didnt actually hate the guys ...Just their work. Kind of epitomised all that was wrong with that era, they thought they were working class heroes made good.when in fact they were just fodder for the sausage machine

I like Damien Hirst kind of knows the system and is milking it for all he can

has a similar attitude to me he cant paint as his expectations of what he wants to achieve far outweigh his ability.....i cant paint as well as i want to so i stick to drawing , when i get the time!

Sean

The only way to improve at a thing is to keep doing it Sean surely?
I've been painting for years and I'm still nowhere near as good as I want to be, but ask me again in another five years, and while again I'll still be nowhere near as good as I want to be, I'll be a bit closer than I was the first time you asked.

Damien Hirst is today's PT Barnum. Tracy Emin is the dazed and confused product of the current perverted use of the term 'Art'. Modern art is as much a swindle as was Johnny Rotten's singing back in '77, and a pile of bricks or Elephant dung will only ever be a pile of bricks and Elephant dung despite what the Turner prize gets awarded for. At least a decent brickie could build an extension with the bricks, which would need more skill than simply proclaiming them to be 'art'.

My criticism of Howson would be that he is simply ploughing his own self indulgent furrow, over and over again. He has even taken on an 'apprentice' now - have you seen the guy's work? It couldn't be more derivative if he tried, it's like Howson has created a 'mini-me' in Frank Mcfadden. http://www.art-company-scotland.com/catalog.asp?int_catalog_id=8

This morning, still enduring that metallic dryness of mouth and the thumping head that last night's two bottles of red is apt to leave me with, I did a bit more on this painting. I don't know if anyone reading this other than Sean has any knowledge of painting in oils so I'll mention the technical process as I go along to save me just saying boring stuff like 'then I painted this blue'.



Right then, the paint that I put on yesterday was dry this morning due to two things, the use of raw umber which is a quick drying paint, and the thinning of the cobalt blue with turps. I mixed another batch of cobalt blue and white and began adding this over the background once more.

It is of the utmost importance when using oil paints that each successive layer contains slightly more oil than the last one, the so called 'fat over lean' principle. This ensures that each previous layer will dry before the next layer , if this rule is not strictly adhered to the paint will crack when dry. By diluting the cobalt blue with turps yesterday I weakened the amount of oil in the mixture, thus ensuring the base layer contained the least amount of oil.



In this view of my palette you can see that the only colours I'm using for this stage are cobalt blue, white, and raw umber. I mix a general tone of cobalt blue and white and to achieve variations in tone I'll dip my brush in either pure cobalt or pure white after loading it with the mid tone, done this way the paint appears more lively and spontaneous than using pre-mixed tones only.

To follow the 'fat over lean' rule that I mentioned earlier all I have done is to add less turpentine to the mixture than I did yesterday, so if yesterdays paint had the consistency of milk, today it's single cream. I'd also advise new painters when using this technique to hold their long handled paint brushes by the back third of the handle and not up by the ferrule as so many do. The reason for this is that holding a brush at the ferrule like a pencil tends to make the painter want to draw with it, but hold it at the other end and you are forced to paint!

At each stage I lay my brushstrokes in casually, I load the brush, then hit the canvas with one, two, or at the most three strikes before loading the brush again. Don't be tempted to do the dab-dab-dab thing with the brush trying to achieve a pretty blended effect, because for one blending kills colour purity, and for two we'll be painting over much of this later so you won't see it.

Once I had that done I took pure raw umber and restated the car and objects. When painting the blue I hadn't been particularly careful about whether I got blue over the dry brown paint, it doesn't matter, what you mustn't do however is get any brown into the wet blue. I painted over the entire shape of the car and objects with raw umber but this time I used no turps in the mixture as it would have run down and into the blue, I achieved the thin coating of umber by increasing the brush pressure - pressing on harder in other words in order to keep the layer thin.

I know where the light will fall from the trial we did yesterday so I cover the lot up with umber so that at this point there is no more white canvas left showing.



Finally for today, I add a little yellow ochre to my palette and introduce it to the remaining bluey-white cobalt mixture. I'm aiming for a tone lighter than the blue that I've already put on, and by carefully balancing the proportions of yellow ochre and cobalt blue, then adding white I am able to arrive at a neutral greyish tone. On the palette the mixture looks cool, tending slightly toward green, but when added to the painting the juxtaposition of the cobalt blue that has just been added then contrasts with it to make it appear creamy and warm!

Again this is dashed on without regard for blending or any careful, petty strokes. Once I'm happy with the overall feel of the thing then it's time to set it aside and let it dry in readiness for the next step.

Wonderful.

(I'm still at stage 2 - I have the sheet and a bit of crumpled kitchen paper. Now need to find a piece of charcoal...)

Sheet?
You need a canvas panel to paint on, and a pencil will do for lining in so long as you do it lightly, I only use charcoal because it rubs out so easily and thus helps me to work quickly.



With talking about painting I forgot to report on my snazzy new high level brake light.

It sticks to the rear window and there's only two wires to attach, one to power one to earth so even I can't manage more than a paragraph on fitting it. I will say that although the light is not in keeping with the 'classic' car image, just like the halogen headlamp bulbs at the other end I think it's a fair modification for a vehicle that's used in all weathers and all seasons.

If anyone rear ends me now they want stuffing! (metaphorically speaking!)

Buy one here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180422791934&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Er, I have to confess I don't even have the sheet. So, apart from the canvas, charcoal, tissue, paints and talent, I'm good to go... **sigh**

Ain't for me, I'm afraid. But I still find reading your descriptions absolutely fascinating and quite addictive

Seconded. I wish I had a tenth of Old Nail's artistic talent. I have a friend who is a serious artist and she too is never satisfied with her own work. must be in the genes of you creative people

Ohh...be careful what you wish for - for me it comes at a price.

I have the 'gift' of a pictorial memory, which means that once I have seen a thing and studied it for a while I can draw it without reference. When painting or drawing I can create anything to populate that painting from memory, be it a person, a table, a pigeon or whatever, my visual memory makes that bit relatively easy which is why I rarely need to paint such things from life. The downside of this 'gift' that so many wish they had is that you can't turn it off, it isn't selective, and therefore I can 'see' in my mind virtually everything I have ever seen as vividly as it was when actually being there.

Think about that for a moment.

Edited: Too much negativity and gory detail!

In another way the act of painting itself has been harmful to me physically, although this time it's entirely my own fault. Because I'm a wrestless so and so I tend to throw myself into things, and when painting I'm in such a rush to get a clean brush to use that I often...no I always stick the used one between my teeth and pick up another.

Now the pigments used in oil paints are made of some nasty stuff. Cadmiums are heavy metals, while lead white, which is the one I use is full of guess what? And by years of putting these brushes between my teeth, or of eating a sandwich with painty hands, and the general absorbption of the stuff through the skin my health has suffered. This was masked by the fact that I've always been very fit, even into my mid 40's I was a gym instructor by day and doorman by night, both tasks needing fitness, strength and agility, but 'fitness' is not the same as health.

In 2003 I began to loose weight, despite consuming almost 4000 calories a day due to my training regime. I was loosing 2 to 3 pounds a week - every week. The hospital did lots of blood tests and scans, not ruling out any prognosis. Naturally I thought my number was up, until they found the problem - kidney failure. I was admitted immediately and they removed one kidney entirely, and informed me that the remaining one is functioning at just 70%.

Was this done by the lead and cadmium intake I wonder? It's ironic that of all the dangerous occupations and undertakings that I've done in my life, the 'relaxing' act of painting is the one that came closest to killing me.

Right while I'm online for a moment I'll just say a few words about the painter who's work this one is in the style of - Alexander Millar.



When he first came out a few years ago I really liked his work because it had the appeal that nostalgic old photographs do, I could relate to his misty scenes and flat-capped old men. As with many painters though Millar's work has evolved into something different.

I might have been a little unfair to criticise his technique earlier because Millar is rather a good painter, and these seemingly haphazard stokes of paint that cover his canvases are actually something quite different.

My stepson used to spend at least half an hour in the bathroom before he went out, and in this time he would be flicking and fu**ing about with his hair to get it carefully looking like he'd just got out of bed, and that is exactly how Millar paints. Each 'random' stroke is carefully thought out and expertly placed, giving the work it's 'done in half an hour' appearance.



The progression he has made in terms of subject matter has moved much more toward commercialism in these latter years, so where once you had a poignant old man in the mist you now have a host of old men wearing football scarves, each in different colours to appeal to the broadest print buying audience.



There are now Millar mugs, Millar coasters, even Millar cufflinks, you get the idea, and if it was me in all honesty I'd probably do the same. Grab the money and run fella' - Rembrandt is revered but died in poverty, and I'd sooner be rich now and forgotten when I'm gone!

Mr Nail,

Sorry I have been so lapse in response.

Just to clarify, I never wear any clothes with lables, no Gold teeth, or ANY jewellery of any kind. No tattoos ! I also dont now have a mobile phone or a dog !

HA ! but I love your art and paintings, paint and draw myself so we must just agree to differ over my lack of hair !

I also am a musician (and have a PhD in music). I totally understand how "yobs" make us all feel .....but dont "tarr" all us "baldies" with the same brush....


.....and enough of that......keep this going.....love what you are painting !

John