Are there any art nerds here?
 

who would get a kick out of talking about drawing mediums, intaglio processes, paper types, or oil techniques with me?

cos that would be swell. The post yr art thread is nice but no one really talks about their processes, and its mostly digital or photographic, so I'd want to move away from that.

Hopefully there will be, so


These are my favourite art papers;

I use BFK Rives for almost all my book making. When I do copper plate I use BFK Rives, but lately I've been using solarplate as my intaglio medium, so I've been using some japanese hand made papers from the etching supplies store here. One of them has what looks like bits of celulose added to give it a sparkly speckled effect, really beautiful.

My visual diarys are either Hahnemuhle or Fabriano, I switch between these two;

the Fabriano are really beautiful for tonal drawings because of the texture, but the Hahnemuhle is probably better when I'm sketching up ideas. The Hahnemuhle books have held up better too.

When I draw I use a CP paper, not a fan of HP and anything rough like the ARCHES watercolour 400 to 800 R is beautiful, but doesnt suit my style.


I really am an art nerd, and I spend a lot on good papers, but there is nothing like working with beautiful cotton rag, which has been made the same way for a quarter of a millenium.

i've been using hannemuhle for etchings recently, it's pretty nice stuff.
my favourite kind of paper is the fragile japanese stuff (don't know what it's called) that is kind of like a cross between cotton and tissue paper, it's nice to print photos on to because the inks slightly bleed into one another.
learning about paper types is something i've been meaning to do for a long time but never really got round to because i don't really know anyone i could ask about that sort of thing.

my best friend goes to art school, but he's too "cool" to talk about his techniques.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washi

?

I think the metal thing you are talking about is an atomiser, but i'm on my phone so its a bit hard to google and copy paste a pic. As for fine paper us the cheaper stuff, both have their ups and downs visually. The problem with such things though is mostly their complete lack of archival quality, which some people don't mind, but becames an issue if you begin to sell your work. No one will pay a decent amount for your work and time unless it is going to last for more than say, a year. Archer water colour is not only designed to be archival for hundreds of year, the higher weight cotton rag you can ...

Hose off or wash in the tub and it will be not much different from when it started. Try doing that with cartridge or recycled card board. Having said that, i love hand made and photo copied zines, and i'm glad they're made that way. It all comes down to how disposable os temporary you want your work to be.

I used to be into that stuff.
But now I'm just into photography.
I wish I had a picture of my strat painting that I could show you guys.

thats not because he's cool, that's because he is insecure or pretentious. There are plenty of people like that around, having the attitude though unfortunately does not guarantee artistic success

it sounds like a rice paper, but its hard to tell without seeing because there are hundreds of types of hand made paper that come out of asia. When you print photos do you mean in an ink jet? If so how do you manage to not let it jam? Or do you mean printing ...

An etched plate that has been created with a photo emulsion? I'm happy to talk paper and any supplies for hours, i'm full of info :) and love to find out new things

we can talk about all the fantastic things you can do with photo images to create mixed media, there are hundreds of fun ways to use yr photography to end up with something other than just a photo

yeah!
I've always wanted to try something like put a piece of emulsion paper inside my mouth and take a picture like that.
Or my hands or something.

Or pop some film and some polaroids in the freezer.

Temperature just affects your film in a negative way, it can distort the colour. You should always keep your film in the fridge until you use it, but not in the freezer.. No idea what it would do to polaroid film. There are a lot more chemicals in a piece of that so it might not work at all or it might look funky. What do you mean put paper in your mouth and take a photo? Pin hole cameras are really fun to use and make if you want to play around with experimental technique.

Yeah, it screws with the color and makes it look really interesting. Using expired film makes it look interesting too. I meant putting the emulsion paper in my mouth in the same sense in how you use a pinhole camera.

The biggest reason for expired film giving you that colour shift again is temperature exposure over time. It gives you a dirty magenta tone over the images. You tend to start and lose tonal gradiation too because the nature of the film deteriorates and doesn't process as well. I've seen it lots of times, i used to work in a lab. I'm not sure you'd really get much result from putting photo paper in your mouth.. Since there is no real way to have any control over how much light you let in, and it could get pretty blurry even if you did end up with an image. I also wouldn't suggest doing it because photo paper does contain chemicals and wouldn't be great for yr health.

Yeah that's true.
There is someway to do it that would make me seriously ill. But I really don't remember. Maybe put a tiny pinhole camera in my mouth...

try google for mouth atomiser and see if that is what you have.

what are you trying to take a photo of? The inside of your mouth? Like the back of yr teeth or something?

Like that.

YES! I am a full on art nerd, and in fact, I get a half day off today so I am going to the Museum of fine arts houston and stealing some of those artist's great ideas.

haahahh!

I love the expensive watercolor paper, the kind that is around $15 for a 4'x3' piece. It is the most thick textured bad-assicity that I cn find.
I use gouache watercolors for their opacity, and I prefer the russian gouaches, w3hich for some reason are just very vibrant and crisp, and retain their hue even when thinned out .
but I will use whatI have too.
I have tons of drawings and pieces made off office supplies, like liquid paper, marker, ballpoint, etc.
for my watercolors I like to use natural bristle brushes.

for my pen and brush and ink work I have to have water resistant india ink, and chinese bamboo brushes. they are the best for a liquid medium. I get some fantastic effects and the drawings always turn out kick ass.


I have not painted in oils in years and need to get ack into it for that is where the money lies.

I'm pretty sure its a composite image because the focal depth for the fake teeth and the cereal would be really different. Unless the teeth are really large and sit closer to the subject. The photo isn't taken from inside someone's mouth though, its taken fro behind some dentures.

the hardest thing i find with art supplies is the amount of animal products in them.. But i still ure sable brushes for everything i paint except my charcoal work, where i use uh, takylon? Sable hair esp loads up with so much paint or ink you can draw or paint without dragging for much longer. The takylon i like for ..

Okay.

Thank Mario for animals.

Smudging and softening charcoal drawings. I've never used russian guache(what brand is it?) and only ever used it a few times. I love it on design work, my partner works in theatre so i get to see a lot of exhibits of set design when i visit him at work.
oil isn't only where the money is though, there are lots of artists making plenty of money without breaking out the oils. Plus, its hard to make money without spending money using oils. I dream for the day when i can afford the 500 dollar tube of purple paint. Ha!
I've started playing around with encaustic lately, but wish i knew someone who has used it a fair bit to teach me more..

Excuse my short staggered posts. My phone doesn't like me writing essays. Ha ha.

Rob have you tried other asian broad wash brushes as well as the caligraphy ones? They're really great to work with, you should try if you haven't.

I have tried those bruhses, but the work I do does not call for them too much.. They are beautiful brushes though.


I do not remember the brand name of the gouache I use. I love it's brightnes though


as far as oils, it is just easier to frame and sell oils than it is to frame and mount 4 foot long watercolor paintings, or 6 fopot long drawings.
it also allows for easier storage once the oils are dry.

not to argue for the sake of it but i totally disagree. Its not any harddr to mount works on paper, in fact its easier. Canvas works should really be framed up by a professional to prevent damage to the work, where as paper works you can buy or have a frame made, then fit it yourself.. and works on paper are usually easier to store because they're often smaller and less bulky. 4 or 6 feet isn't that long, certainly not longer than an average oil painting. But if mounting really was an issue, you don't need to sell a work with frame. my 2 cents.

I don;t know. I have been painting and drawing for decades and a canvas can get hung up with no frame at any time. a piece of paper 4 foot by 5 foot is a motherfucking BITCH to mount, and very expensive. there are no frames fro it, glass must be custom cut, mat's do not come in that size, it is a royal pain in the ass to frame and mount large wiorks on paper. I have painted with oils as large as 6 foot by 10 foot, and that was a breeze to hang as opposed to the large works on paper.

most oil paintings are actually around 3 foot by 4 foot or smaller BTW

The second one is really interesting, is that gouache? How did you make it? The first one is nice too.. Makes me think of lino cut.

uh, most according to who?
many paintings from 16th to 19th century were quite small, but this was more to do with resources. Modern and contemporary art helped along by industrial revolution mean there really is no average. Though in my experience smaller oil works are the exception rather than the ple..

Rule*

Large works on paper can be hung in two ways without a frame.. With clips hung from tracks, or with accetate tabs which are fixed to the back of the work, and the work is then pinned through the tabs.
sorry i only mentioned how hard oils were to mount because i thought we were talking about mounting canvas work compared to works on paper.

My point is more that just because its painted in oil, doesn't mean it is worth more money. Or even just because it is on canvas. I'm not trying to be rude at all BTW. It kind of feels as though you're being a little patronising, but i know a lot of artists, so i'm used to that. ;)

Oh btw mount mats do come that big i have one on my wall right now. Heh.

I am just describing what the market will pay for

you could paint the same image with gouache on a four foot square paper, and the same image with oils on a 4 foot square canvas and the art market will pay triple or quadruple for the oil painting as opposed to the watercolor. that's just how it is. I was not being patronizing at all, just talking. of course that does not mean it is worth 4 times more, but that people are willing and ready to pay four times more for an oil as opposed to a watercolor. Durability is a big factor I guess.

that's just how it has seemed to me in my going on 20 years involved in making and selling art.