New Work - Update #1

Well it has been two weeks since I started this painting and here we are. This is my first layer of glaze on top of the heavily painted intial layer. The glaze is a greyed down mixture of burnt umber and cadmium yellow. This is a very thin wash which I applied with my fingers and sponge brushes, while carefully wiping away certain areas. The surface is extraordinary rich and forms are beginning to reveal themselves. At this point, I'm very pleased with the progess. I will need to wait a week before this layer has sufficiently dried; then I will apply another glaze of a slightly darker tone to adjust some values and give the darks more depth.

Deepwater

"Deepwater", 68"x54", oil on canvas, 2008

This painting is in its final stages. Again, it has been built up with successive impasto and glaze applications with knives, brushes and other means. The surface of this is incredibly rich with a wide array of textures. It has been built up, scraped down, gouged, knicked, etc... It has been through the wringer and has a nice depth, coloration, value range and composition working for it right now. I hope to finish this shortly. There's not much left to do I believe. Hopefully, I'll be able to post the finished piece next week.

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Shows to see

Scott Stack

"Miami Apartment", 2008

"For his 2nd solo show at moniquemeloche, Scott Stack expands the conceptual reaches of his investigation of night vision surveillance presenting 4 new paintings. His linear geometry of thin, even bands of varying shades of green now reveals a pointedly new subject matter -- the figure – adding yet another layer of meaning to his elusive imagery. Concurrently, the infinite possibilities Stack sees in the structure of the apartment building continue to develop in an ongoing series which began in 2006. Finally, a new monumental painting rendered in shades of black, white, and grey fills the project space – introducing a new exploration of rendering a picture in space..."

http://www.moniquemeloche.com/


Daniel Bruttig

" Junk painting", 2008-09, mixed media on sewn fabric swatches, 31"X 28"

"Daniel Bruttig’s abstract paintings and objects feature a playful color palette and captivating imagery. Bruttig notes that his work “incorporates enough representational familiarity to initiate the viewer’s interest while being abstract enough to confront his initial assumptions. Viewers will process, attempt to identify what they are seeing, and then proceed to question their own presumptions.”

http://www.kasiakaygallery.com/
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Weekly Fave

Anton Henning

"Interieur No. 395", 2008, Oil on linen, 74.13 x 67.91 inches

"Interior No. 392", 2008, oil on canvas, 220 x 188 cm

"Interior No. 321"

"Cranberry Juice, Virus and Band-Aid", 2006, oil on linen, 84" x 72"

I've been following Anton Henning's work for close to 20 years now since I first saw his paintings at his solo exhibit at Vrej Baghoomian Gallery, New York City in 1990. I had just graduated from college with my BA in studio art and moved to New York all full of piss and vinegar, ready to "conquer" the artworld. I was studying at the Art Students League at the time and saw hundreds of exhibits mainly in Soho. For the most part, I was unmoved by the majority of work I saw until I came across Anton's work. I was floored immediately by the very large, brightly colored and sensuously painted canvases. They were so full of life, wit and charm, and had this wonderful innocence about them. I also realized that here was an artist who certainly had a command over his medium. I immediately fell in love with his paintings and at the same time realized just how far I myself as a painter had to go. It was a humbling experience, but it also reinvigorated me to a degree that it was life changing for me as an artist.

http://www.antonhenning.com/

http://www.zachfeuer.com/antonhenning.html

http://vernissage.tv/blog/tag/anton-henning/

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New Work

Got a new canvas on the chopping block. Right now, this has its second layer of paint applied. I began the piece with turpentine thinned washes of muted greens and violets and also started laying in areas of thicker paint to build up the surface. This second yellow layer is where the painting is beginning to reveal itself. The yellows were thinned slightly with turpentine and a little galkyd, yet allowing the paint to maintain substantial body. I used two different large palette knives and dried out sponge brushes to apply the paint. At this time, I really have no idea where its going, except that I know what I'll be doing next. The next stage will involve extensive application of glazes with brushes which I will subsequently wipe most of off, leaving residual color in the creavices and built up areas of the canvas. By doing this, I will get a better understanding of what is happening on the surface, which will help me determine where I'm being led. It will also unify the coloration and tonal structure. At this point, I don't want a lot of value/color contrasts. I will tweak these as the painting grows.

I'll post an update on this in 2 weeks. I need at least a week for this stage to dry sufficiently before I can work on it again.

Iris and Bastille

"Iris", 48"x48", Oil on MDF, 2007

"Iris", detail image

"Iris", detail image

"Bastille", 48"x48", Oil on MDF, 2007

These are slightly older pieces which shows my other method in approaching my work. The paint has been applied very heavily with knives, brushes and other tools in multiple layers. The paint has not been diluted with any medium with the exception of small areas of glaze. There are approximately 15 successive layers of paint and part of the process involves scraping layers to reveal underlayers. These paintings took approximately 5 months each to complete.

"Bastille" detail image

For more information on these paintings, contact Evan Morgenstein,

Gallery Sam @510-531-9575

Serenade

"Serenade", 72"x72", oil on masonite, 2008

This painting was created by the same alla prima technique discussed below. I built a special large triangular palette knife in order to do this. The painting is 6ft. x 6ft. and the knife I built is made of stainless steel and is 4ft. long.

Surprisingly, I knocked this painting out in less than 4 hours. Sometimes you just get lucky.

My Studio

My studio work pants. Maybe I ought to market these?

My studio floor.

My studio work table.

Surprisingly, I actually cleaned my studio about 2 months ago. No matter how many times I tell myself that I should concentrate on keeping my studio clean, it turns up like this. I'm surprised that I am able to work effectively at all some times. But I do.

I typically work on 3 to 4 paintings at a time, ranging in sizes from 36"x36" to 72"x72" to 48"x96" and all other sizes in between. It takes anywhere from 4 hours to a couple of years, in some cases, to complete a painting. Typically, I'll work on a painting for 2 months before I consider it finished.

At the moment, there are two distinct "styles" or approaches in my work. In the first, as seen in the painting "Bayou" below in my first post, the painting method is strictly alla prima. In my case, with this approach, the painting must be completed in one session typically lasting 4-6 hours. The paint is diluted with a slow dry galkyd medium to a very specific consistency and spread with custom made palette knives on an ultra-smooth white ground which has been coated with a couple of layers of galkyd medium. I apply uniform lightest colors first and then gradually apply analogous darker hues directly atop of the underlying light tones. Once I am satisfied with my coverage, I will mix a split complementary dark tone and apply this sparingly and strategically to set up the intial rythm and balance of the piece in this initial phase. From this point onward, I will carefully blend, smooth, pull and scrape the paint and allow each mark to inform my next, carefully aware that I must allow the painting to develop on its own. Every square inch of the surface must be alive and complimenting each and every other square inch of the surface. I never use any white paint. The "whites" or light you see in the painting is the white surface shining through the scraped transparent pigment. I must be careful not to overwork any area of the painting or I risk muddying the color and upsetting surface uniformity. Usually after a few hours I can ascertain if the painting works as a whole. I will continually ask myself "if I add or subtract anything else will it help or hurt the piece". If I conclude that nothing can be added or subtracted, then I consider the painting finished.

If I cannot decide, or have concerns with its composition or flow, then I will scrape off all of the paint back down to the original bare white surface. Of course, that just cost me close to $100 worth of materials. A lot of that paint can be found on my pants above.

The second approach to my work involves heavily built up surfaces involving very thickly applied impastos, scraping, glazing and scumbling. I'll post images of these paintings soon and discuss my method then.

Welcome

"Bayou", 36"x36", Oil and Alkyd on Birch Panel, 2008

This is my first post and first time entering the blogosphere. I plan on discussing my art, my studio practices, techniques, my love of art, artists whose work interests me and whatever else may come up. Hope you enjoy.

John Koehler

http://www.johnfkoehler.com