Homage to Degas

Nora, 3 months, Graphite Sketch...Today is the birthday of Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist famous for his figures of ballerinas, bathers, and other turn-of-the-century subjects. He also happens to be my favorite artist and major influence on my own art. I especially love Degas' pastels...the vibrant contrasts, the intense markings, the vivid colors. His preparatory sketches are often a combination of strong, dark shadows mixed with precise, yet loose, lines. I like to study his work and absorb what I can into my own way of seeing color and interpreting subjects. In homage to Degas, I chose a figure drawing for my daily sketch, drawing my sleeping baby girl (who was a bit squirmier than I expected, once drawing commenced!) I used my darkest pencil, marking in the shadows, contemplating the art of Degas as I recorded this day in my baby's young life.

The Tub, Edgar Degas, Pastel

Two Dancers Resting, Edgar Degas

SpectraFix Pastel Fixative

I have recently begun using a new pastel fixative introduced to me by one of my very talented art students Jenny Thornton. SpectraFix Is "a natural milk casein pastel fixative" that is non-toxic with no odor, and you can even spray it inside! It is pretty much alcohol and milk protein...it comes from cows! See?

The SpectraFix website describes the ingredients:

"SpectraFix blends art-grade milk casein with water and pure grain alcohol adding a tiny amount of isopropyl alcohol (to please the Federal Government rendering the grain alcohol undrinkable). The alcohol evaporates rapidly taking the water with it, leaving a thin film of casein which quickly dries to a protective matte surface. Even though it is milk protein, it is not subject to invasion by opportunistic organisms, as 9000 years of use as an art medium testifies."
http://www.spectrafix.com/about.html

The spray dries without darkening the colors (but don't douse it...I sprayed it lightly a couple of times about a foot above the picture, letting it dry in between coats.) I sprayed it heavily on a piece to test it, and was surprised at the little color change...while the alcohol evaporated the colors lightened almost to the original hues. I do employ heavy spraying on images that I want to deepen the rich colors and contrast, but do not recommend heavy spraying for pieces with a lot of delicate or light colors, or on something where no color change is desired, such as a portrait.

I was initially wary over the pump application, fearing that it would splatter or spray inconsistently, but when applied with a fine mist and allowed to dry between coats, I haven't experienced any trouble.  As with any fixative application, you may occasionally have a small spot appear that doesn't completely dry; this is easily fixed by adding the appropriate pastel to the spot.

The thing I find most fascinating about this spray is the history of it's ingredients. Casein has been used by artists throughout history, including my favorite artist, the French Impressionist painter and pastelist Edgar Degas. 

"Casein is simply dried milk protein and has been used for over 9000 years as a binder for pigments. Cave paintings in Asia and ancient Egytpian tomb paintings are the greatest testament to its archivability, with colors still firmly adhering to their supports with brilliant clarity of hue after literally thousands of years! No other painting medium has such an ancient and demonstrable history of stability and permanence. 

Casein has been widely used by artists since that time including medieval illuminated manuscripts, Gustav Klimt’s ‘Beethoven Frieze’, Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’, Ben Shahn, Thomas Hart Benton and many more. Since the introduction of acrylics, casein has fallen by the wayside, but it was the original foundation for the development of acrylics. It was an early type of plastic (when combined with formaldehyde) and was used for decades to make buttons, handles, trays and all manner of colorful items.

There is also great evidence that Degas used different formulations of casein as a medium and as a fixative, including liquid solutions into which he would dip his pastel stick. He was a close friend of the artist Luigi Chialiva who patented a pastel fixative using casein and alcohol back in the 1890s, and one can hardly doubt that Degas would have been instrumental in its development and popularization."
http://www.spectrafix.com/history.html

If you give SpectraFix a try, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thistle

About a week ago, while running errands with my family, on a persistent whim I decided I wanted one of the several thistles scattered along the shoulder of the road. As with most "whims," there was not much reason for it...I just saw a tall, spiky, blooming thistle and became briefly obsessed with pulling one out of the ground. Partly driven by nostalgia, remembering a trip from my youth when my parents pulled over and showed my sister and I a thistle, partly driven by an "educational opportunity" for my own children (and humor at hearing my daughter say "thithle" with her slight lisp), and partly driven by an artistic impetus, I cajoled my husband into making two loops on a busy road so I could pop out of the car and pull up my coveted thistle.

It was one of my finer moments: dressed in nice clothes, climbing out of a little mini van, carrying a brightly striped child's pullover (for spike-protection), dashing down a weed covered hill, watched by a whole intersection of onlookers merging off and onto the interstate, I quickly yanked up a thistle before scurrying back to the car with my strange prize. I'm sure I looked totally normal...

When I got close to my chosen thistle, which was much larger than I expected, I had a moment of panic that after all this trouble, in front of all these anonymous commuters, I wouldn't be able to pull it up, and there I would be tugging in vain before retreating to the car in shameful surrender. To my relief, it came up with a quick snap.

My thistle has been blooming steadily all week in it's little jar of water and giving me lots of opportunity to draw it, observe it, and reflect upon why I am fascinated by this odd plant.

At once both soft and jagged, with downy coverings and serrated thorns; both beautiful and dangerous, with soft red tufts of flower tempting the touch, while fingers must weave cautiously through the plentiful thorns. Strikingly harsh with it's stiff, sharp leaves, and artistically intriguing with it's curving, striated stems and colorful urns of flower. An unlikely place to find beauty, grace found among thorns.

Here are my impressions/studies of the thistle; I plan on trying it again soon with some different techniques.

3 Studies of a Thistle, 5x7 soft pastel on card coated with pastelground

Ocean Cliffs

Ocean Cliffs, 14x18 Soft Pastel on Card

The works of Monet and my love for the beauty of the British Isles inspired this piece; what made it's creation even better was drawing outside on such a fabulous and warm Spring day. I love Impressionism, and this particular image seemed a perfect choice for another attempt at using bolder color and strokes. In my art room above my desk, I have a handwritten quote taped to the wall by Georges Riviere from 1877: "To treat a subject for the colors and not for the subject itself, that is what distinguishes the Impressionist from other painters." I am far from an Impressionist and am constantly pulled toward capturing minute details, but this sentence echoes through my thoughts when I am drawing, pushing me to look for color over subject, for feel over accuracy. It never fails to surprise me that when I let go of rigidity and move with the colors, I step back and see that the picture has come together...and each time I delightfully wonder how it happened.