oil on a maple, 12 x 12 inches
A meditating duck in the Banter Lake outside Liselotte’s cabin in Wilhelmshaven.
The color that I chose for painting water in Northern Germany differs from my usual Lake Michigan color mix. Today, it consists of Ultramarine Blue, Dioxane violet, Titanium White and Zinc White.
I paint water, June paints the desert. Do you also have a proclivity for a particular motif or theme?
Very nice painting Birgit.
I would answer your question by citing a clapboard theme, but someone else painted the house this summer.
My family used to talk about how the hills and dales of Southern Pa. so resembled an ancestral region of Germany. It was all through the hat as not a one of them had any remnant notion of how Germany looked, or any specific idea of where the ancestral stomping grounds may have been. But granted that Lancaster County looks like a part of Switzerland, or the Black Forest or whatever, I wonder how you, with your sensitivities would handle painting similar motifs in two or more dissimilar nations, granted that you had spent time in each of them.
I appreciate the ‘sensitivities and I am enjoying thinking about your question. In terms of color, the turquoise hue of Lake Michigan reminds me of the Pacific Ocean seen from downtown La Jolla and Lake Garda. It would be fun to paint at those two locations and compare the pictures to my Lake Michigan paintings. I suppose, I have to travel to La Jolla and Garda Lake again to experience them in greater depth. To follow another theme, elevation behind the shore, I am tempted to compare the Sleeping Bear Dunes with the Chalk cliffs on Rügen, now accessible after East and West Germany were reunited. Checking the composition of the cliffs on Wikipedia , I found a painting by Caspar David Friedrich that was interesting, fun to look at.
I am glad that you like my duck picture. I painted the water twice. The first time, I tried to ‘fudge’ the partial streaming of the water. Also, the color mix contained a little bit of Caribbean blue, a pthtalate blue that made the water too greenish. I covered it with Titanium white and I also studied the flow of the water and the reflections more carefully. The other revelation was that it seemed okay to trace the outlines of the wooden pier, duck and their reflections. But tracing the outlines of the streaming water proved counterproductive. I had to paint the water intuitively after having learned more about it from the photograph.
Birgit — terrific painting. I like its abstract quality, and the “quasi-design” silhouettes with the painterly water. A wonderful combination. By “quasi-design” I really mean the use of black as it is sometimes used by advertisers — that flat black stark eye-catching design. But yours is “quasi” because it isn’t “design” although it’s designed. It’s part and parcel of an observed, and enjoyed, scene.
Your description of your process makes me feel better. I was beginning to feel like I overpainted and changed directions too often. But the need for direct observation of the water, and then redoing the color — well that sounds altogether familiar.
I didn’t see the duck until I read the text, but the design was fetching anyway. And then after knowing what it was, I could go back and forth between an abstract design and the representational scene readily.
Yes it seems to be a wave of landscape inspiration going on, perhaps mother’s nature scream for compassion and attention, and we picking up the auric field of the planet…
Birgit, interesting it took me a while to realise it’s a duck… love the contrast!
June and Angela,
I love it that the duck was not immediately obvious. I never thought that I could produce anything vaguely abstract.
Your comments help me looking at my picture with fresh eyes, looking up from my computer and looking directly at the real thing. My eyes fixate still too quickly on the duck (because I love it), perhaps I can learn to let the entire picture work on me more the way that both of you initially perceived it.
Talking about abstract paintings, I recently saw Elegy to the Spanish Republic, by Robert Motherwell. I was intrigued by the way my eyes kept wandering from the simple shapes at the left to the more complex shapes towards the right.
The above virtual experience is a little too contrasty. In the actual picture, there is only black at the bottom but the dark hues higher up are a mixture of Italian Earth/Raw Umber/Burnt Sienna/Mars Black. I probably did not need all those colors but it was my first try at painting a soft dark brown.
A captivating idea: auric field of the planet
umm, I’m going to have to try your combo — I don’t have “Italian Earth” among my paint tubes — would a “terre verte” be similar? I have tubes of “terre verte” that seem to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer — some more olive, some more sapish. Anyway, I usually pull my soft browns out of combos of red, blue, and yellow of various sorts. But yours sounds like it would be a softer Van Gogh Brown.
June,
Old Holland ‘Italian Earth’ looks like an ochre hue. I could not find out what the pigment is. On my laptop monitor it looks somewhat like Williamsburg ‘Italian Yellow Ochre’ (PV43).
It makes sense that ‘terre verte’ looks different from different manufacturers. For example, Williamsburg Italian Terra Verte is PG23, while Winsor terre verte is a mixture of PG23 and viridian.
Influenced by my Dutch family members, I am switching to Old Holland Classic Oil Colors. Currently, I am pretty snooty in that I only use paints with single pigments. The four colors that I mixed for the water were inspired by the composition of pigments in Old Holland Blue Gray. I use dickblick.com for pigment information.
I cannot help liking chemistry.
I never thought about using single pigments in my oil painting, although in fabric dyeing the concept was essential to my work. I should pursue the question further. But perhaps not yet — I’m so desperate about the amount of paint the linen requires that I can’t afford to be finicky. I suspect the Soho cheap paints have scarcely any pigment at all.
Your comment about Winsor’s terre verte also fascinates me. There’s only one terre verte that I like, and I can’t remember if it’s Winsor’s or Gamblin’s. I have a bunch of different ones because I didn’t keep track.
I don’t buy Old Holland, generally speaking, because they are so expensive. But when I go back to small panels, I may change my ways. Or at least investigate the single pigment question. I can get orders from Dick Blick here in Nevada (they have a las Vegas store), so I feel a kinship.
Engaging in one of my favorite past times, namely learning about pigment compositions of artist oils in different brands, I checked on sap green and terre verte.
The most exotic variations are found with sap green (permanent or lake extra), sold by 19 of the 23 brands (dickblick.com)
One pigment
Blick and Sennelier: PG36—Phthalo Green
Mir Artist Mediterranean and Pebeo: SPG8—Hooker’s Green
Two pigments:
Da Vinci: PG7—Phthalo Green/PY42—Yellow Ochre
Gamblin: PY83—Diarylide Yellow 83/PB15:1—Phthalo Blue
Holbein: PY128—Cromophtal Yellow 8G/PG7—Phthalo Green
Lefranc & Bourgeois: PY129—Green Gold/PBk11—Mars Black
Michael Harding: PG7—Phthalo Green/PBr7—Burnt Sienna
Rembrandt: PG7—Phthalo Green/PY110—Isoindolinone Yellow
Schminke Mussini: PB60—Indanthrene Blue/PY150—Nickel Azo Yellow
Winsor: PY110—Isoindolinone Yellow/PB15—Phthalo Blue
Three pigments
Grumbacher: PO48—Quinacridone Gold/PY150—Nickel Azo Yellow/PB15:4—Phthalo Blue/PG7—Phthalo Green
M. Graham: PG7—Phthalo Green/PY129—Green Gold/PBk9—Ivory Black
Old Holland: PY95—Disazo Condensation Yellow/PG7—Phthalo Green/PBk7—Lamp Black
Shiva: PY74—Hansa Yellow/PBk7—Lamp Black/PG7—Phthalo Green
Schminke Norma: PY3—Hansa Yellow 10G/PY138—Quinophthalone Yellow/PB27—Hooker’s Green
Weber: PY83—Diarylide Yellow 83/PG7—Phthalo Green/PO43—Perinone Orange
Williamsburg:PY83—Diarylide Yellow 83/PY42—Yellow Ochre/PG7—Phthalo Green
Pigment #?
Chroma
Terre (terra) verte sold by 9 of 23 brands.
One pigment
Holbein, Michael Harding and Williamsburg: PG23—Green Earth
Two pigments
Lefranc & Bourgeois: PG23—Green Earth/PY42—Mars Orange
Winsor: PG23—Green Earth/PG18—Viridian
Three pigments
Gamblin: PY43—Brown Ochre/PG18—Viridian/ PBk9—Ivory Black
Four pigments
Shiva: PG17—Chromium Oxide Green/PW6—Titanium White/PBk11—Mars Black/PB29—Ultramarine [Blue]
Pigment #?
Chroma
I now remember why I did not buy Green earth (PG23) even though it is a natural semitransparent pigment with excellent permanence and lightfastness. While it is good for tempera and fresco painting, it is reported to muddy and darken in oil.
Birgit,
I was about to beg for assistance in finding the pigment information when, after about 7 unsuccessful clicks through links, I suddenly saw it. The light appeared: “Pigment Information” — now I can’t claim ignorance.
But I also think I will have to take this route slowly. My conglomeration of paints would be a real nightmare to sort out. I think I will take it sloooowly.
Were I more methodical, I would test these on the linen, which is a darkish beige, so particularly problematical if one is accustomed to working on white gesso.
I’m starting to yearn for Steve’s black and white. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, particularly as I read Henri’s Art Magazine on line.
Thanks for the heads up about the pigments. With the dyes, there was no going back when things got muddy, but with oils, I can always scrape or paint over with white and try again once the surface is dried. So it never occurred to me to stick with single pigments. But they really do make a cleaner and more consistent hue, at least with dyes.
June,
My experimentation with single pigments is a studio hobby. When, and if, I start pleine aire painting, I presumably wouldn’t want to carry lots of paint tubes on a hike.
There may be one other issue with the different brands, namely how fine the pigments are ground. Karl told me that he roughens dry oil paint with raw sienna to make it adhesive again. When that did not work for me with Winsor raw sienna, Karl told me that the pigment may be ground too fine in that brand. (How finely the pigments are ground also affects their color – lesson from Karl who grinds almost black looking lapis lazuli to make his own ultramarine blue)
Now, I roughen dry paint lightly with very fine texture ‘sanding sponge’, that I bought in a House paint store. How do you get a fresh layer of oil paint to stick to dried paint?
I appreciate that you dye your textiles. I did not pursue my great love for textiles because I was afraid that learning about how to handle and mix the different dyes would be too time consuming as long as I have a day job.
Not to continue this conversation beyond its natural limit, but it occurred to me that it is specifically in plein air painting that such information would be most useful. There, you really don’t want to end up having to scrape off mud (dust is another matter) so having pure pigments would really help prevent those inefficient muck-ups. I would, of course, have to have a pure crimson, pure cadmium red, cadmium yellow and perhaps a pure lemon yellow, a pure cerulean and pure ultramarine, as well as ivory black and titanium white. That isn’t too many tubes to tote. And I might throw in a bit of yellow ochre and a violet, if I could find one that was pure. So now I shall have to do my homework. But not tonight. Today’s painting was useful but exhausting.
I haven’t had the sticking problem with dry oil paints — or if I have, I haven’t noticed. I do love the glazing effect that you can get with transparents over dried paint. That always lifts my heart a bit.
June,
A nice lemon yellow is PY53—Nickel Titanium Yellow which is sold as ‘Lemon Yellow Hue’ by Winsor or ‘Nickel Titanium Yellow’ by Old Holland.
With respect to violet, I like PV23—Dioxazine Violet, sold as ‘Dioxane Mauve’ by Old Holland. I am tempted to try PV16—Manganese Violet sold as ‘Permanent Mauve’ by Winsor, or ‘Manganese Violet-reddish’ or as the ‘Violet-Blueness’ shade by Old Holland.
For the reds, I am trying to figure out how to imitate vermilion or cinnabar, the toxic mercury sulfide.
The fact that you don’t have a problem with the adhesion of fresh paint to dry paint makes me think that my problem is with a peculiarity of my technique. Taught by Karl, I don’t use organic solvents but only Linseed oil, runny or viscous after drying in the sun. I fell in with that method because in the lab, I often use organic solvents but only in high tech fume hoods.
The mixture of PR122 Quinacridone magenta & PB29 French ultramarine is a good choise too. It is semitransparent & lightfast.
I found some differences between Russian painter`s palette and western.
They often use PY32 Strontium Chromate as lemon yellow, PG23 volchonskoite green earth, PG19 Cobalt green and PV14 Cobalt violet.
Gigalot,
Mixing PR122 and PB22 is a great idea. Thank you for suggesting it.
I recently ordered PG19 – Cobalt green (Cobalt green turquoise; Old Holland). And I will now get PV14—Cobalt Violet (Cobalt violet dark; Old Holland) as well.
Where do you buy PY32 Strontium Chromate?
PG23 (green earth) muddies and darkens in oil according to dickblick.com. Is that really true?
Are you a painter? Do you have a website?
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=391077&highlight=volchonskoite+green
Some interesting information about russian PG23. I think PG23 has a wide minerals name.
Gigalot,
I just noticed that I ordered PG50-cobalt green not PG19. PG50 looks turquoise like the shallow water at the shore of Lake Michigan.
I followed your link and red about PG23 volchonskoite. Your painting of the flowering tree is beautiful.
Thank you! Terre verte typicaly is mineral Glaukonite with some inpurities depended of place it was mined. It has a great lightfastness but weak with an olive geen-grey hue. Volchonskoite has a good color but became rare and all mines is closed now. Not darkens.
PG50 is modern cobalt titanate has better color than PG19 which is zink-cobalt oxide. But not the same. Both great permanent. I like it!
PY32 is now in mass-production. (St. Peterburg artists paint factory`s master class 46ml tube). Very good. More permanent than organic PY3 lemon yellow. I hope isn`t rare.
Gigalot,
I bought PY3 because many of the artist oil paint mixtures contain PY3.
Searching the web, I have not been able to find PY32 as Artist’s Oil paint. So far, I have only learned that it is industrially used.
Birgit,
I know only one manufacturer which have PY32 pigment:.
http://eng.artpaints.ru/pics/1_1_100_big_2633.jpg
You can see all st. Peterburg master class oil colours palette here.
My PY3 is good in mass tone but when i mix it with Zink white 1:5 it quicky lost color after 3 month exposed on sunlight. So i am afraid to use it in tints, only in mass-tone or mixed with a lot of PY3 and a small piece of PG7.
May be German Schmincke PY3 must be better?
Gigalot,
I followed your link and send the following email to http://eng.artpaints.ru
I would like to buy PY32 Strontium Chromate. But I cannot read the names underneath the colors on your color chart because they are recorded at too low a resolution.
http://rapidshare.com/files/316528856/1_1_100_big_2633.jpg.html
I found more quality picture and posted to Rapidshare.. I hope it is helpfull.
One my friend told me russian version “VanDycke brown” is very good dark transparent color. Natural organic. He like`s it much. I never see it but sure it`s true :)
Gigalot,
I will wait to find out whether artpaints.ru answers my email. If not, I will try the rapidshare link.
I would love to have pure Van Dyke Brown. I have not been able to buy it yet because the standard companies sell such crazies mixtures with only Winsor & Newton’s mixture actually containing Van Dyke Brown.
Winsor & Newton: NBr8—Van Dyke Brown; PBr7—Burnt Sienna NBr8
Old Holland: PBL9—Bone Black; PY42—Mars Orange; PR101—Red Iron Oxide
Schmincke Norma: PR101—Red Iron Oxide; PR179—Perylene Maroon; PBk7—Lamp Black
Sennelier Artists: (1)PR101—Red Iron Oxide; PBr33—Zinc Iron Chromite Brown and (2) PY42—Mars Orange; PR101—Mars Orange; PBk7—Lamp Black
Gigalot,
Browsing http://www.kremerpigments.com, I found out a potential problem with Vandyke Brown. There is says that Vandyke Brown is good in watercolors but not suitable for oil.
kremer sells Volkonskoite and Russian Green Earth as pigments.
I found some information about russian VanDyke. It is an original pigment:, similar with real VanDycke but not the same:
“The paint is made from highly decomposed peat in the vicinity of Porkhov. The pigment contains a large amount of organic inclusions (85-92%). as well as oxides of iron, aluminum, silicon and phosphorus. This paint rich brown color, mixture with zinc white is matte gray.
A characteristic feature is that the paste paint has high ductility and are easily carried on the surface of the canvas”. (translated by Google)
So it`s pigment is useful in oil. Sure, Nevskaia Palitra is experienced paint manufacturer, well known in russia and popular. Not expensive.
Actualy, VanDyke can be mixed with other pigments.
Schmincke Norma: PR101—Red Iron Oxide; PR179—Perylene Maroon; PBk7—Lamp Black
Very similar hue!
Thank you, Birgit and Gigalot.
I will study your comments closely. I am particularly interested in Van Dyke Brown, as it has been important in my painting, but I hadn’t realized the mixtures that Birgit describes.
Thanks you again.
?urrent prices in Moscow online shop Artlavka.ru:
VanDyke & Umbres ~ 3$
Chromium Oxide PG17 ~3$
Cadmiums ~ 5,5-6$
Cobalt PG19 ~ 8$
Cobalt PV14 ~ 10$ per 46ml tube
Gigalot,
Fascinating that the VanDyke pigment is extracted from peat in a particular location, high in minerals.
To order from artlavka.ru, I will try to translate from Russian into English using Google translator. I wonder how difficult it is to learn Russian once one has mastered its alphabet?
I’d skip the Van Dyke Brown. There is an azo or benzamidazolone brown that’s much more permanent.
Strontium Chromate is very similar to Bismuth Vanadate lemon. Various companies sell the Bismuth yellow. Bismuth Vanadate also has the advantage of being non-toxic. However, the strontium chromate should be reliable. Barium Chromate, a more greenish color, is available from Blockx and Harding. It’s a lot like Nickle Titanate from Holbein (Nickle Yellow).
I would avoid PY 3 and PY 1. Even well-regarded brands like Michael Harding and Old Holland use PY 3 or PY 1, and they’re not so good when it comes to permanence.
The Petersburg Cobalt Violet Deep is not the real thing (PV 14). It’s an impermanent mixture of a fugitive violet (PV 3) and Alizarin Crimson, which also isn’t a very permanent pigment. The Petersburg Cobalt Violet Light, though, is made with actual PV 14. PV 14 comes in two varieties: a dark version that’s ground more coarsely, and a pale redder version that’s ground finely. The pale version should be used with as little oil/medium as possible because its color can change due to the yellowing of oil masking the bluish tone of the color.
Holbein’s line of Cobalt Greens also use PG 19 and W&N’s used to (not sure if it still does). It’s the original cobalt green, known as Rinman’s Green. It’s totally permanent but quite dull. I’ve found the pale version of PG 19 quite useful for landscapes, especially fresh water lakes like Lake Erie where dull green tones are prevalent.
Lucy,
thank you for your advice. I appreciate any infomration that I can get on colors. have just read ‘Bright Earth, Art and the Invention of Color by Philip Ball, full of fabulous info on Colors through the ages.
Enough struggling with a German keyboard, more when I get back home
Lucy,
I will add Cobalt Green, PG 19 to my collection of oil paints.
Do you have a website where I can see your paintings?