The High Road - From Computer to Reality

The basic 48 x 32 Stretcher bars

Taking the photograph is the easy part. And it is very easy to post them on the internet. It becomes more difficult when you choose what size to print a photograph and on what platform you want to print it. I love photographs printed on canvas. It means no mats to cut and no glass to handle. And when I print photographs for display or exhibit purposes I choose in the neighborhood of 30 x 20. That was the size I first had The High Road printed in color. It sold within the first week it was on display.

I paint mostly within that range. Though Meraki Mustangs is 46 x 22. And I did a commission with the biggest measurement being 72 inches. But my studio and supplies are not set up to handle routinely the larger sizes. Part of the reason for rearranging my studio was to allow for handling bigger paintings and photographic prints. A painting begins with stretching a canvas and a photograph culminates in stretching the canvas.

Temporary Work Table 

To handle stretching a 48 x 32 inch canvas print. I put two folding tables together in the middle of my newly created work space. Fortunately these tables have adjustable heights so I was able to lower them to a comfortable height for stretching and stapling.

Putting in the center brace

Stretcher bars need to be squared. They don't just do that on their own. And for longer than 36 inches they require a center brace. These are heavy duty wide stretchers. I usually work with medium. Both are considered acceptable for galleries.

Print on stands to paint edges

There is a return, thankfully, to not framing canvas paintings and prints on medium or wide stretcher bars. I prefer painting the edges black.

Painting the edges

 I still have to affix hanging hardware sign the new photograph. Meanwhile the problem is finding a place to place it. I stood it against the studio chairs while I changed out the covering on the tables for the next stage. Off with the plastic for painting and on with the sheet to protect it. Then wrapping it up in a blanket for delivery.

The print waiting for signing and hanging

Week 51 - 2016 in photographs

Day 351

This was a rough week for photography. I was too involved with the printing, framing, mounting aspects of the art form. I had selected seven photographs to have printed so I could refresh my display at Enchanted Circle Brewing in Angel Fire. In this day of dwindling galleries for art and photography it is wise to stay on top of things. 

I paint and photograph. The advantage of photography over painting is the image remains in my computer until someone wants a print or I have an opportunity to display. But the disadvantage is, unlike painting when given an opportunity to show the work needs to just be taken from the studio walls, with photography there are tons of decisions to be made as to size and platform, supplies to be ordered, and then matting and framing or if printed on canvas stretched on bars. 

I had also just been given a venue in Taos to show a few of my paintings. Taking the camera out for a spin in the neighborhood was hardly on the top of my to-do list. To fill the week even the studio cat was included. And thankfully it snowed.

But had I taken photo 351 a couple days earlier it would have been included in those I printed on canvas. It will be in the next group if just for me. I paintings are hung at Earlene's Cafe. And today I will hang the last two photographs on canvas at the brewery. Ran into a stretcher bar issue. 

It truly isn't all about pretty pictures.

Day 356

Day 355

Day 354

Day 352

Day 353

Day 357
Thicke - the boss

Being Creative with Frames

Once upon a time artists did not merely paint. They made their own paints from purchased pigments and they stretched and prepared their own canvas and they made and painted their own frames. In the 2003 movie The Girl with the Pearl Earring there are some rich scenes of Vermeer and his model for the picture mixing paints including the infamous Vermeer blue.

When I was an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico majoring in fine arts we bought our paints but we stretched our canvases, coated them with rabbit skin glue that we prepared on a hot plate, and then applied gesso to finish the surface. It was in vogue at the time to not frame pictures. You painted the edges of the canvas as well as the front. Previously artists had made their own frames and some in my classes did.

Now you can buy any paint you want. No need to mix your own. And canvas comes pre-surfaced and pre-stretched.There is a huge business in manufactured frames, but framing costs are through the roof especially if you need a custom frame because of a custom size when you don't buy a pre-stretched canvas. So there is a return to the unframed painting with the painted edges, and a return to artists making their own frames.

I started doing my own basic floater frames this last year and painting them a basic black then I read that it was not unusual in the days of artists making their own frames to paint them to coordinate with the paintings they were for. And paintings of famous artists with the original hand made frames by the artist are highly valued. It is a frame made for the painting not to match the decor of the owner's living room. No doubt many were replaced so the decorator could have all ornate gold frames throughout the house. But after almost a year of experimenting with the no frame look I find pictures sell better with frames even if the buyer has every intention of replacing it. So why not have fun.

The two paintings above are sold. The frames are black on the inside and burnt orange on the outside. Then to compliment the painting one has purple on the facing edge and the other gold. I plan to get some more acrylic paints to coordinate with the watercolors I use in my paintings so I can further experiment with the matching frame concept. I am already stretching my own canvases (prepared already) so I can have some unique sizes to fit my subjects. I doubt I will go back to mixing my own egg tempera but I do know how. I learned that in high school.

The Muse is Hanging Around

There is a lot going on in my studio lately for a number of reasons. Number one being that with winter heating bills I am short of cash to go running around anywhere and being passive solar the studio is also the warmest room in my house.

Two is that I am working on paintings to fit into the Moreno Valley Arts Council themed show Illusions which is just tailor made for my visionary school art style. While I had several pieces that fit the requirement of the theme and painted in the last two years I could have entered I like the challenge of painting to a theme to which I added the challenge of painting to stretched canvases I already had on hand. Back to the budget issue mentioned in paragraph one.

I have finished three new pieces with help of my muse and am dealing with a knotty issue on a fourth which I think in a stroke of genius in the predawn hour of waking I may have solved. We shall see later when the sun is up and the studio warm and I return to my theatre of operations.

I have decided to start stretching my own canvases (see previous discussion of budget issues). I did that before but not with already treated canvas. Any tips out there? I did one and thought it might work easier to dampen the back with misted water resulting in a tighter canvas when dry. Anyone try that?