BTG Blog

The Double Merits of the Final Varnish

by Clint Watson

This article is by Clint Watson,  former art gallery owner/director/salesperson and founder of FineArtViews. You should follow Clint on Twitter here.

 

I posted this as a comment on the Reddot Blog and expanded it a bit here.

 

One marketing idea you can utilize is to contact your customers periodically to provide cleaning and maintenance on past pieces that they've purchased from you.  This can often lead to another sales opportunity, but you don't have to make it into one, you can let that happen naturally.  This is also a great technique for those who are unsure or shy about being too "salesy."

 

Back when I owned an art gallery, I used to do a similar thing with great results:  Each time someone purchased a painting I would make a note to call them back in six months.  At that time, I would let them know that their painting needed to be brought in (or picked up by me, if feasible) for the final varnish.

This re-connection often led to a series of events that ended in another art sale.

It's also a great thing to do because it's not solely for marketing purposes, although that's a fantastic side-effect.

 
In fact, the final varnish is critical for oil paintings and often can't even be applied for six months after the painting is completed (or even a year in some cases).  In today's fast-paced world where everyone needs results and sales today, most artists can't afford to wait the six months, let alone a year, to apply the final varnish and then ship the painting to the gallery.  So lots of paintings end up being sold without the final varnish.  (Note: the final varnish is NOT the temporary liquin that CAN be applied immediately to give an oil painting that glossy, varnished look - that will wear off).

I may be telling you something you already know, but a quick story:  The varnish on an oil painting serves the same purpose as the glass on a watercolor - protection.  I became a full believer in this when one of our customers had a house fire which luckily was put out before the house burned to the ground, but it did cause a lot of smoke-damage to their extensive collection of oil paintings.  Out of desperation, they brought the paintings to the gallery - I would guess around 50 oil paintings - and the pieces looked like someone had framed 50 black canvases.

I didn't have high hopes.

 
We took the art to a local art restoration expert.  And amazingly, she was able to completely save every single painting.  And she told us why:  A few months earlier we had contacted this particular couple and offered to varnish all of their oil paintings.  The restoration expert told us that the varnish had saved the paintings.  All she had to do was strip the varnish off and the paintings themselves, perfectly protected, were in pristine condition.  All we had to do was apply a new coat of varnish.

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Warm Light Makes Cooler Shadows

 

Warm Light Makes Cooler Shadows

by Lori Woodward

Today's post is by Lori Woodward.  Lori earned a bachelor's degree in Art Education from the University of Arizona.  As a freelance writer for various art publications, she has written more than 60 published articles for  American Artist, Watercolor, Workshop, and International Artist Magazines since 1996. Her paintings, along with instructional articles, have been featured in Watercolor Magazine since 2007, and in American Artist's Highlights Issue, Step by Step 2011, with the article: "Moving into Acrylics".  Woodward has co-authored the book, "Watercolor Step by Step" a Walter Foster Publication, and authored a chapter for Calvin Goodman's "Art Marketing Handbook for the 21st Century".  She has been a member of the Putney Painters since 2004, a small invitational group of painters who are mentored by Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik.

 

Before I studied with Richard Schmid, I understood how to use color and value in my landscapes, but in a less scientific way than I do now. I knew that shadows are darker than the sunlit objects, and I even knew that the reflected light in the shadows was always darker than anything in the light.

 

Furthermore, I could match the local color of my objects fairly well, but that's about where my knowledge with color ended. I'm sure some of my instructors, along the line, explained the concept of: Warm Light = Cool Shadows, Cool Light = Warm Shadows, but when Richard explained how the temperature of light and shadow varies depending on the color of the light, my brain's light bulb finally lit up (pun intended).

 

 

The Golden Season (Branch Creek) - by Michael Godfrey oil 8x8

Notice in Michael Godfrey's painting above how the foreground rocks and shore in the light are warmer (more orange) than the same objects in the shadow (where they're more blue/gray)

 

For this post, I'll use the artwork of Micheal Godfrey and Lisa Mitchell to demonstrate this first segment where I'll discuss - warm light, means cool hued shadows. I could paint my own examples, but that would take me too long; I'd never get this post finished, and besides, these artists visually articulate these concepts so well that it doesn't make sense to look any further. Yes, I do have permission from the artists to use their images!

 

To begin, let's talk about the color of sunlight on a sunny day. Near dawn and dusk, the light is very warm (you knew that, eh?). Without going into talking about how prisms work and a lot of other scientific facts (which my husband would love to discuss), I'll just say that early/late day sunlight is warm because red light waves are longer and can pass through a lot of atmosphere. When the sun is straight overhead, there is a thinner amount of atmosphere, so we see the shorter, bluer waves of light.

 

 

Moving On, by Lisa Mitchell Pastel 18x24

In the painting above, the areas of grass in the shadows takes on a bluer hue, while the areas in the warm sunlight show some orange and yellow.

 

You're probably wondering why in the world I'm making such a simple concept sound so complex... because the color of light is complex.  I'll explain why... When light is warm, the shadows are cooler in color - slightly bluer and often grayer.  BUT! You can't just paint all the light areas orange and the shadows blue. We still have to take into account the local color of the object. So when a green tree is lit by the setting sun, the part of that green foliage in the shadow is bluer while the green in the late day sunlight has touches of warm yellow and orange in the green. If the grass in the landscape is partly in light and partly in shadow, the part in the light will show orange and warm yellow tones, while the shadow areas show more blue/green.

 

Take a good look at the images I've provided, and you'll see what I'm describing.

 

Room To Breathe - by Lisa Mitchell pastel 18x24

In Lisa's painting, the foreground grass in the shadow is blue/green while in the sunlight, this same grass contains warmer yellows and orange.

 

Likewise, if an autumn tree (rust colored) is lit by the warm morning or evening light, the part in the sunlight is a definite orange/red - a clean clear color, while its shadow counterpart is slightly bluer and grayer, yet still retains the color of autumn foliage.

 

 

Shenandoah River Shadows - by Micheal Godfrey 24x36

In Michael's painting above, the season is autumn, and where the warm sunlight passes along the tree foliage, the leaves tend toward orange... which would be expected since their local color is yellow/orange. However, where these same trees are in shadow, the foliage is darker, grayer and slightly bluer... meaning cooler in hue.

 

In later posts, I'll talk about the color of light and shadow on a sunny mid-day scene and on an overcast/gray day. Now here's something else I learned from Richard. The darkest darks are always "hot"... and although I've tried to observe this in the landscape,  it's not apparent to me. One thing I do know: When I paint my darkest areas warm (instead of a dark blue) they look much darker. I'm not talking about using red, but a very warm brown or a bit of alizarin crimson to warm the darkest areas in foliage or at the base of a nearby stand of trees, or even the cracks between rocks.  As I said, that'll be explained on a later post.

 

Please don't hesitate to ask for clarification if any of this seems confusing. I'm happy to share and explain. For those of you who already understand these concepts, I hope you enjoyed looking at the lovely paintings. For others, some of whom may be struggling with painting believable color relationships, I hope this gave you a greater understanding.

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This article originally appeared at:
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Facebook Reality is a Myth

Facebook Reality is a Myth

by Carolyn Henderson

This article is by Carolyn Henderson, the managing half of Steve Henderson Fine Art. She is a Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews and her  freelance writing appears in regional newspapers, online magazines, and her humor blog, Middle-Aged Plague.

 

I know someone whose father just died. Ten hours after it happened, she found herself in the grocery store, picking up food for the family.

 

"And how are you today?" the clerk asked.

 

"I'm fine," she answered. ("My father just died," she said to herself. "I'm not fine.")

 

"Oh, good. Good. That's quite a nice roast chicken. It smells delicious."

 

"Yes it does," she answered. ("It wasn't unexpected, but it was sudden. I'm in shock.")

 

"Add a salad and some bread, and you've got a meal!"

 

"The white wine will complete it." ("Actually, I don't feel like eating at all.")

 

"Have a nice day!"

 

"You too." ("Thank God that's over.")

 

I imagine that the clerk had no idea of the actual state of his customer's mind or being, which isn't surprising since the main clues available to him would have been the woman's words, demeanor, and body language -- all well under control.

 

Most of us who are grownups have learned that, when someone asks, "How are you?" the standard and acceptable response is "Fine, just fine," since general acquaintances and daily contacts aren't looking to hear about the perforated ulcer, the messy divorce, or the child on drugs.

 

Translate this into the art world, where chicken by-products come in the form of depressed art sales (or none at all), galleries closing, lack of inspiration, creditors knocking, canceled shows, rejection letters, dried-up publicity, and general discouragement.

 

Seriously, is this the kind of stuff that artists post on their website or Facebook page?

 

"No sales in three months, and a backlog of 48 paintings. Turned in my application to Burger Babe today!"

 

"Spent more on cookies and chocolate nuts for the reception than we'll ever see in sales!"

 

"Wii came out with a new painting exercise game -- have been at it for hours!"

 

One of my favorite comments was actually a real one, uttered in a moment of absolute honesty from the curator of a non-profit art association:

 

"I don't know why we bother with insuring the work in this building. I mean, if we can't sell it, how would the thieves do it?"

 

Okay, this all sounds bad, real bad, so before you get depressed, remind yourself that life has its ups and downs, and both bad things and good things happen, generally concurrently. The important thing is this: when things are good, people talk about them; when things are bad, people keep quiet.

 

Remind yourself of this, as you read about or attend other artists' shows, look through other artists' sites, glance at other artists' hoots and Tweets and Facebook bleats.

 

"Despair!" -- such is the Facebook post of high school drama divas who precede it by "He loves me!" and follow by, "It's complicated." Professional artists, however, are not of this caliber, and they refrain from cataloging every emotion in the public sector.

 

Whether the times are bad or good, they post their new paintings, provide information about upcoming shows, report on recent publicity, showcase their artwork in a positive light and encourage communication and dialogue. They look like what they are: adult businesspeople who conduct themselves with propriety and maturity in the public marketplace; their actual affairs are personal, shared with only a few close friends or family members, probably not you or me.

 

Tired-of-Being-Youngest, our youngest progeny, offers these words of advice about Facebook, but they can be interpolated to a broader spectrum of all human interaction, be it face to face or social media, written or spoken, direct or indirect:

 

"It's not like you post anything personal on Facebook, and only a few people really get into splattering their lives and their feelings there. I usually block them.

 

"You post news -- what you're doing, where you're going, what book you just read, the movie you've seen. You keep things positive, because you're updating people, and they want information, not drama."

 

Let me summarize this: Do Not Covet.

 

In the same way that we do not look at the neighbor's car, dog, house, job, spouse or waist measurement and compare it to our own -- wish it were our own -- we do not look at other artists' information, guesstimate how they are doing, and slink to a dark corner where we uncontrollably weep.

 

Good times and bad will be had for all. We all walk our own path. It is easier to do so when we keep our eyes on the road in front of us, and don't let them wander in every direction but forward.

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This article appears courtesy of FineArtViews by FASO Artist Websites,
a free email newsletter about art, marketing, inspiration and fine living for artists,
collectors and galleries (and anyone else who loves art).

This article originally appeared at:
http://faso.com/fineartviews/30520/facebook-reality-is-a-myth

For a complimentary subscription, visit: http://faso.com/art-marketing-newsletter

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