Supplies for Impasto Painting

Looking to experiment with impasto palette knife painting? Here is a quick cheat sheet of my favorite supplies to get you started. While I strongly prefer using oils to achieve texture, heavy body acrylics paired with a good medium can almost mimic the textural qualities of oils. (**This is not sponsored by any of the following companies, it is simply my list of favs)

Oil Painting Supplies

1. Gamblin White Oil. This will help you achieve a nice buttery consistency and is about $50 for a 16oz can from Dick Blick. I tend to use at least three to four times the amount of white as I do other colors combined, so it's more cost efficient to buy the white in bulk. Titanium white tends to turn yellow more often than zinc white, so keep that in mind.

2. Mediums. You may want a medium to beef up and thicken your oil so you can get more use out of your oil paints, thus saving some money. Liquin Impasto Medium is a semi-gloss, quick-drying, non-yellowing medium perfect for palette knives and will retain crisp textures. Another medium I enjoy that creates a softer texture is Gamblin cold wax. It is made of beeswax and will dry no harder than a candle, so it's important to only mix in about 1/4 wax to 1 part oil paint for a nice smooth, matte finish.

3. Colored Oil Paints. In terms of selecting which brand of colored oil paints to purchase, I use a range from Winsor & Newton, M. Graham, Gamblin, Utrecht, and Dick Blick. Utrecht seems to be the most affordable, but often doesn't have the bold coloration and pigmentation as some of the higher-end brands. I suggest buying small tubes of the colors and experimenting until you find which colors you like. You'll be surprised at the differences in prices, heaviness of texture, and brilliance of colors across brands. I always buy exclusively through Dick Blick since they almost always offer discounts and free shipping for larger orders. If you want to experiment with the higher-end paints, I highly suggest Williamsburg, the oil paint line from Golden Paints.

Acrylic Painting Supplies

1. Dick Blick Titanium White. For acrylic painting I generally stock up on large jars of Dick Blick Titanium White. Similar to my oil painting process, I generally go through at least one jar of white per painting while using small amounts of color from other tubes.

2. Colored Tubes. For bright beautiful colors that maintain their peaks I like to use a range of tubes including Liquitex Heavy Body and Golden Heavy Body. It is important to only buy the "Heavy Body" variety because the "Soft Body" will flatten out while drying. Some of my favorites include manganese blue, cadmium red, pthalo blue, cadmium or naphthol red, and sap green (all by Liquitex). Golden also has a range of beautiful heavy body acrylics, with some of my favorites being their hansa yellow medium and florescent pink. These tend to be a little pricier than other brands so you may just want to sample one or two to see if you can tell the difference. Try to avoid house paints. These are not archival and will not retain color like the artist quality paints.

3. Heavy Gloss Gel Medium. I also always use the super heavy gloss gel medium by Liquitex, which can create sculptural effects that maintain their high peaks. I prefer the gloss for a nice shine, but they also have matte if you prefer.

Palette Knives

I suggest purchasing at least five different knives in a range of sizes and shapes and playing around until you find your go-to favorites. There are many brands on the market but you should always get stainless steel if possible to prevent rusting and in my opinion they tend to bend less easily than other types. You can find knives for around $8.

Any questions?? Let me know, I'm always happy to offer suggestions or answer questions. Have fun!!

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At a Crossroads

Many of you don't know this about me, but for the past 13 years I worked part-time in the DC area in a completely different field. I called it the "other job." Countless times I watched my kids all day then pulled a 10 hour night-shift. I was like Jekyll and Hyde working two jobs: one as an analyst, the other as an artist. This week I finally quit the "other job."

For the past year and a half I was on sabbatical from the "other job." In fact, every time I had a child (three!), I was able to take 6 months to a year off. During those times, I focused on my family while also painting my tail off. At some point during this time in and out of the office, my studio practice took off. So why did it take so long to quit the "other job"?! I can't tell you how many times I told friends and families that I was done working nights, and how many times they asked me if I was going back. The "other job" was the definition of a safety net. Most people would die to have a stable and flexible job like I had. It gave me the ability to slowly become a full-time artist, without the complete pressure of failure. I finally told myself that if I didn't quit now, I never would. I've sold almost 80 paintings this year and have been able to pay for my kid's school, groceries, and activities, but the fear of not knowing what the future holds or if people would continue to support my art kept me uncertain. I feared the unknown.

I'm incredibly grateful for the "other job", and although it wasn't a perfect fit for me, it is where I met my husband, where I learned how to write, and where I learned how to be professional. I learned new tradecraft that had been completely foreign to me, and I was afforded the financial ability to maintain a studio space for the past 13 years.

This week was huge because I finally found the courage to resign. I was at a crossroads, my sabbatical was set to end in November and it was now or never. I knew this day would eventually come where a decision would need to be made and I prayed that I would be freely capable of making it from a financially sound and non-emotional standpoint.

My message to young artists is this: don't lose hope if you need another job, even if it is for a decade. You will learn new things you wouldn't have otherwise. As long as you consistently work on your art with passion and patience while continually planing for the future, you can realize your dreams too.

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When it's too Good to be True

Last spring I was approached by a relatively well known interiors catalogue from the east coast to sell limited edition prints of my work. At the time, none of my current work was available to be sold as limited editions because I had a previously standing contract with a fine art publisher and/or the work had previously been released as open editions and was therefore disqualified. However, we agreed via email that I would work on a new collection over the summer that could be released in their fall catalogue. They needed at least 10 images before they could sign me, but they agreed that they would give me feedback over the summer and we could work on this together. They showed enough interest that I was comfortable in doing a new series with them in mind, because at the very least, I was certain that this type of work was popular with my collector base and could sell as originals. It was almost too good to be true! I began sending them a few of the images for feedback. They directed me to do more sea grasses, lighthouses, and simple florals. They were currently working with another artist that specialized in waves. I continued working on this new series over the summer. I sent them new pieces in early July with no response and again in late August with no response. Finally I directly requested a response. I assumed that the fall catalogue would be released soon and out of respect I at least deserved an answer, even if my work wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Finally I heard what I suspected was coming, that they had already released the fall catalogue and went with other artists. They had released the catalogue without respectfully telling me in advance that they chose other artists. They had admittedly overextended themselves.

I'm writing about this experience as a warning to other artists that we should never do work for a company without first having something contractual in writing. This situation had never happened to me before, and because I trust in other people's word, unfortunately I believe I was taken advantage of. I also believe that they solicited too many artists into this project and hopefully learned from their mistake. I'm also certain that the artist they signed who specialized in waves probably had a different experience. My message to the businesses out there is to respect us artists, and my message for us artists is not to be starry-eyed when being solicited by big name companies. The more of us who demand contracts prior to work commences, the better we are all off.

What are your thoughts? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

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