Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South

Tomoka River
40x48 inches
oil on canvas
3900.00
125.00 shipping

See my paintings HERE

Painters Tip

Warm Up with Brushwork

I give my students three exercises to do to warm up for painting.

1. Long and short strokes. They must practice loading the brush carefully and making the longest most even strokes they can. The other side of that is short choppy strokes. Add tos that curves, circles, rectangles, cross hatching, side of brush and flat of brush strokes.

2. Stippling. Dots of paint in multiples, singles and so forth. Building up layers of dots to make stippled layers of paint. They use a variety of brushes from rounds, to flats, brights,filberts, large and small.

3. Scumbling. This must be done with thin paint over dry paint, either very thin with medium or dry brushed onto the paint surface in a scrubbing motion so that the top layer of paint is scrubbed over the dry paint layer underneath.

I use all of these strokes when I paint and most painters do. To study them one at a time as an exercise builds technique and warms you up for a painting session.

Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South

Gold Finch
4x6 inches
gouache on acid free mat board

See my work here

Art Notes Blog Here


Painters Tip

This week I share quite a bit of information I have found on the web about various whites in oil painting. I would like to credit the authors but can't remember which sites I researched.

Titanium White - titanium dioxide (oxide)
Reflects 97.5% of all available light. The most opaque white, perfect choice for direct painting but difficult for color mixing because it takes so much color to tint Titanium. Titanium is completely inert, does not change by aging or normal chemical action, but it does require more oil to grind than other whites and can show some yellowing because of the darkening of linseed oil when it dries. It does not dry very quickly and is more Zinc white in this respect. Titanium White does not dry as hard as Zinc white eventually will, and consequently will make a more flexible film.

Flake White - basic carbonate of lead
Flake white has a heavy pigment requiring very little oil, and combines in time with oil to make a very flexible film. It is regarded as the most reliable white on which to build a painting. It can be applied more heavily than other whites with less danger of cracking than other whites. Flake white dries well and is a "warm" white. Note: Being composed of lead, Flake white is poisonous if absorbed into the body, but this does not happen by external contact.

Zinc White - zinc oxide
The most popular and transparent of the whites, it is also slow drying. It is a "bluish" (cold) white color, not nearly as strong and opaque as Titanium White and therefore can be very easily controlled. Zinc is recommended for scumbling and alla prima painting. Impressionists who painted directly liked Zinc White for its transparency and slow dry time. But Zinc's slow drying time and brittleness does not make it a good choice for general painting.

When painting in the indirect method you need to remember the fat-over-lean rule: always paint a more flexible layer over a less flexible one. With that in mind, the brittleness of paint films created with Titanium or Zinc whites make them less suitable for this method of painting than Lead white.


"Fat" refers to the fatty drying oil used as a binder and in mediums. A fatty layer of paint has more fatty oil (linseed, poppy seed, walnut, etc.) in it than does a lean layer, or one containing less fatty oil. To paint "Fat-over-lean" is defined as painting in layers of paint, which contain successively greater quantities of fatty drying oil.

The purpose of this method of layering oil paints is due to the fact that oil paints do not dry by evaporation, but by oxidation, during which time the paint film flexes and moves. By adding more oil in each layer of paint you insure that the lean under-layers will dry before the top layers to prevent cracking. Whereas a lean layer painted over a fatty layer would completely oxidize and become inflexible, causing it to crack when the underlying paint layer flexes during oxidation

Painting on a flexible support, such as canvas, creates flexibility within the structure of the painting, which can be damaging. Any painting on cloth, which received a blow (whether from being bumped from behind or dropped, etc.) will cause a certain type of cracking which is usually visible in a circular pattern on the painting's surface. There is only one way to attempt to avoid this. Paint in a series of daubs of color separated so as not to create a continuous paint film. the flexing support can then bend between the brushstrokes without cracking them. However, this style of painting is very limiting creatively.

Most artists desire to create a continuous paint film across the support and have, for centuries, done so in varying thicknesses of paint: thin wash imprimatura, covered with transparent shadows and bold, thick highlights, glazed with transparent glazes and scumbled with thin layers of translucent opaques. The key is in knowing the amount of fatty oil in each color. Each pigment has different properties, including particle size, which determine how much oil is required to turn it into a paste. Craftsmen of past ages, who ground their own paints, knew which pigments were high in oil and which were low. The underpainting would then be produced in lean colors and successive layers used fattier pigments, or else more oil (in the form of a medium) was added to altar the paint film's elasticity. Lead white is a very lean color - it requires very little oil to produce a paste for painting. Each pigment chemically reacts with the oil to effect drying. Lead white reacts in a way which speeds drying times by increasing polymerization. It should be used in underpainting or for painting over washes of color, but is more likely to crack if layered over a very fatty color such as a thick layer of umber or carbon black.

As a general rule earth colors, especially those containing heavy metals, dry faster than do organic or synthetic pigments, which have finer particle sizes.
Because of the yellowing of linseed oil, many artists and paint manufacturers throughout the ages have sought to use other binders or vehicles for grinding pigments into paste, especially lighter colors and cooler colors which may be effected by yellowing. Rubens and others of his day ground whites and blues in walnut oil because it yellows less.

Today, many paint manufacturers, creating paints for the direct painting methods of the impressionists and plein air painters, use poppyseed, sunflower, or safflower oils. However, none of these are suited to layering paint. Archivalists discourage the use of poppy seed oil because it is brittle and cracks more easily. Safflower is also not a good substitute because it never dries and is thus not truly a "drying oil." Most paint manufacturers using these oils add dryers to the mixture to force consistent drying. But there is little that they can do to prevent the inherent brittleness of these paint films. The very chemical within linseed oil that makes it yellow is also the thing that makes it flexible.

Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South

Winter
20x36 inches
oil on canvas


Painters Tip


Improving your work

If you really wish to stretch and grow in your painting you will need to do research and study. You need to take the time off from your regular painting schedule and have separate time to read and paint for learning.

There are a couple of good ways to do this. Some painters do some study first thing in the day, when they arrive at the studio or on location. The have a plan or an exercise ready to start and they use it as a way to warm up before serious painting time.

Another method is to take longer periods of time like weeks or months to study and research; an in studio artist residency or retreat if you will, taking yourself out of your usual studio routine.

I use both methods. I like to do a lot of exercises before I teach workshops and classes. In the summer, things are slow in the art world and I am home in the studio. If I have a sufficient inventory to last the summer, I will often spend the summer doing research, writing about paintings and doing various painting exercises to improve my work.

In addition, I will have a study topic for the year. This year I am studying the art of NOTAN. A couple of years ago it was painting architecture. Generally, I will study areas I am weak in,so that I improve and progress in my painting skills. I make a list of areas I need to develop and choose from that for my summer study or studio warm ups.

However you decide to study, do it consistently and take a lot of notes. You can make an excellent notebook about each topic to keep and reuse over and over again. You work will improve as much as you are willing to work. It you apply yourself with discipline you will improve. If you make little effort, you will get little in return. The best painters I know are always studying and working very hard on specific areas of painting.

Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South

Produce at the Wood Swink
8x10 inches
oil on panel
gold frame
400.00
Purchase HERE

Painters Tip

This week I think I will give some information about the versatility of pochade boxes in the field. You can actually use them in studio as well and I have done that many times. In studio, it is easy to put them on a workbench to stand and paint, or on your tripod. I also sit at a work table and use them. I have two boxes, one for acrylic or gouache, and the other for oils. I keep them both set up and ready to use at all times. I always have two sets of every medium and brushes,one for in studio and one for in my car studio. It makes life so much easier for me. When I have to reorder, I just get two tubes of each color or two brushes, one for each set.

You are not restricted to any size with a pochade box. They say they are made for one size but I often go as large as 14x18 down to 4x6 inches on my 9x12 box. I simply use a large spring clamp to clamp the panel to the edge of the box. You can also use a bungee or the little bungee gizmos that the pochade box companies make if you want to spend more money. Some of them, like Guerilla Box make inserts to fit various sized panels, which fit in the lid. Again, nice but unnecessary with a clamp instead. I use a piece of plastic coated framing wire to hold my paper towel on to the box. You don't need their attachment. You could also use string.

You also don't have to buy special brushes. You can cut off the ends of your longer ones and tape the ends to fit inside your box.

The tripods allow you to adjust heights to many levels, for sitting or standing, including uneven hills and so forth. I use a garden bench for sitting when I'm too tired to stand. I prefer to stand but at paint outs, I am often tired after four or five days of painting in a row. The benches are available at garden centers and home improvement stores. They are really great. The have a foam padded seat in a narrow rectangle with metal legs on springs that fold flat, so it looks like a flat rectangle when it is folded up. It takes about 30 seconds to set up and put away. it fits right in the file box on wheels with the pochade box.

I use the file boxes on wheels for my gear. They are cheap, about 25.00 and have a collapsible handle. They fold up flat if you need to store them. Lots of painters use those big wheeled things with the canvas seat and flaps and so forth, but that is too much work for me. I go fast and lean. I usually will just carry my box over my shoulder on the tripod with a bottle of water unless I have a long way to go. Then I use the file box. The file box will hold two pochade boxes, the bench and tripod, sunscreen,bug juice and a few panels.

The lid to the box can be adjusted to almost any angle for your comfort, including flat for watercolors.

These boxes will take an unbelievable amount of abuse. My advice is to buy from a company who has a good reputation. My first Guerilla box is now 8 or 9 years old. It is still working though it looks horrible. That is a worthy investment.

Check them all out and ask a lot of questions before you buy. Talk to other painters and figure out the style you like best. These boxes are worth the investment, whatever brand you choose.

Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South

Ichetucknee River
24x24 inches
oil on canvas
1800.00

Purchase HERE


Painters Tip


My advice today is about getting the best painting possible. So many landscape painters have fallen into the trap of believing that alla prima or plein air is some sort of magic. To me plein air painting is simply a useful tool in helping to create a good painting. There is nothing magical about it. I believe that getting the best painting is the goal. If I start a painting on location but can't finish it there, because of time constraints, weather, wind, heat or any number of reasons; I can finish the painting in my studio and improve it. That is the goal for me. I don't market my work as either plein air or studio really, since I do both. I find that my patrons really have no interest in whether the painting is pure plein air or pure studio. They really don't care. The only people who do seem to care about this issue are the artists I call the plein air police.

I believe we are wise to have the best possible painting as our end goal. If you bring a painting home from the field and it still needs tweaking, by all means, improve it if you can. if nothing you do will enhance it in any way, call it done and frame it!

Linda Blondheim Art Studio Landscapes of the South

I'm going to be painting in this beautiful place for a week starting Friday. Don't give up on me. I will return soon with more painters tips.


Painters Tip


It is pretty easy to lose focus in a painting when you are out on location or painting in front of others for a demonstration. What you need is a plan before you begin. Think about what drew you to the scene and rely on that for the theme of your paintng. Let go of all but the main elements and rank them by importance. Keep the number small and think, main element, secondary elements, tertiary elements. How will you lead the viewer through the painting to rest on these elements? What paths will you create to lead the viewer? Will you use values in such a way as to establish paterns or paths? Will you allow a dominant value in the painting to create more interest? Will you create anchors or stops in the composition to prevent the viewer from going out of the painting? Where is the direction of light? What is the source? How will you feature the main element?


Where will you feature the most texture and hard edges, where soft and blurred? Remember that you are in charge of the painting and it's theme and development. Paintings are not about copying nature. You are the conductor of the orchestra, or the arranger if you will. Your job is to create a beautiful painting that viewers will fall in love with and want to look at over and over again.


Thinking through all of these questions and answering them will help you to stay focused on the process and the painting, bringing it to fruition with control, not chaos. Will any of us always create beautiful exceptional paintings? Likely not, but our goal is to strive for that excellence each time we put brush to canvas. Careful analysis will help us come closer to that goal.

Linda Blondheim Art Studio The Value of Quick Draw Painting Practice

Honeymoon Island Palms
12x16 inches
oil on panel

See my paintings HERE



Quick Draw

This exercise is a warm up for painting. If you get into the habit of the quick draw before you begin serious painting, you will improve your observation, brushwork, and technical skills.
It is simple. Just set a timer for 15 minutes get your palette ready and a small canvas. Paint for 15 minutes, completing the painting in that time. No talking, music or distractions. Do nothing but paint. Do them on Index paper, save them in your notebooks and you will begin to see great improvement over the months. You can use them as preliminary studies for composition, color and values, saving many mistakes by working out problems on the quick draw.

The other reason for doing the quick draw is that it allows you transition time from your everyday life and problems to the focus you need to do good work.