, unless the artist truly dislikes the look. Unvarnished paintings are vulnerable to aging in ways that varnished paintings are not. Very few, if any, private collectors keep their homes at the uncontaminated levels and controlled climates that museums do. There are two important criteria that a quality picture varnish must have – first, the varnish must be water-clear to not change or alter the color scheme of the painting below. Second, the varnish must be easily removable in the future. The top-most layer of any painting will ultimately take on a layer of dust and dirt. Varnishes provide a non-porous layer which prevent dust and dirt from being embedded in the more porous paint layers beneath (see diagram below).

If and when the painting needs to be cleaned, the varnish layer can be easily removed from the painting, along with the dust and dirt that has accumulated on top. In this way, a varnish should be thought of as a discrete, “sacrificial” layer to the rest of the painting.

Contemporary varnishes

Traditional dammar varnish and other natural resins make a durable top layer but yellow and darken over time and become increasingly difficult to remove for purposes of cleaning a painting. In the mid-20th century, acrylic resin varnishes were adopted because of their stability of color. However, these same varnishes changed the look of paintings, leading many conservators back to the use of dammar, despite its tendency to yellow with age.

In the early 1990s, Robert Gamblin collaborated with Rene de la Rie at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to bring a contemporary varnish to the studio painter. The research that came out of the National Gallery identified the most stable resin, Regalrez 1094, to be used as a picture varnish. This resin not only beautifully saturates dry paint layers, but is also formulated into a varnish with a very mild solvent – Gamsol. Equally as important, this varnish can be removed with Gamsol, posing very little risk of damaging paint layers below.

Gamvar Picture Varnish has now been available to painters for over two decades.

When to varnish

For most paintings, there is no need to wait 6 to 12 months before varnishing with Gamvar. Gamvar can be applied when the thickest areas of your painting are thoroughly dry and firm to the touch. Gently press your fingernail into the thickest area of paint. If it is firm underneath the surface, then it is ready for varnishing.

To varnish or not to varnish?

Similar to finding the appropriate frame for a painting, applying a varnish is an excellent way of putting a finishing touch on an original work of art. Not only does a final varnish coat unify and saturate color, but it plays an invaluable role in protecting your deeply-valued painting. In short, we recommend varnishing.

Additional references

Product information: Gamvar Gloss, Gamvar Matte, Gamvar Satin

Video demonstrations on varnishing and “oiling out”