This article in The Week provides a perspective on the Baltimore riots that mirror my own. As a Baltimore native, the author, Tim Kreider, has a dog in the fight. The author, although white, discusses the alarming and dramatic changes in the nation’s police since 9-11. The author maintains, and I agree with him, that the militarization of the police has increased the number of unfortunate incidents like those in Baltimore and Ferguson. It’s dismaying and off-putting to see the police arrayed in military paraphernalia confronting U.S. citizens once again. The changes are evident even in small-town America where we live.
Of course, I don’t condone the riots, but the police appear to be developing an ‘us vs them’ mentality. Read the article.
The author, Jerry Saltz, hits many of the points I’ve written about. Of course, it doesn’t take special insight to notice the immense changes taking place in the modern museum. Museums are becoming fun-house extravaganzas filled with events designed to attract the young. Whatever is taking place, vast changes are underway. Read the article yourself.
Junk in a junk shop–oops!, antique shop–and people milling about doing what people do. Main Street #1 is composed from three photos. I moved figures around, as I often do, in a photo of an antique shop on Main St, and added figures from two other photos. Three photos for a painting is about par for me these…
This is a pretty good photo of the unfinished Heated Discussion. It’s at the ‘get it finished any day now’ stage. I enjoy working on details but sometimes I give them too much attention. The stuff in the background is too strong–too busy. Secondary motifs can be jarring when they spill outside their intended place and…
I showed Sunday Parade once before when I probably should not have–it was too raw. It’s overcast today and the studio lights (even my ‘natural light’ lamps) wash-out the colors, but I think you can get a sense of what is going on. Sunday Parade is 42″ x 56.” Although Sunday Parade is an urban street scene,…
What is mineral spirits and how is it used in oil painting? Mineral spirits, or white spirits, is a petroleum-derived solvent. It is distilled from crude oil, and is related to kerosene. Mineral spirits and paint thinner are essentially the same thing. Paint thinner is less refined than mineral spirits and has undesirable byproducts, and, therefore, costs less.…
Someone recently asked about “oil of lavender.” Oil of spike is an essential oil distilled from lavender flowers. It has been used in oil painting for hundreds of years. Of the three most commonly used solvents, oil of spike (spike lavender) is the most powerful, followed by turpentine. Mineral spirits is the mildest.
Oil of spike lavender has a very pungent smell that many find attractive. It’s used, after all, in perfume and aroma therapy. It doesn’t irritate the skin as turpentine sometimes can. Artists bothered by turpentine or even odorless mineral spirits, can use it as an effective replacement. Its effect in painting is closer to that of turpentine than that of mineral spirits. It dries rapidly and leaves no undesired residue. I use it, but rarely. Its solvent power is too strong. I paint in layers and it can affect existing paint layers if they are not thoroughly dry. Plus, it’s more expensive than turpentine.
But it can be a wonderful addition to mediums. I sometimes substitute it for turpentine in mine. It can be an excellent corrective when combined with ingredients that are too thick, like stand oil or sun-dried oil.
If you are sensitive to turpentine, try oil of spike. It’s available at most art material suppliers. When used, it fills the studio with its very pleasant aroma.
[edit] I say it dries rapidly, which is true for all solvents. However, compared to mineral spirits and turpentine, spike oil dries much slower. This keeps solvent-thinned, fast-drying paint open–workable–for longer than the other solvents. This property can be important in some situations.
I am working on the drawings for my new series–Playhouse Square–which I wrote about earlier. The series is based on photographs I’ve taken of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. I wrote before about how I planned to use figures from different days in the same locations, about how I plan to use the entire Square and its…