Canvas Building Workshop!

Learn to make and take home the canvases that you build.

I just announced this workshop.
Sign up quick, space and tools are limited.
+ You get to take home two excellently made canvases worth the price of the class.

Saturday April 8, 
11 am - 2 pm.

http://www.atelierartista.com/canvas-building-workshop

Steal of a deal.....

I got a quick text from my good friend Ola that there was a damaged canvas available at Inglewood Art Supply and If I wanted she would put it aside for me......

Well to make the story short I said "Hell Yeah!".  It just so happens, I just got asked to be in a show at the Gorilla House in a week plus and I came up with an idea for the given theme. Come back to see what happens next.

I was having a lunch meeting close to the store and swung by right away. The canvas is 24" X 36" the perfect size for my piece.  It was marked down from $40, and by the time it got to the till total cost was $5! What a steal of a deal, thanks Inglewood Art Supply!!!!

I had to take off all the canvas with my trusty pliers while I listened to my favorite radio show on CJSW, the double bounce.  I stretched a nice new piece of 15 ounce canvas as taut as a drum.

Then gave it two coats of gesso and left it to dry overnight.

MEANWHILE...........

I donated some money to a good cause. Imagine being a visual artist and losing your sight. Give the gift of sight like I did here.....

http://www.indiegogo.com/TrespassersEye

and pick up a cool perk like a Cthulhu mug!!

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Horror faces

I am creating two 8"X8" pieces to hang on the wall of the House Gallery Horror 3 show.

The Gallery provided two pre-cut MDF boards to work on. They were not primed, so I primed one in black Gesso and the other in traditional white gesso. I drew out a basic design and rubbed the back in charcoal. I placed the image and traced over top my initial drawing to transfer it to the surface below.

Then I worked over top the charcoal with black or white gesso respectively, to lay down the line work.

I decided to block in the horror faces with silver and gold opalescent paint to give it a slight shimmering quality.

I then went in with  a dark blue onto the skull.

I used a dark red on the face on the white ground.

I followed it up with a lighter blue and red paint on each.

There is still another session in the studio to be had, to go further develop these pieces and to bring them to fruition for the show.

Come to the Horror show to see the finished pieces, to keep in touch like the gallery page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/houseglry

Preparadness is key

Shiva +

I began working on the final canvases to be prepped for my upcoming show titled "Divine Inspiration" at the Stride Gallery at the end of October.

I put together this 72" X 54" frame with lumber that I found by the freight elevator and the cross bars were from a dismantled canvas. I had some repair work to do and a lot of sanding to get the frame fit for stretching.

This canvas just so happens to be the measure of man, this man, like a Leonardo drawing, that's sacred geometry that fits my person, just right.

I spent one evening stretching some of my 15 oz canvas over the frame and some additional frames while enjoying Penn's Sunday School podcast, God I love that show. lol. I game them the first coat of Gesso and let them dry overnight.

The next evening before hitting the studio, I went to see a buddy DJ a set at the Hi Fi. While there a beauty parade of gorgeous gals in artistically altered prom dresses joined me for some dancing. Afterward, I stretched two new supports, and primed them all with a pepto bismal like color, inspired by the no frills no gimmicks dress of a friend. I used the super sponge to give it a little texture.

I let that dry for a day and then came back  and gave a light sand with 100 grit. I then put a second and third coat on the canvases to create a little more texture. I added some blue to the pepto mix and coated the supports with some more texture. I am still not getting what I want, the soupy gesso seems to want to level itself out. I am trying to get it like the lead white we did in Martinho's class, except without using the poisonous stuff.

After being turned to mince meat in my martial arts class, I toughed it out and brought a jar of black gesso I purchased that morning after cutting mattes for my framed prints at Motion Gallery. I applied it with a brush in a way to create more texture on the surface.

I had some fun applying the black, it was so hot in the studio I painted in the nude.
True story.

Black is Black

+ Some rainbow
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Winter is coming........I got into the studio and sanded a bunch of canvases that had been eagerly awaiting my return.  The canvas that I previously refinished seems good enough to work on for the Versus show now. It needed another coat of gesso and I decided to try something fun and go with thick tar like black as the base coat.

This Gesso by golden is thick and sticky like tar. The canvas was sanded smooth with 220 grit, yet it was still troublesome to apply. I used a spritzer to help move the gesso along making it much easier to work with.

Working on this canvas with a partner will prove to be an interesting challenge.Afterward, I decided to lay out my 18" X 24" canvases intended for a series of loose portraits of the 7 deadly sins. In my research I found out about a mnemonic device to remember the 7 deadly sins: PEG'S LAW.

I used bright marking paint to denote which canvas will be for which sin. I am also giving myself the challenge of working in character with one of the 7 colours of the rainbow, 7 sins + 7 colours (ROYGBIV). Ranked in the order of severity: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Avarice (Greed) and Wrath.

Back in the saddle

What a start to the day. I'm slaving away doing catch up. While I was under my rock things began to pile up. I've got all sorts of exciting new opportunities and developments on the horizon.  Back to the subjects of quality and integrity.... if you are going to do something you might as well do it right and as best as you can the first time.

I am part of a show at the house gallery titled versus. 
here's the rundown: basically 2 artists share a canvas and create two characters in conflict. I've partnered up with Ray Kruger my room mate, making it extremely convenient)

The canvas was dropped off to us. Unfortunately it needed a lot of work to be adequate for us to spend hours painting on. It had a very rough surface, with a few coats of gesso sprayed on it. I could sand it down and apply some more coats to make a better ground on which to paint.

There were some tears in the canvas, it appeared to have been stretched in a rush. Small staples had been used so I began to weight the option of pulling every single one out, repainting the canvas and restricting the canvas over the frame again. but there there was the frame......

Here was the clincher in this adventure for me. The canvas had been stretched over a frame without a beveled edge. This means the canvas was loose and had an edge all the way around in contact with the support material. Basically, it had become glued to the lumber all the way around. This does not fair well for quality or longevity. It need a beveled edge before we can do anything.

I had to painstakingly remove each and every staple to remove the canvas so that I can give the softwood lumber frame to Ray so he can use a router a bevel on it. I do have concerns abut the frame. Softwood is not the most ideal lumber for building stretcher frames, it tends to warp, especially if it is cut from cheap stock like 2x4 or if there are changes in humidity and temperature. what might be good for inexpensive furniture is not for fine art. Plywood laminates are much better choice if cost is an issue. Mainly because of the criss crossing grain pattern offers strength and stability. I got all the staples out and the canvas off the frame so I could take it back home for some woodworking.

Ray-zor cut the bevel and I took the frame back to the studio. I decided to use some of my higher quality heavier stock canvas since we had already gone thru this much work repairing the canvas. The original piece was thin and torn and pilled.

This shot shows the beveled edge some staples that were added to further stabilize the corner seams. I noticed the lumber was quite torqued so with proper stretching my fear was that it might pull the canvas apart under the tension. also some of the corners did not line up.

Here is the backside as I get close to folding the corners. The pieces of lumber didn't quite line up so I added more staples of a thicker gauge to hold it together better.

After some time spent, a labor of love........ I get the canvas stretched over the frame. I hammered in any staples that did not go deep enough into the wood and now it is ready for the next stage= priming.

Alongside some canvases I stretched prior, is the canvas with the first oat of gesso applied. I used what I had left in the bucket a purple tinted one. You will notice that it sits in the rear of the photo flat on the ground, not that flat,  the frame still appears to have torqued wood. After another coat or two of gesso dries, I will re-assess whether or not it has settled, or whether it news repair or replacement. My fingers are crossed, I want to get started painting this guy;)

One louder!

Im still at it.

In order to get a velvety finish on my support ground, I paint a third coat of tinted gesso onto my stretched canvases. After the first layer I sand with 80 - 100 grit sandpaper to take down any lumps and imperfections. After the second layer I use 150 - 200grit  sandpaper and go higher after the third layer for a super smooth and soft surface to paint.

 The required coats of gesso to ensure proper coverage is two. I do three. I go one louder!

I am a firm believer that hard work pays off. Even if it is a bit messy. This is the time not to cut corners and definitely the part to the pride in. Craftsmanship is key!

 If I want my work to outlast me and be a legacy, and if I am going to spend hundreds of hours making something beautiful, I want it to be the best quality it can be.

Thats the BATISTA promise:
Integrity & Quality you can rely on.

Labor of Love

I love a quality built support. Its worth the effort.

Spending all that time on a creative act in intense concentration honing the paint through skillful means on a less than adequate foundation makes no sense to me.  And so .... I spend another full day in the studio stretching and priming canvases. My studio is clad in off white surfaces awaiting an explosion of creative energy.

This was a 48" X 72" frame that I peeled damaged canvas off of, then began the arduous task of stretching 15 oz on it.  This is where good quality canvas pliers come in handy and they help against fatigue.  

My trusty gesso brush and a bucket of gesso I watered down and added pigment to.

The next stage is brushing the first coating of high quality gesso. I like to add a bit of pigment, in this case burnt sienna to the batch so that it is easy to tell if the previous layer as been fully covered or if you have sanded too deeply between layers, doing this helps to ensures proper coverage.

Priming the first layer on a bunch of surfaces. These standard 18" X 24" portrait frames are going to be part of my upcoming series of & deadly sins. The next studio visit I will sand each surface and apply yet another layer of tinted gesso.

Meanwhile I began reworking my "screaming Indian" piece, reminding me how much fun it is to play with oils again ;) Heres a peek.

C'mon baby light my fire....

Burn baby burn!

I aced my bar tending exam, then taught my advanced animation class then put in 3 hours applying Gesso to my canvases before heading home. for some reason I had a Burning Man type dram with some of my favourite burners, I was making them flaming shots.  regardless, instead of urning the midnight oil, I woke up before 7am, for no good reason. So here I am back at it, thats the light of the fire.

I put the newly painted red frame on Taming the Tiger. I think it looks awesome. This coloured frame opened up a whole new world of possibilities. This is going to look phenomenal in the collectors house and be a bright, happy focal point on her wall. I'm stoked!

I sanded my surfaces with 220 grit sandpaper for a velvety finish. Then I spritzed all of them down with water and removed all the fine particulates in order to prepare them for the final coat of Gesso.The previous layer of Gesso was colour tinted with a wrap grey/purple. It looked awesome and is definitely a colour I would like to work on top of. I had to do another layer however. I needed the third layer to have horizontal brush strokes to ensure complete coverage. I added yellow to one batch and burnt umber to another.

I am excited to go into the study and begin new work.  I have a few old things to work on too. The Burnt umber tint on these new canvases warms up the studio. Upon return home I noticed a bit of Gesso got on my suit, its ruined ;P

Paint gets everywhere, such is life.

Allowing things to happen

Things happen for a reason. Other things happen because you make them. Fact is: I have the fire again!

To reference Crowley "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law". Or maybe better to quote Yoda: " Do or do not, there is no try", or Nike: Just do it! At any rate, life, especially finances at times gets me down, the questionable state of the world eats at me, competition and criticism chops me down at the knees and destroys my best laid foundation. You've got to grab yourself by the scruff and pick yourself up. It may be hard, being a "responsible adult" can sometimes really bite. That is a very good reason to go out and play then, now isn't it?!


Aside: for the past two weeks I've been taking a bar tending course that I bought on Groupon in the fall. As many know, I'm in a constant state of learning. My room mate says I collect hobbies. At any rate, this guy got 95% on his written and practical exam today. Put that one in my back pocket. I am happy that it is over with.......now on to other new and exciting horizons!

It has been a tough week, one of monumental realizations that it's time to pull up my pants 'cause there is no rest for the wicked. Especially those of use who have to make a living and still follow their dream to make art. What a bitch;P

After teaching my ani
Ation class, I'll head to the studio to sand and gesso some more.


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Priming with a bit of purple pigment

I'm a busy bunny, but when I have free time I don't waste it.

I should have been studying for my bar tending exam, instead I put in some time priming near a dozen canvases with gesso with a bit of purple pigment added to it.  I also got a can of bright red enamel spray paint to jazz up the frame for the "Taming the Tiger" canvas. I think it is going to look super good when finished and framed!

Gesso with purple pigment added.  Having a little pigment added allows me to tell the difference between the layers and which direction the strokes go between sanding. I laid it on thick with a brush. It took a number of hours, two of the canvases are 5' X 5'.

To the top right of this picture you can see my first framing job with the ikea frames. "Blissful Union" just happens to fit particularly well with the matte that is included with the frame.  Its not easy keeping the glass dust ad speck free or mounting the image in the matte. It will take some experience to master this skill.  For the remaining prints and frames I will need some additional supplies and will need to have the mattes cut. I am planing on doing it when I have my first bit of free time, hopefully as soon as next week-end.