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Claybord experiment [No.1] FINISHED.
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Message
Posted
It's my second day off, so I have enough time to focus onto the painting.
I decided to practice onto western hat today.
I need to check if I can blend colours smoothly, before I move on skin tones, where smoothness is very important to me.
This is basically BE or NOT to BE for the Claybord.
I do appreciate now noticeable brush strokes regarding background, it's giving interesting look to the whole piece.
I won't like it on the skin, though.
I've started with the western hat then, to see if I can make smooth blending...
The answer is YES, as you can see.
It's all I'm asking for.
Posted
I'm making very first shaking steps towards flesh tones...
I was trying to position the shape of the face features (eye,nose,ear).
I've mixed some flesh tone to begin with, and gently moving brush over areas I did mention...
The remaining of the paint I mixed up to dark tone, and I filled in the shadow area behind the ear.
I hope it'll work as an underlayer, and may help to hold the next paint layer.
Edited
by PogArt AsS'er
Posted
some texture won't hurt though - the older we get, the more there is!Hahahaaaa ;) very true! Thank you for keen comment and following the progress Robert. Thanks for the "oil" tip too ;) All I'm doing is - avoiding any oils/solvents. This is my second try in oils, so I like it to be different, compared to 2019... I like to paint straight out the tube, no solvents, no oils, just as it comes out ... I need a tip if you would please... I clean brushes with Masters Brush Cleaner/Preserver. On the box says - rinse it afterwards. That's my trouble... When it's dry, the bristle looks like kitchen swapping brush ;) There's no sharp point anymore... What to do please? Thank you in advance ;)
Edited
by PogArt AsS'er
Posted
Bristle brushes (ie, natural hog): Can be rinsed out in Turpentine or white spirit, but I don't. Instead, I squeeze all the paint out that I can, into a robust brand of kitchen towel (eg, Bounty - which doesn't leave lint everywhere). Then I wash them out in plain soap and cool water, working the bristles into the palm of my hand until all trace of colour has gone (the brush may be stained, but that doesn't matter, so long as it's clean). I then shape the brush with my fingers, and lay it flat to dry. Some brushes have more 'edge' that others, but for those that ought to form that chisel edge, this method has always worked for me.
For synthetic brushes, nylon etc: NEVER use Turpentine, white spirit, or any other solvent: wipe the paint out of the brush, give it a very good swirl in clean water, and if necessary, as it often is, use a bit of plain soap and cool water, as above. Shape the brush with your fingers, and dry as you would with natural hair brushes.
Sable, if you use them: Shampoo and conditioner with water now and then, as a treat: usually though swishing them out with water works fine for watercolour or gouache. Don't use them for acrylics - acrylic is too harsh. If you use a sable for oil, again, the soap and cool water treatment, shape, and leave flat to dry.
Never leave any brush standing in water or oil for more than a few minutes and preferably not at all.
A professional painter, working constantly, might use a slightly different method of keeping the brushes workable, by obtaining a bit of equipment which is angled - with a well at one end filled with Linseed or Walnut oil. The ferrules of the brushes are kept dry, and only the bristles lie in the oil. I doubt you have any need of this, and I haven't either because I don't paint like a production line, and have dozens of brushes so don't need to keep them workable all the time.
I have never used Masterson's brush cleaner/preserver - so can't comment on it, but you would need to shape the brush and leave it to dry naturally, on its side, whatever you use. My method works, though - I have brushes I know to be at least 50 years old, still in good nick.
Posted
I couldn't have ask for more detailed method Robert!
Thank you so much!
It's precise and pin pointed tip!
I do appreciate your kind reply very much!
Hopefully I'm doing it properly, the way you did describe Robert.
So my issue isn't real issue, regarding to keep bristles tips pointed - I should accept it as it is.
Then when starting painting with them, just dip the bristles into the paint to form that pointed tip again?
Masters Brush Cleaner is nothing else, but like general soap to me.
It was adviced by "Rosemary&Co" brush company to use it, so I follow the manufacturer advice.
If they say it is safe, then should do no harm at least ;)
I'm not using synthetic brushes, well, maybe I have Dagger synthetic, just because I couldn't find similar made with natural hair.
I do appreciate natural bristle brushes, so it is mostly what I'm painting with Robert.
Thank you very much!!!
Art.
Posted
Today's update...
I didn't do any underpainting, other than stain the surface - the trouble I'm dealing with, is my strokes do sliding over the slick surface of Claybord.
I'm learning how to minimalise this unappreciated effect.
It's not too bad, but I wish the issue wasn't exist.
Would underpainting help to improve holding the brush strokes?
That's the question I can't answer yet.
I'm making very first strokes on very first layer, so I may be more conscious of which way should I paint on Claybord at later stages ;)
Edited
by PogArt AsS'er
Posted
it certainly doesn’t work on dried out brushes with oil paint still present, which is their claim…
Alan Bickley on 12/11/2022 12:34:46
Thank you very much Alan for keen answer.
Hopefully I don't have dried oil bristles at all, as I'm cleaning brushes straight after each session, so I couldn't test whether they lie or not ;)
I bet it isn't any easy to deal with dried oil paint...
I was adviced by Rosemary&Co brush makers to use this soap cleaner, and I do since.
I've been asking questions before, and I know some artists do leave gentle film of the soap after cleaning to form and hold the desired pointed shape of the tip, some won't do it ever, saying the soap particles may will build up within the bristle hair over a time...
I'm rinsing it through with cold water then, after cleaning, so no soap is left, and then forming the tip of the pointed brush for example with my fingers let it dry...
Thank you Alan.
Edited
by PogArt AsS'er
Posted
Cleaning manky oil paint off brushes is difficult, whatever you use, but I'd use Turps - real Turps - if I had to: soak the brush in it for a week or more - and frankly, even then you'll never get it back to a pristine state. MUCH better - don't let 'em get into that state in the first place (I know we all have...).
There are products that claim to clean hardened acrylic paint off a brush - in a pig's eye they do! At least, I've never found one - I missed a spot in a synthetic filbert, in which a few hairs clumped together - it hasn't destroyed the brush, but has made it much less than it ought to be, and NOTHING has caused those fused hairs to part: I keep it as a mute reproach to myself: it does still have some uses, though. Best thing in such cases is to head out to Rosemary & Co and buy another brush (other manufacturers are available).