VIDEO - How to make a Fine Art Paint Brush x 2

I posted a video about how a make a paint brush for artists to my Facebook Page and it's proved very popular.

So I thought I'd share it again for all those who missed it and all those who don't use Facebook

• However I've now found the ORIGINAL video on the Science Channel - Making Artists' Paintbrushes Is An Art In And Of Itself! (3 minutes) - which was "rebranded" by a media channel!
• PLUS another video by Da Vinci about Da Vinci - Fine Art brushmaking (12 minues)  This is a much more comprehensive video.

Screenshot from the Da Vinci Video 

You can see a bigger version of both videos on Facebook if you click the bottom right hand corner of the video and then open it in YouTube - but it's in HD which gives excellent definition in this size.

Michael Gaskell (2nd Prize BP Portrait 2015) - a video interview

Apologies to those who sat and waited last night for this video interview with Michael Gaskell who this week won the second prize of £10,000 in the BP Portrait Award 2015.

I've finally found a work round for the appalling broadband problems I've been having while enormous holes are dug in the road next to the BT Street box!

Michael Gaskell BP Portrait Award 2015 - 2nd prizewinner

Michael has now won the second prize FOUR TIMES!  He last won 2nd prize in 2010 didn't submit work for five years, submitted a new portrait this year and won 2nd prize again - with his very first portrait painting in acrylic!

He is "Mr Consistent". He's also one of the artists I'd want to shortlist the person I'd want painting any children I had....

The video was filmed in the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Apologies for my "shouty" voice - there was a considerable din from artists chatting to artists in the preview! :)

In the video you can hear him talking about:

• how many times he has been selected for the BP Portrait Award, shortlisted and won prizes. You can read my previous blog posts featuring him:
• BP Portrait Award: Michael Gaskell's unparalled record
• BP Portrait Award 2010 - Shortlist announced
• BP Portrait Award 2009 - the shortlist
• how he changed his media from egg tempera to acrylic for this painting
• his approach to painting - in acrylic and egg tempera - and how long it takes to produce one of his paintings
• which are his favourite brushes and what sizes he uses!

I have to confess, I think a lot of people are secretly pleased that Michael did not win first prize as it means he gets to submit work again in future! :)

By way of contrast, consider the experience of this year's winner Matan Ben Cnaan, (like Thomas Ganter last year and Aleah Chapin in 2012) who enter once - and win - and never ever return! That's because because all artists winning the prize cannot enter again.

I've got a number of other videos to share with you about the BP Portrait Award. These are:

• a quick trot around the exhibition for those of you who can't get to London
• an interview with Matan Ben Cnaan who won first prize
• an interview with Lee Myles Simmonds, age 18 who has yet to start art school but has a very good portrait in the exhibition
• an interview with Edward Sutcliffe and Katie Haber about his BP Travel Award project about the Compton Cricket Club in south Los Angeles.

I have my fingers crossed the current solution that the videos will upload and publish without a problem.

An egg tempera day

I did a workshop about egg tempera with Ruth Stage today.  This is a bit of a picture post with random jottings of things I learned today

Egg Tempera paintings by Ruth Stage
New England Art Club Exhibition 2014, Mall Galleries

The day came in four parts

1. instruction by Ruth on materials and how to make egg tempera and the supports to paint on
2. a review of her work
3. we all had a go at painting on the gesso boards she brought for us
4. a review of the egg tempera paintings in the National Gallery

Things I learned about egg tempera today

Ruth has been painting in egg tempera since her studies at the Royal Academy Schools. In 2013, one of her egg tempera paintings won the Lynn Painter Stainer Prize (see Lynn Painter Stainer Exhibition 2013: Review)

Ruth prefers to paint with egg tempera because it doesn't smell (ie good for those who have problems with solvents), has a good finish, dries quickly and looks different. It also has the advantage of getting more robust with age.

Ruth uses:

• Kremer Pigments from AP Fitzpatricks in Bethnal Green Road
• a 50:50 mix of egg and water for her egg base. I found this made for much easier mixing with the pigment and much easier application to the gesso board.
• a fabulous brush by German Brushmaker Da Vinci which has a very long handle and a very long filbert belly which holds a lot of paint. Jackson's Art import them from Germany but they're not listed on their online website. I found it online and it is described as an Ox Hair Rigger, long length with sharp needle point | Series 1287 - for oil and egg tempera paintings. This pdf file gives you the measurements for the different sizes for series 1287 - Ruth typically uses a size 12.  You can get some sense of size from the brushes in my photograph alongside egg cartons!

She recommends:

• breaking the egg under a tap as this helps to remove the white of the egg
• prick the egg yolk with a pin or squeeze the yolk out through your fingers leaving the egg sac behind
• using a different plastic spoon for each jar of pigment to avoid contamination
• only mix a tiny bit of paint as it dries quickly on a palette
• wiping a gesso board with a damp cloth before you start to remove any film, dust or contamination
• using like watercolour ie she would not recommend building light paint on top of dark
• only using a couple of layers of thin paint - and waiting for the first layer to dry before adding the second. 
• thinking about where to put the paint before applying it as it cannot be moved around in the same way other paints can - there is now working 'wet in wet' with egg tempera
• scratching out to create texture or to add in a new colour
• choosing subject matter which will work the need fore a different approach to painting with egg tempera. If you click the link in Ruth's name (at the top of this post) you can see a gallery catalogue of her work for a solo exhibition and how she uses calligraphic mark-making over a flat wash.
• working upright most of the time

Here we are painting after lunch

NEAC Egg Tempera workshop in the Mall Galleries
Mine's the large one in the foreground - I'm painting from a sketch of Chartwell under the table!

Did you know that the Wilton Diptych is painted in egg tempera?

"Richard II presented to the Virgin and Child
by his Patron Saint John the Baptist and Saints Edward and Edmund" ('The Wilton Diptych') c. 1395-9
Egg on oak, 53 x 37 cm

Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino at the Battle of San Romano (c.1438-40) by Paolo Uccello
Egg tempera with walnut oil and linseed oil on poplar; 182 x 320 cm

Or that Uccello's painting of the Battle of St. Romano is a painting in egg tempera?  Or that it's possible to use oil with egg tempera - in this instance walnut oil is mixed in for the green paint of the foliage.

The support was made from about eight planks, was modified in the 15th century, and has a very thick priming of two layers of anhydrite in glue with a thin layer of gypsum in egg tempera on top. Drawing, both freehand and with a straight edge, and incising were observed and, unusually, some incised lines were applied into the paint, while graphic lines of paint were used to reinforce the image.

Egg tempera was the main medium, with walnut oil added for green paint to give some gloss.

You can find out more about Egg Tempera on the website I constructed following my first egg tempera workshop at the V&A back in 2006 - see Egg Tempera - Resources for Artists . Plus the links below are to my previous blogs posts about the V&A workshop

• Class at the V&A: The support and the drawing 27 Nov 2006 Introduction to painting with egg tempera on a gesso panel.
• Class at the V&A: the pigments and the grinding 28 Nov 2006 ... at the V&A: the pigments and the grinding.
• Egg tempera class at the V&A: painting with egg tempera 29 Nov 2006 So far I've looked at what I learned about the support and the drawing, the pigments and the grinding to create the egg tempera paint - now we get to the actual painting!

Note: The workshop was organised by the NEAC Drawing School and held in the Mall Galleries during the Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club. It was one of the activities in the Galleries this week

Russ Stutler's observations on the Waterbrush

I've just discovered Russ Stutler's excellent journal item with his observations on the waterbrush. To quote from the first paragraph

For those who don't know, a water brush or waterbrush (some makers use two words while others combine them into one) has a soft plastic barrel which contains water. When you squeeze the barrel, water enters the bristles, thus eliminating the need for a separate water container. It also makes cleaning the brush between colors a breeze. These are great for watercolor sketching on location. All you need is a waterbrush, a small set of half pan watercolors and a sketchbook, plus some tissue paper or a rag. No more water bottle and cup. If you use a small sketchbook, your entire set up will fit in a pocket.

It includes:

• a list of different makes of waterbrush
• comparisons of different makes - including how they vary in use and flow of water
• observations of things to watch out for when using them

I really enjoy my dry media when sketching but I also enjoy a spot of watercolour sketching from time to time. Having acquired a Pental waterbrush, I'm much more inclined to try using watercolours as the waterbrush eliminates th need to carry water around with you all the time.