Art Spirit Newsletter, April 15th, 2017 Spring Edition: Crawford Notch
Residency
"Wintery View from Red Bench, Crawford Notch NH" an oil sketch on
cradled gypsum gessoed board 11 x 14 inches by Michael E. Vermette.
"Wintery View from Red Bench, Crawford Notch NH" an oil sketch on
cradled gypsum gessoed board 11 x 14 inches by Michael E. Vermette.
The following is the seventh journal entry on February 23rd, of Michael
E. Vermette's Artist-in-residency at Crawford Notch at the Appalachian
Mountain Club's new Outdoor Highland Center in Crawford Notch State
Park and the White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire. The
duration of his residency was a week long, between February 19th to
February 25th, 2017. In this time he created 11 painted oil sketches
that were made completely outdoors en plein air within the region.
Sometimes near the lodge, other times hiking up to 5 miles to and from
a site on snowshoes with his studio on his back, he painted in the
coldest weather and in the most challenging conditions. On the first
day he featured a presentation of the White Mountain Painters and the
following week an Open Studio exhibition of his work, displaying two
new paintings each day between 4PM and 6PM for the guests at the AMC
Highland Center. This is his story.
CONFIDENCE OR CONVENIENCE?
The next morning I hiked around Ammonoosuc Lake prompted by a
conversation I had at last nights diner with a volunteer who guided a
group to Red Bench off the Ammonoosuc Lake trail. I had heard that Red
Bench had an excellent view of Mount Washington and she confirmed it. I
also dined with a family from Maine who shared their plans to x-country
ski today. The trail divides to the right and left when you reach the
lake, and since I always took the right trail on previous occasions, I
decided to hike around the lake on the left side. You could see through
the leafless trees that the railroad bed was close to the lake,
something that I never knew before. At the end of the lake where I
painted in the Fall a few years ago, the view was not very interesting
with no open water, reflections and just a lot of snow as with a field.
Also, Clouds had moved into the valley and obscured any mountain views.
So I continued further onto the Red Bench trail which I had never hiked
on before. The Red Bench trail is not a very long trail. It crosses the
railroad bed that had a foot or so of snow that was groomed for skiers
and that seems to go on for miles. The trail parallels the railroad bed
and continues back into the woods and ascends to a small bluff that has
a good sized red painted bench with a spectacular view of Mount Pierce,
the Presidential Range and Mount Washington to the left.
The clouds obscured most of the mountain range that morning as I set up
and continued to paint my oil sketch. The sun broke through brilliantly
and illuminated the forest snow with bluish green turquoise tones as
with blue ice. I used the tree to my right as my vertical in the
composition and described the pinkish gray tones of the forest as a
busy thatch shape of brush and tree. Eventually the mountains all
appeared and I could see why the view was so popular. I took many
reference photos for a future painting, but didn't try to alter my
sketch by including Mount Washington. I also took pictures of the
father in the family I met last night as he skied by and waved. I
thought this would make an excellent addition to the larger painting I
wanted to do back in the studio. There is just so many layers of angles
that recess in space that framed the skier beautifully. The viewer can
watch while skiers go by all day without even being detected. It is
amazing just how peaceful it is to sit and paint on a bench that is
completely shaded with a commanding viewing angle that yields a high
alpine horizon line.
During my development of this painting I began to think of my Open
Studio sessions that I have been hosting as the artist-in-residence at
the AMC Highland Center. They are two hours in length from 4 PM to 6PM
and just before dinner. Last night's Open Studio was particularly
memorable because of how rich the conversation was in regard to my
process of making an oil sketch. There is always a few things that I
like to point out in regards to how my paintings are constructed, as an
impasto plein air painter. I like to point out that the whole painting
sketch is made from my palette knife and my fingers now and then. I
talk about the substrate that I paint on and the medium I mix into my
colors to give them viscosity by which I paint my impasto style.
First I'll begin by informing my visitors about the highly prized
surface that I paint on. These wood panels were made of a 1/8 birchwood
panel that has been cradled with a frame and glued to the back of the
board to prevent warping. Then I prepare the wood with a stone coated
surface called gypsum or Terra Alba chalk (which is an alabaster stone
powder) mixed with animal glue. The gesso also has a equal measure of
Zinc White pigment added to it to make the many layers that I apply
semi-transparent. That stone coated panel is a great feature in itself,
in that it produces a luminous panel, but what I like most about this
surface is the ability it has to soak up water like stucco. I have
painted with much success in the rain, snow, sub-zero frost all
settling down on the surface of my substrate while painting, all with
little or no affect to the oil paint's ability to stick to the surface,
and I might add, producing sometimes some amazing results. Acrylic
gessoed surfaces just do not have this benefit. They repel the paint
making it slide off the substrate and causing the painter to quit for
the day. Gypsum Gessoed boards are simply the best plein air surface
for extreme weather conditions because they gives the artist an edge
over surfaces that are simply non-absorbent.
The other thing I like to talk about is the medium that I add to my
pure oil paints. First I begin with the purest high quality oil paint
that has nothing in it but pure pigment and only linseed oil. Then I
add Black Oil Wax medium that I make myself from a very old master
formula. This medium that I make myself is nothing like what is sold on
the market today such as Maroger's medium. In the book, "The Secret
Formulas and Techniques of the Masters" written by Jacques Maroger, the
former technical director of the laboratory of the Louvre Museum in
Paris, and President of the Restorers of France, offers the famous
formula for making Black Oil Wax medium. The medium is perfect for
those who prefer rich painting consistency, faster drying time and are
adventurous with the palette knife. After a series of trial and error
formulas Maroger finally produces the wax medium that I use even today.
It has linseed oil, bees wax, and Litharge (1/10 of the rust of lead).
Many of the black oil wax mediums made by different companies today all
have these ingredients but they add turpentine or a damar varnish as a
fourth ingredient and call it Maroger's medium. But this is not what I
make or the Black Oil Wax medium that James Fitzgerald used as well as
the early Venetian painters such as Rubens, Titian and Rembrandt; who
not only painted on wood panels, but also tin and copper plates. My
medium and the medium they used does not darken the colors, it makes
them brighter, translucent and creates a luster to the paint. My wax
medium also has no solvent in it that dulls and cracks the oil paint
over time. The medium I make myself is flexible and will never crack.
And because of the small percentage of lead in the medium I use gloves,
because one should avoid contact until the painting is dry. Then it is
completely safe. And as thick as I paint, it skins over and is dry to
the touch overnight even in the dampest weather. It omits no odor that
is harmful such as all solvents do affecting the heart and central
nervous system. Turpentine, varnishes and other solvent based dryers
can also penetrate the skin and enter the blood stream making it much
more dangerous in the long term.
My Black Oil wax medium is simple and safer if treated with respect, it
also acts as a tack improving the adhesion of paint over paint so that
you don't have to paint thin to thick. This adhesion quality is why the
Venetian painters used Black Oil Wax medium when they painted on tin
and cooper. Many times I have painted thick over thick with virtually
no mixing of color from underneath coming through. Most people who talk
negatively against this medium have never tried the authentic Black Oil
Wax Medium that the masters used and are basing all their observations
on the Maroger's medium that is on the market today. I have tried these
ochre colored brands myself and have found them worthless and too
expensive anyway. It is even a different color than my dark coffee
colored medium. My black oil wax medium feels different, is thicker and
is also archival giving it added permanency to the paint.
The other thing I like about using this medium, is that I can extend
oil paint up to half medium to half oil paint. I can virtually extend
one tube to make two tubes of expensive paint for the cost of one,
making the mixtures more semitransparent without any wrinkling in the
drying process. Many people think I go through a lot of oil paint. But
in actuality I use a whole lot less than they would think and probably
no more than they do. The visitors at the AMC Highland center were
amazed as they would check out the dark coffee colored medium that
always disappears in the enlivened paint mixtures that I demonstrated
with my assorted palette knives. And these facts that I shared
intrigued them and gave them insight that allowed them to gain a better
understanding of how quality materials actually make painting more
adventurous, successful and enjoyable. Black Oil Wax medium if it is
made right, will bring the fun back into oil painting, making the paint
the consistency of smooth peanut better. I make three different
thicknesses for different seasons. For this residency I used a thiner
version that refused to freeze solid in sub-zero climate and worked
beautifully.
They say that a truly creative person rids him or herself of all
self-imposed limitations. And though I believe that's true, there is so
much more to achieving happiness as a painter. The method of making a
highly prized plein air substrate and my own Black oil wax medium is
nothing I learned from College. This knowledge was learned by pursuing
excellence in my own painting by interviewing people who knew a master
painter or by reading from various different art material books. More
importantly in the end, it came by rediscovering the revelation and
technical invention that brought excitement back to the process of oil
painting. Although it has taken years to perfect the making of these
preparation techniques, I never viewed an unsuccessful batch or surface
as a failure. It all just brought me closer to success and into the
process that the old master's actually used.
Choosing art materials off the shelf in an art store that are
substandard in quality is limiting yourself. Sure you can paint right
away without having to prepare first, but it robs the painter in a few
ways. It takes away the confidence of knowing just what you are
painting on and leaving it up to someone else to conserve and restore
your painting down the road. It does not give a sense of anticipation
in the preparation for the adventures in future painting experiences.
My residency is certainly an adventure and I have had just as much
thrill preparing my materials as I have painting on them in plein air.
But even more importantly, buying substandard materials off the shelf
doesn't make painting easier and more focused, but it actually adds to
the distraction that the artist has to overcome on location. I can't
tell you just how many times I have seen painters quite because of
equipment and material failure due to having to fight the elements of
nature. And since plein air painting in nature is the best teacher you
can possibly have, you will never know just how good you can be if you
don't use the best quality materials. Besides, you just can't capture
everything you need with a photo that you work up later in the studio.
Sometimes you just have to get a little cold, a little wet, and even a
little worn down to capture nature at its best. But all that stamina
comes not from a sense of duty, but one of happiness that comes with
knowing your materials will hold up in even the most challenging
elements. Confidence is not gained from convenience, but confidence is
gained in quality; and this is the place where heaven comes down and
kisses your painting.
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