[BAS Newsletter] Art Matters - My Materials Cont...

[Paul Stringfellow]

Dear All,

A quick report from last Friday’s Art Matters. We didn’t get through 
everyone's contribution we are planning to holding another this week - 
so if you didn’t make it last week there is a chance to join this.

Adrian, although still unwell, is thankfully on the mend. We wish him a 
full speedy recovery.

One thing to look out for is that the zoom meeting will for the time 
being come from the membership or exhibition email accounts rather than 
Adrian's.  There is a danger this will end up in your junk mail folder 
so please look out for the message. The zoom details  for next week is 
as follows - we’ll send a reminder tomorrow.

BAS is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Bromley Art Society - Art Matters : My materials continued.
Time: Feb 26, 2021 07:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85960507549?pwd=eXp4ZXpxT2J0Yy8ySFA3NXBtamlOdz09

Meeting ID: 859 6050 7549
Passcode: 661247
*
**My Materials Friday 19th Feb*

The following materials and tools were suggested:

*Butter you don’t put on toast*.

Melanie recommended Lukas Painting Butter or Medium no.5  for impasto 
effects in oil paint. She finds that it adds bulk, doesn’t discolour the 
paint and dries quickly, However, it did come with a health warning for 
its fumes and also if your interest is in something to speed up drying 
time but not impasto one of the other alkyd mediums would probably be 
more fit for purpose

*Fragrance*

Jules recommended Spike lavender oil to make paint more lean - and speed 
up drying times. Used by the old masters, it can be found on some 
painting materials online stores though she sources it via eBay. The 
recommendation is to find the versions not meant for cosmetic purposes 
(e.g. with added vitamin E)

*Keeping things clean *

Jan had some good recommendations for palettes and brush cleaning 
equipment. Described as a metal brush washer on Jacksons this has a 
spring to hold brushes suspended in water or solvent and a filter that 
allows paint residue to sink to the bottom.  For palettes Jan uses a 
sheet of glass with taped edges for a oil palette (which is easy to 
clean) and keeps plastic inserts for e.g. chocolate for acrylic paint 
which can be disposed of when covered.

We later discussed a do it yourself Stay wet palette for Acrylics. The 
following was recommended a few sheets of kitchen roll, a sheet of 
greaseproof paper kept quite wet in a  shallow airtight box - it was 
suggested that this was the perfect excuse to buy a box of Ferrero Roche!


*The one that got away*

Christine recommended Derwent Art Bars which were a perfect as a 
convenient watercolour and drawing medium. She showed some of the subtle 
effects that were possible. But they didn’t seem to be on sale any more- 
so if anyone knows of a supplier please shout.

*Something new*

Galina shared Silky Crayons that are available from Amazon. These are 
able to be used as crayons, pastels and watercolours. While they 
probably aren’t of archival quality - they sell themselves as being 
washable after all  - Galina shared some lovely subtle paintings that 
had been done using them, Ideal for when you are working in the house too.

*Line by Line*

Elena shared some of the acrylic pens that she uses in her work. These 
included Artistry, flysea and Posca brands. The white pens all gave a 
good layer of opacity.

*Not only but also*

We also discussed Artists who use house paint, including Jackson Pollock 
and Gary Hume.  The link here to the Tate website probably tells you 
more than you ever wanted to know about the use of housepaint - and then 
some, 
https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/33/layers-looking-changing-surfaces-paintings-gary-hume 
<https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/33/layers-looking-changing-surfaces-paintings-gary-hume>. 
If you watch the Tate shots videos further down the page you will see a 
studio with almost as much house paint as  B&Q

And we also discussed fixing pastel. While there was general agreement 
that hairspray was really only good for quick sketches (again avoiding 
the ones with added vitamin E!) there were differences of opinions on 
how to preserve the pastel as some found that fixative tended to deaden 
the colours. Maybe there is a pastel artist who will join us next week.

Kind Regards,
Deborah











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