A Whole New "it" Brain

The popular book A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, exemplifies a new movement towards rebalancing our left and right brain hemispheres. He postures that the high paying executive jobs now filled with left-brain information types will be replaced by the new desirables – the “creatives”, who are more in tune with their right side. Our current educational system encourages left brain thinking while art schools tend to encourage the right. Even though Betty Edward’s book, Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain, has become a household phrase, our right side has been belittled and downplayed as the lesser brain functioning power for decades. The key is probably somewhere in the middle, to create a balance between both sides for a healthier, happier, productive and functioning society.

In meditation the left brain (words, analytical judgments, etc) is subdued so the right side (spatial, timeless) can better evoke the desired calm. In Kimon Nicolaides’ best-selling book, The Natural Way to Draw he writes that while focused in the right side of the brain there can be no mistakes. In meditation, just as in creating art, the right side is dominant. It is interesting that both meditation groups and attendance in art workshops are gaining in popularity. The activity of viewing art, however, offers another opportunity to utilize the right side as well.  

In the act of seeing, our eyes have the ability to perceive two different ways: optically and tactilely, and each of us tends to favor one over the other. Seeing optically we focus on the light and dark qualities and color. Seeing tactilely our eyes extend tiny illusionary “hands” outwards almost like touching the viewed objects, and we see sculpturally noticing the tactile qualities. Those favoring the tactile approach first notice a painting’s surface quality or texture. When next visiting a museum or gallery, take a moment and notice where your eyes wander; what attracts them, and what remains unnoticed on the walls. When artists give attention to all aspects of an artwork; the light and dark, the color, and sensuousness of the surface, then the artwork has the potential to attract a wider audience by appealing to both types of viewers.

Painting Ideas with Acrylic “Skins”

What’s a skin? It’s a separate piece of acrylic without any backing or support.  Any acrylic product when applied to a non-stick surface and left to dry, can be peeled off producing a piece of acrylic with no backing. This piece of acrylic, or “skin” can be used as a collage item in a painting, or as an entire layer of a painting.

What non-stick surfaces will work? Plastic garbage bags, plastic painting drop cloths at home improvement stores that are whitish and cloudy, plexi sheets called HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), Freezer Paper (found in grocery stores – not to be confused with wax paper) and protective plastic binder sheets found in office supply stores.

Which type of acrylic works best? The quick answer is that any acrylic product will make a skin. But to delve a bit deeper, let’s start by thinking of acrylic in two broad categories. There’s paint and binder. Acrylic paint has color, while binders come in 3 basic types: mediums, gels and pastes. So any paint, medium, gel or paste can create a skin, which means a skin can come in any color, opacity/transparency, thickness, sheen, texture or combination.

Some painting ideas with skins:

Make a variety of skins and store them for later use by stacking them together with freezer paper in between so they don’t stick together.

Cut the skins into specific shapes with scissors and glue them onto an acrylic painting using a gel as glue.

Roll them into shapes to add a three-dimensional relief onto the painting surface.

Create large sheets of clear skins, paint something different on each one, then arrange one on top of the other to create different effects (pictured below)

photos from Nancy Reyner's book, Acrylic Innovation.

Create large sheets of translucent skins by using matte gels, or thin layers of paste, and adhere over a painting to create the illusion of depth. Optionally you can continue to paint over this skin, or add another skin layer.

Viewing Paintings

A previous blog article I wrote on the “S” curve stimulated some email questions on how to see subtle underlying shapes, such as the classic “S” curve in paintings. Negative space, (or the illusion of space perceived in between forms) is perceived via our lesser used right brain hemisphere, while shapes or defined forms are seen with our more frequently used left brain.

As an experiment, place your hand flat on a table in front of you with fingers spread out. Our left brain takes control right away and so we see our fingers. I believe it is difficult if not impossible to see from both sides of our brain at the same time. Now try to look at the spaces in between the fingers by keeping your eyes fixed on those spaces, until our eyes turn them into interesting shapes. You will need to switch from left to right brain hemispheres to fully view those spaces in between the fingers. Our left brain is our default system, so it is easier to look at forms while it takes more of a conscious effort to see the spaces in between. In paintings to see the space in between the forms takes more of a conscious effort too.

To find subtle forms in a painting then, requires a conscious switch between our two brain hemispheres while viewing the painting, and also as artists, while painting it. When we allow ourselves time to view a painting with our right brain (viewing the negative spaces), you will begin to see or form larger geometric patterns such as the "S" curve I mentioned. Each work of art generally uses at least one geometric shape as an overriding principle to hold the smaller shapes together. Other common geometric shapes found in paintings are diamonds, pyramids, circles and squares. These are forms that we as humans will naturally impose onto images. I believe that any painting you find interesting, be it an Old Masters famous painting from the Renaissance, or a contemporary one in a local gallery, will have some form of underlying geometry in its composition.

What's a Glaze?

Even though I’ve written several articles on glazing I came to realize that “glazing” is often misunderstood and could use some defining. So, what is a glaze? The most common answer is that a glaze is transparent. Well, that may be true, but that is only one part of the answer. My definition of a glaze is a bit fuller: “a subtle transparent evenly applied layer of color”. Let’s look at why I define it this way.

The new modern pigment colors (ie Quinacridones, Phthalos, Dioxazine) are often called transparent, so can these be used as glazes? Not by themselves, and here is why. When they are applied thickly they are opaque. When they are applied thinly they are transparent but are so incredibly vibrant that they will overpower anything they overlay.

Let’s take a moment and ask why we care about glazes anyway. When would using a glaze be an appropriate technique? Let’s say you were painting a portrait commission in a realistic style, and after months of hard work the portrait was as perfect as you can get it. Continuing this imaginary scenario you then proudly show the portrait to your client who feels the skin tone is overall too yellow. So what do you do? Argue with the client? Not a good idea. Take the painting back to your studio, remix all the colors and repaint the entire face again? Also not a good idea. There is an easier solution. Applying a transparent layer of a purple color (purple is the opposite or complement of yellow on the color wheel) to neutralize the yellow coloring.

So now lets get back to our discussion of the modern colors. By wrongly assuming that any modern color is transparent and therefore by itself would make a good glaze, we could grab our tube of Dioxazine Purple and apply it thinly (so it’s transparent) over the entire portrait face. Now to our horror we see that this purple color, even though it is transparent is so intense it has turned the face to a vivid purple. We could try to convince our client that this modern style might be a better approach to their portrait, or we could take another look at my definition of a glaze again. Being transparent isn’t enough for a glaze to be of help in a situation like this. Remember the full definition of a glaze is “a subtle transparent evenly applied layer of color”. So still using the Dioxazine Purple we have the transparency, but how do we get the “subtle evenly applied” qualities?

Start a mixture on the palette using a clear polymer medium (if you are working with acrylic) and add a very small amount of the Dioxazine Purple (about 1 part paint to 10 parts medium), mix it really well with a knife so it’s all homogenized, making the color more subtle. To apply it evenly, however, we need to slow down the drying time. Adding up to 15% retarder to this mixture will slow down the drying. Another alternative is to use Acrylic Glazing Liquid (contains 15% retarder to 85% polymer medium gloss) for your medium. Now with a smooth flat brush, apply this mixture (1 part Dioxazine Purple to 10 parts slow drying medium) in a very thin application to obtain an evenly applied transparent layer of color. And voila (!) our overly yellow portrait is now neutralized to a more acceptable flesh tone. Use glazing for shifting colors as well as many other uses.

Even though my directions are for use with acrylic paints, the same applies with oil. Just substitute an oil medium instead of the acrylic mediums I mentioned.

Secret Tricks to Pouring Acrylic

How do you get that cool effect? Contemporary paintings are notorious for sporting a wide variety of special effects, especially when the imagery is abstract. Most of these effects, I have found, are obtained by pouring. Pouring is a simple concept. It’s a way of applying paint without using brushes, knives or other application tools. Just grab a large container of acrylic medium and pour it out onto a surface. Simple? Yes. Messy? Yes. Easy? Often, no.

Pouring is most commonly used to get a “surfboard finish”; a super glossy, brushless and smooth rich layer of color or clear coating on a painting. This is often obtained by using toxic resins. However, there are ways to get the same results with non-toxic acrylic. (This is the focus of my pouring presentation, recorded live, and available for purchase in a 70 minute DVD for $20. If interested please email Nancy at nancy@nancyreyner.com)

In addition to the surfboard finish, pouring can offer some new and unusual special effects to your work. With pouring its easy to think of Jackson Pollock. It can be a great way to add some fun into your painting process, smooth out unwanted texture on your surface, get marbleized effects, and rich colored glazes.

Here are some basic tips from my DVD to get a flawless “surfboard finish”:

(1) Use a rigid surface to keep from buckling while drying.

(2) Use a medium that is made specifically for pouring, like Golden’s GAC800. If using other fluid mediums, such as Clear Tar Gel or Self-Leveling Gel, dilute up to 40% with water and spread thinly to avoid crevicing.

(3) Apply a stain sealer, then prime the surface before pouring to keep stains from coming through the surface into the poured medium.

(4) Pour on a surface that is level, so while it dries it won’t shift.

(5) Immediately spray with alcohol after pouring and spreading to eliminate bubbles.

(6) For deep pours apply duct tape around the edges like a wall, seal the seam with a gel, then pour as deep as you want using GAC800. This is the only medium that I know of that can be poured deeper than ¼” without crevicing.

Other techniques covered in the DVD: Smoothing out a textured surface; Deep pouring & embedding; Transparent and Opaque Colored Pours; Poured Collage Shapes; “Dirty Mix” Pours; Jackson Pollock Drizzle Pours; Marbleized Pours

This 70 minute DVD, Secret Tricks to Pouring Acrylic, will be available for purchase (by March 1, 2012) for $20. If interested please email nancy@nancyreyner.com