Cats vs. Dogs

In collaboration with Robert Lange Studios, and benefiting the Charleston Animal Society, the Vendue Hotel is sponsoring a show titled “CATS vs DOGS” which will open October 19, 2017. Each invited artist has made one piece that is dominated by the theme Cat or Dog.

Viewers of the exhibit will be asked to vote and at the end of the exhibit, a winner will be announced answering the age old question — which is better Cats or Dogs? And the best part? A portion of the sales from the exhibit will be donated to the Charleston Animal Society.

I was invited to participate as a "dog" person. The story of my painting, "Looking Forward" is below.

Looking Forward
Varnished watercolor on paper, mounted on aluminum panel, 28.75 x 25 in

This is a painting of my neighbor Matt and his mutt. Matt is a great guy who has recently come out of a very rough time in his life. His wife got into drugs and alcohol, went to prison, rehab, divorced him and left him a single father of an eight-year-old girl. Through it all, his dog Nala was by his side.

Near our neighborhood there is an abandoned psychiatric hospital campus, built around 1900. Running throughout the hospital grounds with Nala became therapeutic for Matt, and it's where I decided to have him sit for the painting.

To me, Matt is taking one last look to the past with a new face of strength and determination, and Nala is helping him look to the future—reinforcing that Matt isn’t starting over, but moving forward.

Varnishing Watercolor Paintings

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Click Here: Updated process for Varnishing Watercolor

Many (if not most) watercolor artists do not varnish their watercolor paintings. There are many good reasons for this, but there are also some advantages to the process. So I decided to roll up my sleeves and give it a try. 

Traditionally, watercolors are put behind glass to preserve and protect them. "Museum" glass is really quite amazing in the way it protects agains UV rays and has little glare. But it's also REALLY expensive and I've been working on the larger side recently, which is even worse. Glass is very heavy,  and it's difficult to ship without breakage. This is why many exhibitions require plexi glass be used for all shipped artwork.  

But the glare on plexi glass bothers me. And the non-glare variety seems slightly hazy, certainly less than ideal. So the main reason I want to try varnishing is to show my larger pieces in a gallery without glass. 

There are a lot of options on the market, and I've talked to other artists that do variations of the same basic idea. I decided to play it safe and do some tests on an older painting, so if I messed it up it wouldn't be a big deal. First, the finished watercolor paper needs to be mounted to a rigid surface. The most common is a wood panel or stretcher bars/canvas, but I chose an aluminum panel (see my blog post here for more on that).

I tried two different finishes. The first was a wax resign, typically used with oils, but perfectly fine for this use. (I used Dorlands Wax Medium.) It's my understanding that this non-yellowing resin has been used since Antiquity, and has been been found on the surfaces of ancient wall paintings. The amazing thing is it rubs on with a cloth without disturbing the watercolor at all. I was as skeptical as you probably are reading that, but it's true. After it dries it can be buffed for a luster finish, but it's definitely not a high gloss.

To achieve that, I used Golden Polymer Varnish. But in this case the watercolor definitely needs an isolation coat or fixative sprayed on before the varnish is applied. I sprayed on 8 thin coats of UV resist. This is best done outside or in a well ventilated area. Don't over do it! The last thing you want is a drip to form. Let each coat dry before applying the next. 

Finally, mix 4 parts varnish with 1 part water and brushed it on with a 3" nylon brush. There was a slight haze at first, but it turns clear once it is dry. Also be careful not to go back and brush over areas too much, or it will cloud the finish.

This is a water based medium, so it cleans up easily. The down sides are you have to work quickly and it doesn't level out perfectly. I had slight brush strokes remain, which I thought was a nice look, but for a completely smooth finish I think I'll need to use a solvent based varnish. Stay tuned for that test...

At the right angle you can see the gloss finish.

"The word that you wanted was al-you-mi-ni-um"

2020 UPDATE: I’ve been working with Raymar on a product that eliminates all of the panel prep work. They offer Fabriano Artistico Cold Press ACM Watercolor panels and you can use coupon code BIRD20 for 20% off (note they are sold in packs of two).

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Aluminum panel has become a very popular surface to paint on in recent years. It's rigid, light weight (cheaper shipping!) and totally archival. 

Although I'm now a watercolorist, I used to prefer wood panels when I painted with oils and acrylic because I liked the smooth surface for fine detail work. But over time, wood contracts and expands with changes in temperature and humidity. Stretched canvas is even worse. I've never seen it happen personally, but when I think about portraits potentially being passed down for generations, making sure my work is archival is important. 

Every time I'm in a museum with a friend or family member, they ask some variation of this question: "Why do all the paintings have cracks in them?" Canvas swells and contracts at different rates than the layers of paint on top, which causes tension and stress. There are other reasons too, but that's a big one.

And it doesn't happen with aluminum. George O'Hanlon at Natural Pigments has done a lot of research and writing around the archival qualities of artists' materials and you can easily burn a few hours reading up on it. 

So, when I decided to mounting some recent watercolor paintings, my first choice was to try aluminum. I have the metal cut to size, slightly smaller than my sheet of paper. Then I use a matte medium as an adhesive, spreading it on the aluminum and the back of the paper. These are sandwiched together, carefully avoiding bubbles or air pockets. 

Then I stack a bunch of heavy books on top and let it dry overnight. When I come back it's perfectly flat and evenly supported. After trimming the paper from the edges, the painting is ready to be coated. Varnishing is not going to work if the painting buckles or bends, so mounting the paper to a good surface is an important first step. 

I'll have more on the varnishing process soon! (here)

The Great White Mountains

I climbed some mountains.

The climbing part was not fun, but naturally the summits delivered some incredible views once the weather cleared. We were pretty high up (second tallest mountain on the east coast) and were looking down on bumps that were bigger than any "mountain" in my home state of Maryland. 

During the assent, I was struck with how the plant life changed with the altitude. The colors and textures stood out the most. There were times I would see a color on a plant and remark to my friends how unique it was. I often see things and consider how I would paint them. Or how I would mix a certain color. 

I did do some quick sketching, and took a few photos, but it was enjoyable to just take everything in for a change, without having to "capture" it. However, I did take some pics, and they speak better than my rambling. 

Photos by Andrew Appler, Ron Appler, Matthew Bird