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Old 07-08-2004, 10:49 PM   #5
Marvin Mattelson Marvin Mattelson is offline
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Joined: May 2002
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Ellen McElwaine sang a song called "Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die." Another way of putting this is that you can't have your cake and eat it too.

We would all like to have a palette that never dries and a painting that will be dry the next day. Unfortunately the things that slow the drying of paint make for a weaker paint film. Clove oil as well as poppy and walnut oils have a negative effect on the bonding of the paint with the ground. Linseed oil is far superior.

I bite the bullet and set out a fresh palette each day or two. Fresh paint is far superior in building a better painting. Traditionally artists built each area with a limited palette of colors necessary for that area. I do a similar thing. I hop from area to area and cover the canvas with each later. After I've made my rounds I repeat the progression with my next layer. I try to give at least a week between layers in any given area so the paint will cure.

I also think it is to the painting's advantage to remix the colors for each layer. The variations in each mixture mirror the subtle variations in nature and older layers coming through help to create a more realistic and atmospheric effect.

I think it's better to adapt your working method to the sound properties of your medium instead of trying to alter the natural tendencies of your paints and mediums. So many great paintings were done with a palette similar to Paxton's that I don't think it should be considered as limiting.
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