‘Plein air’ is a French term used by painters to describe painting done outside on location instead of in the studio. There were, and still are, many painters who prefer to work outdoors claiming that the color of natural light is often more inspiring that that of indoor light. Other artists tend to never venture outside to paint, relying on sketches or photographs brought back to the studio. As an artist, I have done both; but, quite frankly, I prefer to work indoors using onsite sketches with numerous photographs as research for my material source. I find the constant change of light and varying weather conditions (as well as the oft interested visitor) of the outdoors are too much of a distraction for me when I am painting.

Seldom do I ever recreate a scene as it exists anyway. Reproducing a photograph is not my idea of creating art – a photographer does a much better job. I enjoy moving subjects around in a composition, often changing colors, deleting objects or adding objects that never existed in the original scene, to create a more interesting composition. Working in the studio from numerous references allows me to do this without being tied to the original subject material.

Technique is also a determining factor of plein air or not. My painting technique is such that I need the controlled conditions of the studio with consistent light and the ability to control drying time. I also enjoy being able to control the flow of my paint by easily controlling the slant of my board.

I would be interested in hearing others’ views on this.

Orion hard at work on the framing table.

Moosewalk Studios is proud to announce that we now have an assistant framer to help Gary with all of the framing obligations. Orion decided to add his hand (paws) to the framing job in order to help earn his room and board. We had not posted any job openings for an assistant, but he obviously felt that help was needed. His only pay request is an extra helping of tuna in the morning.

Orion is actually one of two Maine Coon Cats that make their home here at Moosewalk. He is a ‘tawny silver’, six year old, 21 pound male cat and measures 42 inches from his nose to the tip of his bushy tail. He also thinks he is a lap cat. The other cat, Bella, is our official ‘greeter’ when guests visit the gallery. She is small by comparison, weighing a mere 14 pounds. Both cats are extremely friendly and are a HUGE  hit with gallery guests.

Customers and visitors to the gallery frequently ask me about the paper I use as a surface for painting. I use only 300 pound bright white, cold pressed paper. What does that mean?

Paper is sold by a number of classifications, the first of which is weight. When paper is sold in bulk it is sold by the ream. A ream is approximately 500 sheets of paper. The more the 500 sheets weigh, the heavier the paper. So, 300 pound paper is thicker and heavier than 150 pound paper – it is almost a 16th of an inch in thickness making it very stiff and stable. I use 300 pound because it tends not to buckle when wet (think of the cheap – 20 pound – paper used in your school art classes). Another quality assigned to paper is the surface quality (known as the tooth). It can be hot press (very smooth), cold press (medium texture, but generally uniform in tooth) or rough which can be very irregular in texture. The ‘bright white’ refers to the color of the paper. The natural color of paper is slightly warm and creamy in tone. Just recently, archival whiteners have been developed which allow the manufactures to create a pure white paper without using harmful chemicals.

My favorite paper is manufactured by Arches from France. The company has been in the paper manufacturing business for centuries.

The Vermont Open Studios Weekend brought more than 80 ‘art lovers’ to our gallery this past weekend offering rave reviews for the new paint job and gallery layout. “A stunning, pristine gallery and studio space showing beautiful work”, “we can’t wait to return and bring our friends” were but two of the accolades.

Gary Chats with an Open Studio Visitor

We want to thank those who purchased work and  appreciate the one individual who offered to allow the purchased piece to remain hanging until a later date so as not to disturb the display.

The new sculpture garden displaying the work of Mark Schwabe is a huge hit (especially the steel and copper pieces which can be touched by the children — and adults!). Lisa and Brent Hilliker’s folk art painting adds a wonderful touch of whimsical color to the gallery and always complements the paintings and photography.

The ‘edible art’ of chocolate macaroons from Mary’s Fine Cakes and Pastries (Warren) briefly occupied gallery space — delicious!

Open Studio Weekend is the official opening of the Moosewalk Studios and Gallery for the summer/fall season. During June we are open weekends (except Saturday, June 27). We are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but are open most other days from noon to 5:00. We do suggest you call (802.583.2224) to verify. Involvement in the planning of the Vermont Festival of the Arts may take us away unexpectedly.

Gary uses only quality, lightfast pigments and fine, archival, Arches watercolor paper.

Over the days of the past weekend I have been asked about the permanence (life span) of a watercolor painting as opposed to that of an oil painting. Part of the questioning is due to the fact that oil paintings have long been considered the superior vehicle for permanent works.  This may have been true in the past, even up to a few decades ago, but it is no longer true today. The advancements in watercolor pigment manufacturing over the past few years give artists of today a quality of paint that was never dreamed possible in the past. In the September 2005 issue of THE ARTISTS’ MAGAZINE, David Pyle states, “The range of pigments that can be used to replicate historical colors with great accuracy (along with breathtaking new colors) is revolutionary. Because the vast majority of these new miracle pigments come from the automobile industry (and therefore have to be highly lightfast to withstand sun exposure), they represent a great leap forward in permanence.” Comparable improvements can be found in the paper industry. Today quality watercolor paper is acid free and capable of lasting centuries with proper care.

I use only quality, lightfast pigments and fine, archival, Arches watercolor paper when I create a painting. The painting is then placed in an appropriate frame with acid free matting and backer-board to keep it free from dust and dirt. There is no reason why one of my paintings should not offer generations-long permanence comparable to that of an oil painting. Proper care dictates that any piece of fine art should be kept away from direct UV rays (this includes the older fluorescent tube lights as well as direct sunlight).

There are two methods of creating reproductions of fine art in use today. The older, traditional method is off-set lithography where hundreds or thousands of prints can be produced at one time allowing for a less expensive and frequently inferior print. The newer, more sophisticated process is called giclee (pronounced zhee-clay) where prints are produced one at a time with great color and texture accuracy.

With off-set lithography, a photographic image of the original work is created. The image is then separated into individual color plates corresponding to the color inks to be used in the final printing process. Each color is printed individually from a metal plate requiring any number of runs through a press with the printer trying to match the position of each layer of ink printed (not always successfully) to the layer of ink below (called registration). The quality and weight of the paper is limited by the capabilities of the press and the colors can vary depending on the quantity and quality of the ink used. The process is not unlike the process used to print newspapers and magazines.

With the giclee process, a computer image of the original work is created. The image created is very high resolution and is true to the original in terms of brushwork, texture and color. A technician then manipulates the computer file to get the appearance even closer to that of the original, with the correct color being the key element. Once the artist approves a proof, the image is stored as a file on the computer. Each print is then produced one at a time to guarantee accuracy. Unlike the off-set process, which requires multiple passes through the press with the hope of producing accurate colors, all of the colors of the giclee are produced using archival pigments with one pass allowing complete color, texture, and brushwork accuracy for each print. Furthermore, the printing can be done on the same type of surface (canvas, paper, etc.) as the original work of art.

When a giclee is placed next to the original, it is nearly impossible to tell which the original is and which the giclee is.

How permanent is a giclee? In recent years the ink industry has developed stable, light-fast, pigment inks for large format computers used to produce the giclee. At the same time, the paper industry has expanded and improved lines of paper to make them compatible with specialized, computer printers. This combination has made giclees viable as permanent pieces of art. You can purchase a giclee knowing that it will increase in value just as the original work of art.