Flack Studio: Official Blog of McGarren Flack

substitute for turpentine, rule for oil painting, oils

2009-06-09T14:54:00.004-06:00

Intro: I was talking with an artist this last week. I noticed her paintings looked pretty wet, so I asked her if she used any medium, or if she had varnished the piece. She said she couldn't use medium because she reacts to turpentine (aka mineral spirits, well kind of) so she cant use any while she is painting in oil. I asked her if she had tried painting with Acrylic, or water based oils (both of which I can't stand, but I don't react to turps). She said she doesn't like them. I asked her what she used to thin her paint and she responded "I use baby oil" I was taken back so I asked her where she learned to use mineral oil, she had heard it from another artist. So I am posting some information on oil and its painting properties, what should be used and what should be negated.
Oil Paints: Without going to deep in the subject and if you would like to learn more please read from Max Doerner's "The Materials of the Artist" pg. 96-142 he goes into great detail about Oil Mediums. Oil is a binding medium we place in pigment. If too much oil is mixed with the pigment it will create wrinkles in the paint. If too little oil is in the pigment then it is hard to paint with (even though some artists like Lucian Freud places his paint on a paper towel to dry it, then paints with it, or at least that is what someone told me). Some Oil's don't dry at all, some dry quickly, some yellow, some go black. Oil's dry simply by evaporation much like water except at a much slower rate. If you want your oil paint to dry faster place a fan by it, warm it up, and stick it in the sun (as a side note I would never stick my painting in the sun, this is how paint companies find out how permanent their paint is, the sun will yellow your painting quickly so unless that is what you are going for I wouldn't do it). If you want it to dry slower then place it in a room that is dark, cool, and has no air flow.
Here is the breakdown.
Cold Pressed Linseed Oil: This is the most common vehicle for oil painting pigment. It doesn't yellow that much when painted in thin layers, but when painted in thick layers like with a palette knife it does show signs of yellowing over time.
Linseed Oil can also be in a Sun-Thickened consistency, it is Linseed oil dried in the sun until is has the consistency of honey. It dries more quickly than standard linseed oil and gives it more body. Sun-Thickened oil is better than boiled oils and remains very elastic and rarely cracks.
Stand Oil (boiled oil with carbonic acid) is also usually made from linseed oil. It dries more slowly than raw linseed because they have absorbed no oxygen and it weatherproofs a painting when added to the paint.
Walnut Oil: A little more fluid than linseed and does not yellow as much, so it is better to use with light pigments, it usually dries a little slower than linseed, the downside is that it divides more easily from the pigment compared to linseed oil, so you get the watery look. Robert Doak, Blue Ridge Oil Paint and some other paint makers mix walnut oil with linseed to get the best of both worlds.
Poppy Oil: Dries slower than walnut oil and doesn't yellow as much as linseed. It gives a nice buttery consistency so it is good to use with Alla Prima painting. It is not recommended to be used in layers because it is known to crack. It takes too long to dry for a great under painting. It has also been known to turn soft after it is dry and go dark in value, and even remain sticky. So only use it with Alla Prima Painting.
ALL OTHER OILS SHOULD NOT BE USED! if you don't believe me read the book and do some experiments. Never use mineral oil with your paints, it never really dries and linseed does dry so you will get cracks and a dust magnet to the never drying oil (have fun cleaning it too). Castor Oil is the same, never use it as a substitute for painting or even cleaning your brushes. Use Turps to clean your brushes when painting, then dry off the brush using a paper towel so you don't thin out your paints too much.
Rule of oil painting: Paint lean to fat. Now what does that mean. You use mineral spirits to thin your paint (less oil, more evaporation) when starting a painting. The more paint you add to the wet surface the more oil (or medium) you can add to the paint. eg:
step 1: Oil and Turps (thin or fast drying paint)
step 2: Oil (straight oil and pigment or a little bit of dryer)
step 3: Oil and medium (slower drying medium)
step 4: medium and Oil (aka glazing, but this should be done when painting is dry)
If you are working multiple layers wait until the paint is dry, not just to the touch, but dry all the way through. A simple way to test is lightly press your fingernail in the thickest area of the painting if it makes a dent it is still wet.
Another way to look at lean to fat is fast to slow drying. If you use a color and mix a fast drying medium then your paint will dry faster and can be placed in the lower layers so long as you place a slower drying medium in the layers on top, like stand oil. If you use fast drying on top of slow drying then you will crack your painting, so paint thin to thick, fast to slow, or lean to fat.
Summary: So now that you understand why certain oils are used and others are not we can get to the topic at hand. What can you use as a substitute for turpentine to quickly clean your brushes between strokes. You can use linseed oil, walnut oil, or Poppy Oil (I personally would not use it). I would not use anything else (Castor oil, mineral oil (or baby oil), turenoid natural, or any other substitute), if you do you will be placing your painting at risk to crack or never cure. Just make sure if you are using linseed oil or walnut oil that you dry your brush before dipping it in your paint. Cleaning your brushes at the end of the day will be another topic of discussion. Please comment if you have found any thing different from what I have written by reading and personal experimentation.

Linen stretched or Linen on board

2009-05-28T08:09:00.001-06:00

First off I need to give a preface to this topic. I have read a book posted in my last blog "The Materials of the Artist" that talks about this topic. I have also talked with Robert Doak
who is a very knowledgeable man when it comes to oil painting. I have also talked with other artists about this subject and they understand (on a large part) very little about their tools they use on a daily basis. Which is kind of frustrating. I am very impressed with Adrian Gottlieb, and Kamille Corry because of their knowledge in the field of painting and their tools. So here is a breakdown with the pros and cons of each surface to paint on both being linen because it lasts longer and doesn't flex as much as cotton.
Stretched Linen:
Pro1: This is the main purpose of linen you pull it tight around stretchers, rabbit skin glue a couple of layers let it dry and it gets really tight like a drum. Then you paint oil primer on it (because acrylic is absorbent, kind of like traditional Gesso) and let it dry for a couple of weeks. Or if you are using preprimed linen like Claessen's then you just stretch it.

Con1: Once stretched their is no backing to protect the canvas, this can be fixed by placing some foamcore or Masonite (very heavy when dealing with larger art) on the back
Con2: Cost is relatively low because stretchers are not that expensive
Con3: The stretcher bars warp, even really expensive stretchers, the most successful stretchers I have used are backed with Aluminum but they cost a pretty penny.
Con4: You need to go beyond the painting surface to have enough fabric to stretch which in my eyes is wasteful.

Linen on Board:
Pro1: Uses less linen than stretching.
Pro2: Because the linen is attached to a board it has a backing and is less easily punctured.
Pro3: It is harder for moisture to get on the back of the Linen and damage it (we are talking over 100 yrs of moisture)

Con1: The proper way to mount linen is time consuming and you only have some much time to do it because of drying time with the Rabbit Skin Glue.
Con2: If you use wood like stretcher they do warp, a light weight alternative is plastic (which you need to make sure is PH balanced) , Dibond which is aluminum on front and back with a plastic substance in the middle (about $100 for a 4x8 ft sheet, it is used for outside billboards, it can be purchased at Regonal Supply located in SLC but Aluminum adsorbs temps easily so keep it out of the heat), Gator Foam is the most used now days. It is PH Balanced, very light weight, and doesn't warp easily.
Con3: If you have someone build it for you it will cost a good amount. A good company I recommend is New Traditional Art Panel located in Northern Utah. They make high quality panels with a removable backing.
Side note for panels:
There are three major ways to attach the linen to panels.

Traditionally: (found on pg 39 of "The Materials of the Artist") The linen must be sized a little larger than the surface to be mounted on about 1/2 inch in every direction. The linen is dipped in RS (Rabbit Skin) Glue (Robert Doak recommends after you have soaked the RS Granule for a half a day and then heated it, and never let it boil, you should place half the amount of Titanium White pigment in the RS as you did Granule, eg: 3 TBLS of RSG, add 1.5 TBLS of TW. It helps it dry faster and you can see that you have covered the entire surface). Lay the linen on the board and smooth it out from the middle to the edges, after 24 hrs of drying you can Prime it with Oil Primer.
This method is more permanent than some contemporary methods.
Contemporary method 1 Permanent: (from "Landscape Painting Inside & Out" by Kevin MacPherson) He and others use PVA Glue which is PH Balanced but once you have glued your linen down it is glued down. (Also PVA Glue gets brittle after a while and it does not flex with linen, which provides a struggle when one is applying force and another is not, but then again that might just be with canvas stretching and not mounting to a board) All you have to do is Place the glue on the back of the linen and the front of the board for a great bond. Then you smooth out bubble from the center moving out and let it dry. Problem is if the board gets damaged or warped it is really hard to take off, I would not recommend this approach and never use a glue that is not PH Balanced it will eat your expensive linen or discolor your painting.
Contemporary method 2 Non-Permanent: This one took me a while to find information on. New Tradition Panel's uses this method. They use a PH Glue called BEVA that when heated up (about 150 degrees ) the glue releases and you can attach the linen to a different board. This is a great option in case any damage is done to the painting or the board. You can buy BEVA as a toxic liquid (use a respirator) or a dry mount. Another less expensive PH Glue is called Versamount and you can buy some from http://www.framingsupplies.com/PrintMount/Versamount.htm This is a dry adhesive and you activate it by heating it up, I have used an iron to heat it up between the linen and board, be careful not to scorch the linen, that would be bad. Most businesses that use the dry mount use a Vacuum Heat Press which costs a couple thousand dollars, this is the best method to attach a non permanent linen to a board.
Summary: I prefer mounting to board, I already have a protective backing, I can remove the linen if it or the board get damaged or warped, and it is light. To me it takes less time than stretching. For bigger paintings I will stretch with a hybrid stretcher bar of wood an aluminum. Robert Doak, and Adrian Gottlieb (on his website) do not recommend using preprimed linen or priming your own linen then mounting it onto a board. They prefer the traditional method, but I have not received a straight answer on why I could not stretch and prime my own linen then adhere it to the board. My thoughts are once it is stretched and primed, I can adhere it to a board, the canvas wont flex or crack because it is glued to a board. But they recommend stretching unless you like the hard surface. I do agree with them on preprimed linen, it is not the highest quality, it is just easy to buy it all done so we can paint.
But this is the foundation we are talking about, if the foundation is not good then you are not going to get a long lasting painting. I trust my what I build to be of the highest quality, I will not take short cuts. How can you tell if you have a good foundation? Try lightly bending a corner of the canvas placing the canvas back to back, if it is built correctly it will flex, if it is crap the linen primer will crack or flake off. Also linen needs to have a strong tight weave, not a lot of holes. If it does have holes (empty spaces between linen weaves) then get a different linen. RSG is used to protect the canvas from the oil and fill tiny tiny holes between the weave, not fill large gaps, it will eventually crumble because it has only its self to adhere to.
Now that this topic is off my chest I feel better, I hope that it helps some of you artists out there. If you want to learn more read the books I recommended last week, it is amazing what I have learned out of school.

June Woman Figure Show and Books

2009-05-20T09:46:00.000-06:00

So, Rive Gauche Gallery in Scottsdale is having a three man show from June 4th to the 17th. They mostly have cafe scene paintings of mine that they are putting in the show. I have more pieces that I am going to bring down that will hopefully go up for the show the day of the opening. I like working on art in a series, I have a hard time painting the same thing over and over, I need to leave an idea for a while before coming back to it because the subject matter bores me. I figure I will rotate ideas eg. chiaroscuro paintings, people in the park, cafe scenes, still life, and landscape paintings. I like painting everything because they are so useful for the next painting. If for example I don't know how to paint a landscape how am I expected to paint a figure in a landscape context? I feel like my still life paintings are the strongest right now because I paint them right in front of me. Currently I am using photographs for my figures and some landscapes. I know my work would be much better if I did it live but that also requires a large amount of funds, it is my preference but not a necessity.

I am reading a fantastic book, "I'd rather be in the studio" written by Alyson B. Stanfield. I am learning a lot about promotion and thinking outside the box. My understand was artists had to work with galleries to get anywhere. They can help but they are not necessary. Doing this blog is another thing she recommends. In short if you are an artist and you want to understand how to move your business forward I would recommend reading the book.

Another great book to read is "The Materials of the Artist and their use in Painting" written by Max Doerner. If you are interested in learning about how to make your own primed canvas and what your options are, pigments and their uses, anything about Oil painting, Egg Tempera, Mural, Pastel Painting, and their uses. I would recommend this book, I loved it so much I started my own experiments with pigment and mediums, drying time, clarity, and light fastness. I would love to teach a class based on this book because of all the necessary information that is contained. It was originally written in 1920 so he does not have any info on acrylic paints.

chasing two rabbits

2009-05-08T12:49:00.000-06:00

Great news. I was listening to this motivational speaker (Larry Winget ) and he said something in his "Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life" book. If you chase two rabbits (teaching, and being a full time artist), both will get away. It sounded right to me so I made a decision, because really that has been my problem, which rabbit do I want most? I decided to paint, their is enough to do full time with painting and marketing myself let alone teach full time. I will teach a class here and there because I enjoy teaching but I am no longer going to pursue full time teaching employment at this time in my life.
I have also decided that I have what it takes to be successful at being an artist I have just made up excuses here and there. After I made this decision an interesting thing happened. My wife was at a park and started talking to a woman there with her kids, they got on the subject of art and my wife gave my website to this woman. That evening I received an email stating she was interested in looking at my art. I replied with my phone number and she called me the next morning to come over and look at my pieces. She came over at 10 in the morning that day and purchased a painting I had just finished days earlier, it was so freakin awesome. She was excited and so was I it was a win win. Later on that day another collector came by and purchased two of my pieces, wow was that a good day. So this just help validate my decision to paint more.
The mug shots have been on hold for a bit because I have a show I am preparing for in June. Once I am done I will continue on with the mug shots. I had a new idea for them I am going to do one of three options. Because I love painting in every style available to oil I might 1. paint each mug shot in a different style. or 2. paint the same mug shot in about 10 styled or 3. just paint each one the way I wanted to in the first place. I know I would be saying something different with each approach so I need to figure out what I want to say before continuing.

Remember (I am saying this to myself) chase one rabbit at a time, who knows eventually you might be able to catch both........ if that is my desire!

recession proof artist

2009-04-05T14:19:00.000-06:00

Wow, I thought I would be better at doing this. Thing is I get so caught up into working on my art I forget about everything else. It is only when I am bored or really passionate about a subject that I need to chat on here. This recession is not doing so well for us as a family. I have done a few commissions here and there but gallery sales have dropped like a rock. I asked my friend Jeremy Lipking how his sales were doing and he said he hasn’t noticed a difference. This got me to thinking. Are there really some people out there that are not getting affected by the recession, or are people with a lot of money really addicted to art? I love Jeremy’s art he is a master of his craft. I would like to see some more multi figure paintings but that is just me. How does one get to the point Jeremy is in? Whenever I ask him he just tells me that he was lucky, but he was also represented by a gallery that sold his work and never paid him. That also kind of happened to me with the exception on; they just hung my art and sold it. They didn’t try to move sales forward by advertising for me. When they did sell sometimes I wouldn’t find out the work sold until a year later when I was going to pick it up. Eventually they paid but come on, that is not good business practices and no this was not the Rive Gauche Gallery in Scottsdale, they have been fantastic.
I read an article from a gallery about selling art in a recession. The gentleman stated that it is a great opportunity for artists to get back into their studios and paint the things they have always wanted to paint and build their portfolio so when the economy builds again they can present their work to galleries and sell. I am sick of having to work with galleries to sell, there has to be a way that we can sell our work without a middle man and still be taken seriously. Lately I have thought about quitting art all together, which I know other artists have too. There are two things that keep me going. One is Bill Whittaker said to me that I will never be successful because I don’t have what it takes. The other is my love for painting. I think there are so many other artists out that are so much better than I. But on the other side of the coin, I am better than a lot of other artists. So I have come to a conclusion. I don’t know where I will be in 5 years or what I will be doing. I do know I will paint and continue to work hard in producing better art. I want my art to be more interesting and personal. I want my art to look like paintings not photographs, so I might produce less and paint more to get to where I want and if can support me then great. So how does an artist get through a recession? Just like anyone else, push forward and continue to work, it will eventually end!
McGarren Flack
www.flackstudio.com

more about mug shots

2008-12-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

I have now taken pictures of 12 people all responding to my craigslist postings for models. I have a couple more this next week. I think this is a bad time to start a new project because I am spending so much time applying for jobs. An anonymous person responded to one of my postings, I would be interested to know who the person is. I didn't think I would like teaching art until I started to teach. Now I love it so maybe I should just find a full time teaching job so I don't have to do all the meetings,.... actually I really like meeting, at least the ones I have been in and the type that get things done. I figure I won't know what I will like until I try it and right now it is a good reason to move out of Utah and experience something new.

I will post more updates about the mugshot paintings as I progress. As for now I need to prep the surfaces to paint on, and that will take a while. Thanks for reading.

Mug Shots

2008-12-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

That's right I am working on a series of Mug Shot paintings, this is the first drawing for the series. I am thinking of doing at least 20 to start off, nice thing about these, it is endless on how many I can paint.... much like everything else people paint. Anyways here is my artist statement with the mugshots and I will start painting beginning next year, projected time to paint all 20 is about a year possibly more depending on if I teach or not. Thanks for checking out my blog. I need to be better at doing this.

With this mug shot the guy loved the Big Lebowski, still have not seen the movie, dont know if I will but he fits the profile, and he is an official dudeist minister.

Artist Statement:

In the mid 19th century Allan Pinkerton started using photographs for booking criminals and created a database of known offenders. The information contained within the booking photograph or ‘mug shot’ covered names, booking number, and location of arrest. These booking numbers were associated with a file that contained detailed information about the individual convict.

Traditionally, portraits have been a resemblance or likeness of a person. Occasionally portraits had props in them to provide a sense of context. When photography was invented, the demand for painted portraits declined significantly. Photography made it possible to capture the appearance of a person without the time required to generate a painted portrait.

Portraits have always fascinated me due to the intricacies involved in capturing the likeness of an individual. In order to explore the application of contemporary art to a traditional portrait I have decided to create a series of paintings that involve mug shots.
These portraits include a label on the text-board that contains an abstract description of the individual and a number associated with the individuals ‘booking file.’

‘Mug shots’ are viewed in a negative context by society. They generally label an individual as incapable of operating according to a set of laws or guidelines adopted by the rest of that society. The label or concept of a criminal is fairly static. Society has developed a biased view of what criminal appearance, behavior, and personality should be.

The portraits are still traditional ‘mug shots’ with poor lighting, authentic expression, and captured without the subject being ready for the photograph. They attempt to capture an image of the individual as they would be if they were actually booked as a criminal.
The only non-traditional portion of the ‘mug shots’ are the abstract labels. These labels are based on the individual answers to a series of personal questions. The labels are designed to evoke a controversial response from the viewer as they may not be in agreement with the labels or the booking file found with each portrait.

Applying for jobs

2008-10-05T09:01:00.000-06:00

Tis the season to apply for teaching jobs! I will apply for some teaching positions because I really enjoy teaching and seeing the light go on in a students head. I really enjoy the students I have this semester, no one is slacking and they really want to learn and grow even being non majors.
I had another conversation with my wife about my art the other day. She asked me is I would be willing to just work on paintings that sell like fruit and landscapes, or work on "idea" or artistic paintings and be poor. Hmmm, good question, I was trained on how to Illustrate, or work for a client. Their is a part of me that just wants to paint for the rest of my life, so I guess I wouldn't have a problem with painting things that sell. But I also know better than that. I know almost anything can sell in this world, it is getting it into the right market and to the right people that can make the difference. So why do I have to choose, I guess if I want to stay in Utah (which I don't) then painting fruit and landscapes and selling them cheep would be a good plan. Thing is I, as stated previously, don't want to fall through the cracks of history. But then again will I roll over in my grave if I am not found in "the great history books"? I doubt it. So maybe working on paintings and trying to support my family isn't that bad of an idea. It is true I would rather paint the rest of my life then become the next Jeff Koons, not that I think his art is bad, but he is definitely on the edge of what art is or could be.
Thing is, contemporary art is so foreign to most people, at least here in Utah, which isn't saying much. Not that Utah is a sucky place, I like it and it is a good place to raise ones children. But it is a bit sheltered when it comes to the art world. I have had multiple people tell me that I am addicted to pornography because I paint or draw nude people. I ask them which is more pornographic, my painting or a picture in Maxim Magazine? I know which is more sexually stimulating, a hot chick on Maxim Magazine. But hay I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. Now some art is definitely pornographic like John Currin, he is a fantastic painter and has some interesting things to say with his paintings. I am just not so keen on his subject matter a bit too steep for even me. Most people in Utah have never heard of these artists, why would they come to Utah, they would probably get stoned to death. I don't know how foreign contemp art is outside of Utah so I won't say much about it. People here in Utah love having a landscape or still life painting in their house, very few are into non representational or figure painting unless it has Jesus in it or some type of religious story. So I really want to move out of here so my kids can have a better understanding of life and culture outside of Mormonism.
The only way my wife would move back east is if I get a teaching job out there, so I will be applying to many jobs out there so we can be near a city and really experience culture. If I don't get a teaching job we will probably move to NM or CO possibly AZ. It is an exciting time in our lives.
I have some new ideas for paintings. I had a melt down (very short, 2 sec melt down) a couple of days ago about what I should paint. I went to the UofU and had a chat with Chad Crane about my problem. He stated that my problem has been that I love to paint for paint. I don't let a theory guide my painting. He said when you are working on a concept one painting cant do it all. A process starts to emerge and you have multiple paintings that are similar because they are guided by a concept and not how the paint is applied. Maybe that is my problem, I have finally hit a wall with a desire to paint. Don't get me wrong I love painting but I now get bored with painting fruit and landscapes, even people that are just sitting there. So I brain stormed some ideas and I will post them on here when I work on some. Can't share the idea because I am really excited about what is going to happen.

applied for four art shows got into one

2008-08-01T15:47:00.000-06:00

The life of an artist can be very discouraging if you let it. I wish success to all artists good or bad especially if you love doing it. Every one should be able to do what they love to do, if it were so, I think their would be less violence, hatred, and stress. I love painting, some days I can only paint for a couple of hours, other days I could paint and not eat or sleep. Currently I am reading "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. I love the book, great in sites on how to paint and what to paint. I agree with him stating that awards and juried competitions should not exists because then that gives the artist a false view of what the public wants. Competitions are usually juried by older more established artists, along with all their baggage and biasses. I applied for 4 art shows last month from around the country, I received 3 no's and one yes. This tells me that outside the state of Utah (which is really not saying much when it comes to an art market, except that Utah wants cheep art generally speaking) I have a small chance of success. The problem is I don't believe that at all, I know that when I get into other art markets I will be successful..... what ever that means. lol.
Success to me means to provide for my family by creating the best artwork I possibly can. My only question is: Will my paintings provide for my family or will teaching? I am a firm believer in God. I love him and I know he loves me, currently he isn't telling me which direction I should take to provide for my family. He had no problem telling me to apply to the University of Utah's Master program, amazingly enough I got in. But now he is silent which I am ok with, but this is my thought process. If God lets me know that I should paint to provide for my family everything will always end up the way he wants for my family. If he says he wants me to teach at a college, everything will work out. (Faith is awesome, I love trying it and learning from it) But he is silent so I guess I get to choose, the only problem is that I trust God more than myself so I am taking that leap of faith.
In a way I guess you could say I made a deal with God (one sided of coarse because he isn't telling me anything). But I believe he will follow though, sometimes we need to just work like it all counts on us when in reality, it was Gods desire for us to do what we are doing in that moment. Here it is: I will paint and provide for my family to the best of my ability until March of 2009. If we make close to or round about 30000 by that time I will continue to paint and provide for my family. If we do not make that much then I will look for a full time job to provide. My wife is up for it so it is a go. So pray for me if you want me to continue to paint full time.
Some other good news. I got into the Rive Gauche Gallery in Scottsdale Arizona. Fredric is an amazing man, a great head on his shoulders with a great desire to make his gallery and artists successful. The peak season is starting in a couple of months and ends in about March so we will see how well things go for me in this new location. Because of this tidbit of a recession sales should be a little down which kind of helps with the knowing if God is on my side with providing. If it is harder to sell I will need a miracle to get the amount I am asking for, but miracles happen every day so I am looking forward to it. Besides that have a great day and please post your thoughts. Thanks.

mother of two

2008-07-16T12:41:00.000-06:00

Finally it is done. I love and hate this painting. I feel like I can do a better job but their is a part of me that has to leave it the way it is. I don't want to overwork it and kill it. I submitted this painting to the National Portrait Competition, so we will see in Nov if I was accepted. Thanks for checking out my site, I have some new fun paintings to put up, my new thing now is Moon Dogs, if you don't know what one is then look it up because I don't want to explain it. Let me know what you think about my painting I would appreciate it.

second week of painting the portrait

2008-05-30T11:32:00.000-06:00

This is the second layer of oil paint that I applied during the week. So far this portrait is taking longer than I would like. I am applying for 3 national art competitions this week so time has been diverted else where. I am going for a more tonal painting than I usually do with this portrait. I want a mood presented with the painting not just a portrait. I picked this image because I love the looks from my wife and two kids. Ashton (bottom left) was tired because he didn't get his nap that day and was really attached to Lisa. Chance (screaming kid in my wife's arms) was done with taking pictures and was ready for bed. Lisa, like Chance was done with pictures and holding the 20 pd kid. The best part about this image, it was the last picture I took of the family before we finally gave up and got the boys ready for bed.

The idea with this portrait was initially have a lot of objects in the background that describe Lisa and what she loves to do. After looking at all the images and thinking about what I wanted in this portrait I decided to make the background dark in value so the viewer is focused on the facial expressions given in the painting. I want people to feel it more so than read into a description of who my wife is. Anyways here this the second week of working on this portrait. I am up to about 30 hours now of painting.

beginning painting portrait

2008-05-23T12:46:00.000-06:00

This is the beginning of the painted portrait, I usually start with an eye and paint as I go, but it is always good to change things up a bit. So to crit me too hard, it is just the beginning.

portrait drawing

2008-05-23T12:42:00.000-06:00

This is the beginning of a portrait that I am working on for a portrait competition (we will see if I will finish it in time). I don't usually draw the figures in first but I thought I would try it out this time.

educated/uneducated artist

2008-05-19T06:09:00.000-06:00

Well their are a lot of things to discuss on here. One of them is Motivation. What is my motivation? To tell you the truth..... I would have to say that it is the endless possibilities that painting provides. One could be a color painter, or value painter, possibly Chiaroscuro, photo realistic, impressionistic. Especially in these modern times of art any one and their dog does any type of painting they would like.
Because we are talking about art anything is up in the air. You don't need to know how to paint or draw to become an artist especially in the art world. People in the..... normal... no.... lets say consumer world (everyone else not in the art world) thinks that you have to know how to paint or draw to become an artist. The fact of the matter is that we have artists that have no idea on how to use a pencil or paint. Carolee Schneemann a great performance artist for feminism does a piece with her pulling a scroll out of her vagina in the piece entitled "Interior Scroll" Shock value seemed to be more important than execution of an image. Art has become concept based, who ever can think about a new idea and get it out into the world gets the giant golden coin. Skill has no merit in the world of Academic art, people don't care they want to see an image that sucks, but entertains their intellect.
Speaking of intellect why is it that most academic artists brains shut down when they see a representative painting? If the painting is executed and painted well, the academic artist says, "what you see is what you get!" Then they move on to the next painting. If the artist has a ton of meaning placed in their painting then the academic artist needs to have mystery through shotty painting or badly executed paint. On the other hand their are a lot of artists that are just doing paintings of wall furniture. They might be painted well but they contain no life or mystery. I am sure their is a way to be able to live in both worlds at the same time. Not as if one needs to be loved by both worlds but it would be nice to be accepted to a certain degree. But then again acceptance is only a word, why is it that we as social beings need to be accepted to anything?
I have a few friends that are exceptional artists, but as far as meaning goes...... well their is none. They might be making a great living right now (which makes other artists jealous) but in the end are they going to be like the artists we know of in the history books, or are they going to just fall through the cracks like most artists? Another tangent, Artist.... an over used word. At times I consider myself an artists, other times, I am just a painter of pictures.

friends sites

2008-04-28T10:30:00.000-06:00

Here is a list of some close art friends.
Michael Parker www.michaelsparker.com
Justin Hayward www.justinhaywardart.com
Justin Taylor www.justintaylorart.com
Jeremy Lipking www.lipking.com
Tony Pro www.tonypro-fineart.com
Ryan Brown www.ryansbrownart.com
Peter Sakievich www.petersakievich.com
Chad Crane www.chadcrane.com
Jerry Moore www.jeremiahmooreart.com
Zane Lancaster
Matt (aka M@) Allred
Alison Denyer www.adenyer.com
John Erickson
Doug Braithwaite www.dougbraithwaite.com

2008-04-28T09:50:00.000-06:00

So.... I am now done with Graduate School and my life can now start. I have been married for about 6 1/2 years now and we have two amazing boys Ashton and Chance. I will post some pictures a little latter. I have decided to do a blog because I have a lot of thoughts about the art world and where it is or where it is going. I am by no means a professional on the subject, I just want to voice what I think and where I stand in the whole mess.
Just some background on me. I was born and raised in Salt Lake City Utah. I went to UVSC (it is now known as UVU) and majored in Biology, I took a drawing class with Hyunmee Lee and my life changed. She is a great artist and I learned a lot from her, but I was coming from a true/false, right/wrong life application. The longer a person works on their drawing the better it is.... right? (well it use to be my thoughts) She gave a student an A because he/she had more of a voice in the drawing but they only worked on it for 30 minutes. I got a B- (and for a 4.0 student that was a bit harsh) so I argued with Prof. Lee about the grade. That is why I changed my major and started drawing and painting.
A couple years prior to this experience I lived in Washington D.C. I went to the National Art Museum and saw that they were showing an artist with a weird name. John Singer Sargent I thought it was an odd combination of names, but then again mine is too. I saw the traveling exhibit and I was amazed that someone could create a painting with such life! They were alive and still looked like paintings. This show is what peaked my interest in art as a whole.
I went to Brigham Young University's Illustration program after taking 3 Illustration classes from Perry Stewart (an amazing artist). I worked in the Illustration program because I wanted to be able to paint people like Sargent, no other program seemed to have the skill sets necessary to teach it and BYU was close enough. I then studied with Ryan Brown for a year in his Atelier School. I was accepted into the University of Utah's painting and drawing MFA program. At the same time I worked with Kamille Corry for a semester in Salt Lake. I wish I could have worked with her more but the MFA program consumed every minute of my working day. So that is how I got to where I am today. Keep checking the blog for the fun info and thoughts.

website

2008-04-28T08:57:00.000-06:00

Oh yes, I forgot to say that I have a website it is www.flackstudio.com I will be updating it shortly.