Cartooning

Drawing or painting an amusing panel or strip of panels has been a graphic art since at least the 18th century. Cartoons today are found in comic strips, one of the places they began, but also in full-length books--graphic novels--digital forms, animated shorts, full-length films, and of course digital video. Unlike traditional drawing or painting, cartooning often relies on caricature, too. Although not a cartoonist by training or occupation, I like doing them once in a while, just for fun. 

A Parody on Keep on Truckin' (with apologies to R.Crumb)

Sometimes I've copied or parodied famous cartoonists like RCrumb the famous ex-pat American. Other times a cartoon or caricature just appears on a sketch page, like "Saturday Show," below, a compound memory of many weekend art shows and festivals. 

 

Art Materials Research

Decades ago, one of my teachers used to rant about how little most artists those days understood about their materials. In fairness, at that time people without access to a large library had real problems getting information about paint, mediums, and so on, and accuracy was difficult to pin down. Big printed compendiums about art materials seemed out of date by then, perhaps biased besides. Beyond providing introductions to certain ideas encyclopedic books about materials could not provide needed depth. Original research information more difficult to access. Perhaps worse, a lot of what was available was "anecdotal." That is, information based on personal experiences instead of rigorous research protocols. In short, we knew and did what we were told others traditionally had done, more or less.

My teacher was adamant that to understand any particular material or substance--drying oils, paint formulations, mediums and so on--you should do your own testing. He had done personal testing of drying oils, for example, to see how quickly, completely and durably they form a film, once applied. There are dozens of possibilities for personal testing of simple things like oils or solvents alone. The obvious problem for most artists is the time needed while still doing whatever art they pursue. Artists mostly don't have time or the inclination to be researchers. Besides, evidence collected is then still limited to the experience of a single person--that is, it would be considered "anecdotal" at best. What to do?

Just a few days ago while tidying storage spaces I ran across an old test canvas from 2002 (above). It's an interesting set of tests involving various kinds of oils, resins, and mediums that interested me then. The test is on a piece of acrylic-primed canvs (titanium white). The Cennini paint company has been out of business for a decade or more, but Winsor and Newton, Doak, and Grumbacher still have lines of oils, resins, and so on. Winsor and Newton's Liquin is very popular. These squares were laid down in April 2002 and observed for months. My notes have disappeared, and this is the first I've looked at them in at least eighteen years. They've been in a dark, temperature-controlled storage space. As you can see, sun-thickened oil, stand oil, and linseed oils all yellowed substantially. Liquin (which may or not be the same as today's compound) yellowed too, though a bit less. Copal-based compounds yellowed even less, and mastic and dammar resins only yellowed somewhat. Since we know that oils and even dried oil films can bleach in sunlight, I'm now going to leave this canvas in the light and observe. 

Happily, there are a lot of alternatives to anecdotal or inaccurate materials information. Numerous places to visit online are replete with art materials research from a spectrum of sources. Besides manufacturers' public research efforts, museums in many countries do extensive research into materials as well when restoring art works. Restoration of art works provides information regarding the successes and failures of materials of the past. Finally, there are nonprofit organizations devoted to similar ends. Here are only a few.

Governmental
The National Gallery of Art maintains a Materials Study Center. If one is interested in original research into materials there is an extensive set of links to papers from the Center. Also linked are useful articles (e.g. spectral comparisons of historical pigments vs. contemporary ones). A number of special projects is also available, including a review of 16th century materials and methods. 
The Smithsonian Institution has a conservation division as well, The Lunder Conservation Center, which (pandemic excluded) is open to the public. Furthermore, there is a wealth of recorded material online at the site.

Corporate
The Golden Paint company provides an exceptionally useful and balanced publication, Just Paint that provides a wonderful resource for technical information about all kinds of paint. Golden not only makes acrylics but also oils (Williamsburg) and watercolors.

Foreign 
The National Gallery (UK) has researched much involving materials and methods as related to its own collection and the artists represented. Their Technical Bulletins are available on the website (linked), dealing with everything from dyestuffs, media, pigments, and so on. And free of charge.

What Kind of Paint?

Long ago, when I began painting, there were only two kinds of paint that I knew of, oil and watercolor. Other kinds existed, including gouache and a new kind called acrylic, but oil paint had been the standard for fine art for centuries. There are actually even more kinds of paint, including casein, and depending on how you view them, pastel is also considered painting. Watercolor was used by children and sometimes by oil painters like John Sargent when they went on vacations. So it should not be surprising that someone who first painted more than a half century ago would use oils. 

"The Large Sod (after Durer)," watercolor

Although I settled on oil paint as my primary medium long ago, it has been important to me to explore other mediums of visual expression. Over the years my explorations have included pastel, watercolor, casein, gouache, acrylics, oils (even water-mixables), and of course digital. In the end my interest has always circled back to oil paint. Actually, experience with each differing kind of paint helped form my oil paintings. Watercolor is transparent, for example, and that imposes significant demands, not the least of which is planning, and patience. Gouache dries quickly but otherwise handles similarly to oil paint and it goes utterly dead if overworked. Gouache was once more widely used because it dries matte and photographs well. Working with gouache imposes a need for planning too, plus quick but sure decisions during painting, especially careful and limited brush strokes. Each of those demands is also useful in making oil paintings.

"Head Study," acrylic on paper

Acrylics are probably the most versatile kind of paints we have. Thinned, they can be used almost like watercolors but with the bonus of a durable paint film. Used in a thicker preparation they handle much like oils and dry very fast (a benefit for some, a curse to others) but open time can be extended with the appropriate additive. When I was beginning to paint figures the studio where we met prohibited solvents, making acrylics or other water media the only choices. I painted many figure and head studies in acrylics. 

"Egon Schiele on His Deathbed," pastel

Another medium that's often considered painting is pastel. Unlike all of the others, though, pastel is generally a dry medium that involves considerably more drawing. Pastel masters like Degas made their paintings by layering one color over another, often by hatching. Pastel taught me layering and reinforced hatching and color skills. But pastel has yet to capture enough of my interest, though I've done a few dozen pastels in my career.

Despite experience with all kinds of paint, oils remain my choice. Foremost, oil paintings are widely considered the most desirable. Oil paintings sell for higher prices and are more collected than other sorts. Acrylic paintings are now selling well, too, but after a lifetime, oils are still my choice.  

  

Tronies Revisited

The other day I happened to glance into a dim and little-visited corner of my studio and saw "The Birthday Girl," a portrait of a woman in a yellow dress wearing an enormous, broad-brimmed hat. The painting was a portrait study based on photographic references from an online acquaintance. We were both habitues of an online painting group and he had been doing portraits in a mall window. A group of ladies of a certain age, clearly celebrating, came by and caught his eye and he caught theirs. They group was celebrating the birthday of one. He allowed me to use his photos. I suppose you could call this study a tronie.

"The Birthday Girl," oil on canvas, 24x18

Tronie is a 16th century Dutch term that indicated the kind of stock character we've all seen in television, videos, and so on--the drunk, the obnoxious character, etc. The word tronie actually means face, with the understanding we're discussing a common expression, or gesture or a recognizable costume. Rembrandt, Hals and numerous others produced memorable tronies. Hals in particular. Others Fragonard to Franz Messerschmidt to Norman Rockwell produced images that arguably are tronies. The Birthday Girl fits the tradition.

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Tronies 

Character Heads

Greening

Druid Hill Creek flows northward into Grays Lake. Regardless of season, about four to six inches of clear water runs constantly over its rocky and pebbly bottom. When heavy rain falls, though, the normally placid brook becomes nearly frightening, roaring and tumbling and sometimes reaching three or four feet in depth. Over the years I've painted and drawn the creek many times and in all seasons. It's comforting to think that this watercourse has very likely been here since before the city. 

Watching the creek change from season to season is instructive and one of the simple pleasures. Over the past ten days or so the undergrowth up and downstream has burst into a thousand shades of green. Most of the early growth is honeysuckle but there are all sorts of woodland plants below that, and not too far away a redbud tree, no doubt sown there by birds, has begun to show color along spindly branches. Now that the warmer weather has come, birdsong echoes among the trees and squirrels are chasing one another from branch to trunk to ground and back again. Naturalized narcissi are flowering, too. Spring at last, spring at last.

Spring Growth on Druid Hill Creek

I did the watercolor above in one of my sketchbooks this week, beginning in the usual way. This time I drew the basic composition with a red pencil, laid thin washes of red-brown over it and then put in the distant darks of the creekbed. Because it was more interesting to study the greens of honeysuckle and underbrush I omitted a lot of branches and grasses, especially on the left bank. after the color dried I lined the water, trunks, and branches using a technical pen and went over those with dark colors. I also  scribbled indications of foliage in the middle distance, where overlapping greens were most interesting. The very distant woods were left vague and unfocused.

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Other Views of Druid Hill Creek 2021:

Waning Winter

Two Views Downstream

AAPL Election

Not long ago I posted here about a piece being accepted by the American Artists Professional League for their Spring Online Member Show. Like many such organizations, an artist can join as an associate in order to submit to the show jury, which is what I did. The organization is less well-known than some but has been around for a long while. In the event the piece I submitted, "By the Creek," was selected for the exhibition.

"MacDougal Street," oil on canvas, 18x36, 2018

The American Artists Professional League is a nearly century-old organization of professional artists. The League grew from a handful of members of the Salmagundi Club in New York and a few at the National Academy of Design, to promote professional artists and traditional realism. Another stated goal was furthering American art. They also worked to improve the chemical and physical purity of artists pigments and eventually helped set governmental standards.The League sponsors an annual Grand National Exhibition (shown at Salmagundi) that draws nationwide attention. While associate membership only requires no credentialing plus a small fee, an artist applicant must be elected. Today the organization has more than 400 members, mostly professionals.

As in many professions, membership in relevant art organizations can be very useful, providing access to fellow artists, continuing education, exhibition opportunities, and so on. After considerable thought and review of the stated mission and goals, I submitted an application for Elected Artist in the League a few weeks back and am delighted to report that notice just arrived of my acceptance. Next year, I'll enter the Grand National Exhibition, which is limited to elected members. 

 

Why Art

One of the questions that has floated around for many years involves the purposes of art. For me, there are two serious problems with the question itself. One is how to define art at all and second, any answers about purpose are likely to be myriad. For some people "art" is anything done creatively--everything from crocheted doilies to cute birdhouses to computer generated animation to belly dancing. Today everyone who makes anything is an artist. The fundamental reason people make things because that is simply one of the things we humans do. We are a species of makers. Of course, we have many reasons to make things--money, recognition, commentary, curiosity and so on. 

Hoff, "Santorini Rooftops," oil, 8x8, private collection

Like many, it has occurred to me to ask myself  why I make paintings and drawings. Being honest with myself, I admit to not knowing. Art classes in public schools were common when I was growing up and gave me great pleasure because of the opportunities to draw and make things. It was fascinating to study shapes and colors, perspective and faces. There was deep satisfaction to be had in making a successful drawing. Aside from school grades personal gratification was my motivation to make images. It was and is deeply satisfying to make a good drawing or painting, but the glow you feel when someone actually likes it is profound, at least in the beginning. Later on, there's the quiet fulfillment of doing something well regardless. Andrew Wyeth once said he didn't give a damn what happened to his paintings because he had the pleasure of making them. Exactly. 

Hoff, "Olive," oil, 8x8, private collection

 

 

Hierarchy of Art

For several centuries, people concerned with art and aesthetics ranked the genres of painting as follows (high to low):

• History painting, which involves depictions of both documented historical events but also allegory, religious and mythological subjects.
• Portraiture
• Genre paintings, defined as scenes of everyday life. These were very popular in the Dutch Golden Age, for example works by Adriaen Brouwer.
• Landscape paintings
  
• Animal paintings, including all sorts of images, like George Stubbs' paintings of horses.
• Still life

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, "Rest on the Flight Into Egypt," oil, 1597 --a history painting

Adriaen Brouwer, "The Bitter Draught," oil, ca 1635, a genre scene

Those advocating such a hierarchy thought that the knowledge and intellectual effort involved in the highest ranking art--history paintings--required intellect and refinement, while others like landscapes and still life were simply copies of the world. The fundamental idea seems to have been re-casting painting as an art on par with the liberal arts. Until then painters and sculptors were considered craftsmen rather than artists. Ranking subject matter--history above all--persisted in art into the late 19th century. 

At the dawn of the 20th century a full-scale revolution against the conventions of academic art raged widely. One of the casualties of the succession of "isms" from Impressionism on was the near-demise of history painting and the rise of portraits and landscapes. Genre paintings moved into the commercial field of advertising, for the most part. Still life and landscape became more and more popular, and portraiture became more important even with the rise of photography.

Henri Fantin-Latour, "Flowers and Fruit," oil, 1866

It's easy to set up a still life just by grabbing things lying about. The subjects are always there, ready for attention unless you've chosen perishables. Everything from lighting to positions is controllable. Further, although still life has been considered to occupy the lowest rung aesthetically, the content of still life paintings can be profound. One special area of still life known as "vanitas" for example, comments on the evanescence of life. Others might be statements on how we live or on history. Some of course are mostly decorative, like the floral works of Henri Fantin-Latour who was exceptionally successful in the 19th century.

Pieter Claesz, "Still Life with Skull and Quill," oil, 1628

As is the case with many beginners, my first works were still life, although none of those has survived. I still make still life paintings when the mood strikes. 

Hoff, "Alone," oil on panel, 2005

Hoff, "Triptych," oil, 2011