{"id":8197,"date":"2018-12-31T22:27:01","date_gmt":"2019-01-01T03:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=8197"},"modified":"2018-12-31T22:27:09","modified_gmt":"2019-01-01T03:27:09","slug":"turpentine-diaries-12-31-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/12\/turpentine-diaries-12-31-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Turpentine diaries 12\/31\/2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art is filled with aphorisms. Fat over lean<\/em>, for instance, is a famous adage. The meaning for this old saw that is the most straightforward is to paint thickly-applied paint over thinly-applied paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this distinction? Well, if you paint in layers, that is, if you paint over previously painted areas, you ignore this practice at your peril. Thick paint dries slower than thin paint. Thin, fast-drying paint applied over thick, slow-drying paint can crack and spoil the work. This problem can be exacerbated if you use driers inconsistently. If you use driers–an altogether sound practice–use them consistently in every layer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The unfinished ‘Crossing’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Read more<\/span>Cleveland Museum of Art Opens Renovations<\/span><\/a><\/div>

If you are an ala prima painter you might believe that the fat over lean<\/em> adage doesn’t apply to you. But there is an important way that this applies to you too. Another adage, make the lights thick but make the darks transparent<\/em>, amplifies the other saying by emphasizing an aesthetic point. Alternating thin and thick areas imparts<\/g> variety and charm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it’s more than just variety. The eye reads areas painted over other areas as closer to it. Those closer areas need to be thick enough to hide what’s beneath. Paintings that fail this basic mode lack body and appear insipid and timid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

A lot of artists instinctively understand this but overcompensate by painting everything uniformly thick, which robs the painting of charm and, counter-intuitively, force. Thick areas as shown to best effect when contrasted to thin ones. Painting everything uniformly thick robs a painting of several keys. It’s like restricting yourself to just a third of the keys on the piano keyboard.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art is filled with aphorisms. Fat over lean, for instance, is a famous adage. The meaning for this old saw that is the most straightforward is to paint thickly-applied paint over thinly-applied paint. Why this distinction? Well, if you paint in layers, that is, if you paint over previously painted areas, you ignore this practice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":8200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[251,6,24,19,113,343,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aesthetics","category-paintings","category-shop_talk","category-studio","category-tips_tricks","category-turpentine-diaries","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/studio-2018-12-31.jpg?fit=800%2C584&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7573,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/01\/painting-nuts-and-bolts\/","url_meta":{"origin":8197,"position":0},"title":"Painting nuts and bolts","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"January 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"My homemade palette has provided good service for several years. It has enough room to muck about in, but it's not so large that it's difficult to move or clean.\u00a0 I converted the glass-framed reproduction I found at a secondhand shop into\u00a0an everyday palette by removing the print and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/medium-variety1.png?fit=800%2C712&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/medium-variety1.png?fit=800%2C712&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/medium-variety1.png?fit=800%2C712&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/medium-variety1.png?fit=800%2C712&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2332,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/painting-mediums\/","url_meta":{"origin":8197,"position":1},"title":"Painting Mediums","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"July 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Painting mediums are a never-ending topic for discussion and debate among artists. Mediums profoundly affect how oil paint handles, and many preparations are complicated or dangerous, filled with ancient lore and alchemical processes. Oil by its nature is flowing and slow drying, qualities that during the early Renaissance led to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shop Talk"","block_context":{"text":"Shop Talk","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/shop_talk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7188,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2017\/07\/turpentine-diaries-71617\/","url_meta":{"origin":8197,"position":2},"title":"Turpentine diaries 7\/16\/17","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"July 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I decided to work on my backlog of unfinished studies and small paintings. I worked\u00a0on all of the paintings in the photo today, the bottom-left one last. One small study, not shown, has a problem and I'm trying to decide how to resolve it. \u00a0Before I work on a painting,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/studio-2017-7-16.jpg?fit=800%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/studio-2017-7-16.jpg?fit=800%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/studio-2017-7-16.jpg?fit=800%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/studio-2017-7-16.jpg?fit=800%2C1105&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7388,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2017\/10\/turpentine-diaries-102117\/","url_meta":{"origin":8197,"position":3},"title":"Turpentine diaries 10\/21\/17","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished Spring during my morning session.\u00a0 I added a tiny little bit of sun-thickened oil to my usual medium.\u00a0 A small amount of this oil dramatically affects the paint.\u00a0 Sun-thickened oil, unlike stand oil (which I don't like), maintains\u00a0good\u00a0handling qualities even when the paint is thinned to a gouache-like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/studio-2017-10-21.png?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/studio-2017-10-21.png?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/studio-2017-10-21.png?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/studio-2017-10-21.png?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7662,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/02\/review-groves-coles-copal-varnish\/","url_meta":{"origin":8197,"position":4},"title":"Review: Groves’ Cole’s Copal Varnish","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"My painting medium consists of oil, essential oil (turpentine), copal varnish, and driers.\u00a0 I like my medium, and it's suitable for everything painting-wise except a few corner cases.\u00a0 For the corner cases, I add a small amount of this or that, depending on the case.\u00a0 I like my medium, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gorves-coles.png?fit=800%2C569&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gorves-coles.png?fit=800%2C569&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gorves-coles.png?fit=800%2C569&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/gorves-coles.png?fit=800%2C569&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6436,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2016\/10\/how-i-paint-mediums-and-thinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":8197,"position":5},"title":"How I paint: mediums and thinners","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This photo shows painting cups in front of my custom-made palette. \u00a0I always use this selection of mediums and solvents when I paint. In the left-most container is my medium. \u00a0My medium\u00a0is very drying which means, among other things, that it is very rough on brush heads. \u00a0Not only\u00a0does it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/cups.jpg?fit=800%2C437&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/cups.jpg?fit=800%2C437&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/cups.jpg?fit=800%2C437&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/cups.jpg?fit=800%2C437&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-28d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}