The two or so years I studied with Ben Long were life changing. I learned so much that I literally became a different person. My life would never be the same.
I asked him once how I could repay him. As an apprentice, I worked for him, so I did not pay for instruction. He said that I had been given sacred knowledge, a tradition that has been passed down for centuries, and it is my absolute obligation to teach, to keep the tradition alive. I haven’t done much teaching, mainly because I hate telling other people what to do.
Thursday I gave my dear friend, lawyer/painter Bucko, a traditionally prepared linen board to try. He is completely self-taught, but very talented, much more than he realizes. I think I may see in him what Ben saw in me. In addition to painting, he and Mary Nell have an amazing art collection hung salon style … that’s the real sign of a good eye.
So today over coffee I sent him some thoughts on how to approach the day. I am reprinting those notes here thinking that may, in some small way, move me in the direction of teaching. Below is the aforementioned canvas in his studio this morning (complete with Alia footprints) …. ready to go.
Good morning, painting buddy. You mentioned that you might try out the new linen board today. Here are a couple of things to consider:
The preference for linen in portraits stems from the tight twists in the treads … much more than cotton. Optically, these twisted fibers are the best for creating the illusion of volume. I have no idea why that is true, but it is. Great portraits are almost always rendered on linen.
Boards are great for layering. Even with wet-into-wet painting (that’s what you do as compared to wet-on-dry as I do), you’ll find more interesting possibilities for building a dynamic color experience. Since you already create a great color experience, this will be an easy refinement for you. You have a great eye for color already.
As you first start composing the image, use bristle brushes … something stubborn that will get the first layer of paint down into the recesses of the linen. Scrub the paint into the grain on that initial layer, and don’t use thick layers at first. This is called scumbling.
I think it’s best to scumbling out the entire composition at first. Get the drawing established before you have gobs of paint on the surface.
In my technique, I let this first layer dry before going back in to finish, but you don’t have to do that. Just get the drawing layer stumbled in, and then go back in with the dynamic top layers.
Use complementary colors for the first layer. For example, if you are painting a red apple, do this first under-layer in green. Trust me on this… allow tiny bits of green to show through under the red … and the result is not just red, but LIVING RED! This is one of the great secrets for getting objects that FEEL real, even if they are rendered in a very painterly fashion.
If you don’t like what you do on this first day, just wipe it off. Even if you have some remaining color on the board, that’s fine. It’s called a toned ground. I almost never paint on white canvas; I always tone the ground.
Square compositions can be very interesting. Frank Lloyd Wright loved squares in construction, and said that the square has integrity. I know you are an impatient painter, but before you start, take some scrap paper and sketch out (very roughly is fine) where you want things. I think for this first square it might be best to do something focused, like a still life. Probably not best for a landscape at first. The square focuses attention on the objects. You may not want to put the focal point of the painting in the dead center of the square. I think a slightly off-center composition is often more energetic.
Have fun!
