Roberton Island 8"x16", oil on canvas

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Comment by Betsy Jenkins on May 29, 2013 at 11:33

Thanks, Stu. I will look into them the next time I go store.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on May 29, 2013 at 4:55

Betsy, if you want even faster drying, give the Fastmatte paints from Gamblin a try.  I have been using them for about 2 years.   They really tack up fast, especially outdoors.  When I started using them, they only had 6 colors, plus chromatic black and titanium white; now they come in 22 colors plus the black and white.  The "matte" in them refers to a very glossless finish, very suitable for painting over and really quite different from using an alkyd medium in with your regular oils.   Gamblin's website has quite a bit more information on them.   Stu

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on May 29, 2013 at 4:02

thanks, Stu. I do use Liquin, so I can work the following day. Sometimes even later in the day it will get tacky enough to get nice drag on the brush. Good for some grass effects. I used to use flemish medium, which also dried quickly. Unfortunately, it left the painting too glossy, causing glare when trying to work in brightly lit areas.

Yesterday, I laid that blue sea in and then, since I was in a rush to get everything done while still wet, I put that white paint on with the credit card. I thought it was a good gob of it, but after reading your explanation, I guess it wasn't as much as I thought. It is dry now, so I'll just touch it up . Thanks again.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on May 29, 2013 at 3:48

Betsy, the usual reason  for paint sinking into the paint layer below is that the underlayer is not dry enough or the outer layer not dry enough (too much OMS).   For alla prima (direct) painters this is not a problem; just paint thick and juicy and lay and leave your strokes.   For most painters painting in the indirect method with an underpainting, the secret is getting your underpainting to dry faster and trying not to pick up the underlayer paint.   Painting with an alkyd medium (WN's Liquin or Gamblin's Galkyd) or with alkyd paints  (WN Griffin, Gamblin Fastmatte or anyone's "quick dry white" or "underpainting white" ) is one way to do this; waiting several days for the underlayer to dry is another way.   This is one of the reasons some artists prefer acrylics; because they dry so fast; and actually using an acrylic underpainting is another way to go (although the purists hate this).  Earth colors are usually faster drying and prefered for underpaintings by many artists.   Richard uses alkyd modified walnut oil as his medium.   When you add a lighter color over a darker color, you can scrape back some of the darker color with your palette knife and lessen the effect or you can reserve those areas when you put in your underpainting (quite a bit like watercolors with the lights reserved); this is essentially how the alla prima painters do it.  Most oil painters are indirect painters and not direct or alla prima painters.  Even about 80%of plein air painters use an underpainting (info from Scott Gelately, product manager at Gamblin).   Michael Severin would tell you just to paint alla prima; and he is really good at it; I am not good at alla prima painting and always use an alkyd medium.  My preference is Gamblin's Galkyd Lite and most of my underpaintings are with Gamblin's Fastmatte (alkyd) paints.  Outdoors my underpainting will tack up enough to paint over with little staining in about an hour.  I hope this is helpful to you.   Stu

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on May 29, 2013 at 3:22

Thanks, Stu. I am having a problem with paint sinking down into the paint layer below overnight. It then changes color and value. For example the little crashing waves on thelleft side were white impasto. This morning they were 1-2 values darker and were light blue. Any suggestions?

on this one, I think I am going to add more air holes to the vegetation in middle front foreground. It is too dense and looks like a jungle. If I redo this, iI will gray down the Roberson island past the beach just a little more. I had trouble trying to figure out how to mix green/yellow for the sidelight that is cooler/grayer on those hills than the light up front.
anyway, thanks for your encouragement. Back to the easel!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on May 29, 2013 at 1:12

Betsy, nicely done. You've got that atmospheric perspective down pat. I think you are all set for more workshop challenges. Working more quickly invites efficiency of brush strokes and big brushes assure greater looseness in your work. Keep it up. Stu