Plaster has been decorated with paint since its earliest known usage back in 7500 B.C. Jordan. The rather simple mixture of lime powder, crushed limestone and water was used to achieve smooth walls for interior wall decoration. Ancient Egyptian builders employed calcined (heated) gypsum into their plaster, which improved the functional use. The duel use … Read more
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When it is important to know how much paint will be needed to complete a painting, as in the case of a mural or large painting, or simply priming a large surface, there are a few ways to estimate how much your tube, bottle or jar of paint will cover or how much you will … Read more
We are surrounded by units of measure we rarely give a second thought to; common scales and rulers that parcel out the world in units of ounces and inches, meters and miles. But alongside these are others we rarely use, or could easily explain in any precise way, such as centipoise and mols, decibels and … Read more
Small Differences That Make All the Difference Every painter knows the dance, taking a few steps back from the painting, their head tilted slightly askew, the eyes pulled tight into a squint, or the hand held in front to block off an area from view. The to and fro of action and adjustment, of sense … Read more
An artist’s stretcher can be expanded to tighten a loose canvas. An artist’s strainer cannot be expanded to tighten a slack painting. That is the only functional difference between the two major types of painting supports. But this is the point where all the trouble begins: whether a painting support expands or does not expand … Read more
I am going to present a stretching procedure that may sound heretical and very much at odds with what artists are taught about canvas preparation from their earliest studio days. I ask that readers please suspend disbelief and give a try to some of the special techniques that follow. If these procedures are embraced, artists … Read more
As we all know, there are two sides to every story, and Benny Shaboy — a painter and sculptor who is the founding editor/publisher of studioNOTES — explains why some artists choose to avoid computers as their primary resource for information. In the early days of personal computers, I decided I didn’t want to get … Read more
The Sam and Adele Golden FoundationSM for the Arts, Inc. aims to be a meaningful resource for the professional visual artist. In our effort to assist artists we invite you to explore the exciting new NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts) Web site at: http://source.nyfa.org/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1. This is the nation’s most extensive database … Read more
Something else to consider when talking about safe handling of artwork is transportation options. The transportation services most commonly used to transport works of art are road or air transit. Air transport is the most common, efficient and safe means of moving art over long distances, domestically or internationally. Choices include parcel services, such as … Read more
When artists create paintings their focus is typically on issues of aesthetics. Concerns over the substrate, ground, painting materials and the overall durability or integrity of the work are typically either built into the working style, or not. Usually, last among the concerns for the work is its stability in regards to its storage and/or … Read more
