Featured New game: Yea or Nay?

Thanks for the description of your work. I would also like to see it some day when it's finished!

 

What were you using for a solvent? What type of varnish will you use when finished?

 

Here is a new pair kind of along the same lines as what we have been looking at. Sorry the pictures are not better but both paintings are dark and difficult to photograph.

Pair#7

Painting A: Approximately 16 x 20 and in need of restoration.



Painting B: 18 x 24. Has been cleaned and varnished, with some restoration.

 

On this particular painting, I am using alcohol. Alcohol won't touch a lot of varnishes but did in this case. I usually start with water and move up the scale to see what works. Once done, I will apply a removable varnish called Soluvar. I won't get this done any time soon. I should have just left it alone since I really don't have the time to do it just now.

http://www.conservationresources.com/Main/section_41/section41_06.htm

 

H

Hadn't heard of Soluvar.

 

Pair #7
As usual lately, don't have much time right now to comment. I like both of them. Both have undulating lines, hills, and water. In A the water is serene, with horizontal brushstrokes. In B the water is slightly rippling and reflective, and the brushstrokes are vertical.

That is all I have right now.

 

Relative to the TEST: HA!!!! Perfect 50/50......said my brain works in PERFECT harmony.......JUST wait 'til I tell the OTHER half.....Husband that is!!!!!!!!!!

 

NO, it makes you a logical, smart person!!!!!

 

Will distilled water take off varnish?????

 

Terrific Video Figtree3, thanks for posting!!!!

 

No. You use water or water based products for cleaning only. To remove varnish you need something stronger.

Edit: In reading my previous post, I can see what I said was not clear. I do start with water so that I can tell what is dirt and what is varnish. I then proceed further once I can tell what I have.

 

LOL! Well, I try to do my best!

 

Pair #7...

A -- I find the light and color pleasing, but there's something about the symmetrical shapes that makes me like it less than if they were asymmetrical. I probably wouldn't buy it and doubt I'd hang it.

B -- It's an interesting composition, well executed, and I could see it fitting in nicely in an Arts & Crafts decor. For my own personal taste, it's a bit dark and ominous for me to want to look at it every day.

 

Painting B: does anyone besides me see the huge salmon nosing into the bank? lol

 

Now that you mention it... yup! It looks like he's taking a bite out of it!

 

I like both of these #7 paintings, although I am sure I would like A better after it's been cleaned.

A reminds me of mountain "valleys" lit by a single opening in the clouds on a grey day. A spot of hope for the storm to be moving away. Is there damage about halfway up the right side or is that just something that needs to be cleaned off? A scratch in the water shaped like a capital A or part of a signature?

While B is totally different in style it also appeals to me for its Arts and Crafts look (as mentioned by Pat P.) The only thing that bothers me is that black "thing" extended from the right bank into the water. I can't really figure out what it's supposed to be - not a reflection of something on the banks; possibly a little dock with the vertical stroke at the end, but then what are the "blob" and stroke going upward a bit further to the right? And I have to say that I do not see a salmon.

 

Welllllllll...

Painting A is very pleasing to me. I get a warm and safe vibe. I enjoy the swath (swaths? streaks? bands?) of sunlight in the middle. Even so, the painting wouldn't be particularly memorable for me. Looks well-executed, well-planned. I wouldn't buy it for myself, but if I were buying it for somebody else... let me think. Okay, got it! I would buy it for a friend who lives in the sticks, where there is very comparable scenery and colors. She has very traditional tastes. This would be nice for her diningroom.

Painting B is actually pretty interesting for me. At first glance, it's one of those confusing paintings that seem to have been done by a very sophisticated artist OR a middle schooler trying out some "deep" artistic ideas. But upon closer look... I like the confusion it presents. Factories or weird clouds or volcanos in background? Rain or random stripes or more smokestacks in the sky? What's that stuff in the lake? The wind seems to be blowing in different directions! Is that a pier, with people? The light effects in the lake almost look like gothic writing (letters). The shadows aren't consistent in direction. Sayyyyy WHAAAAAT?????? Even so, I feel energy and maybe even introspection in this work.
I wouldn't buy it for myself (I only have bird prints on my walls, no paintings, not even my own), so I am falling into the habit (in this thread) of saying who might receive a painting from me as a gift. I would buy it for an influential professor I once had for a 101-level philosophy class. To me, he was one of the most brilliant, inscrutable, learned people in my world. This painting reflects the mind of a philosopher who manages somehow to question everything AND appreciate everything, all at once.
My opinion would stand even if this WAS done by a middle-school kid.

Thanks, Brad!

 

Painting A: Tear in the canvas at right just above center. Scratch looks like an A just below. Paint loss at far left center, looks white in photo.

Painting B: I couldn't see the salmon either at first. I now think the whole lake is the salmon?

I think this is a bit more challenging pair. Great comments so far!

 

Yup, it's the whole lake that could be an image of a fish.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY had a post today about an upcoming exhibition on unfinished works. It looks very interesting, and I love the image they posted representing the exhibition...

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibition...&utm_content=20160222&utm_campaign=unfinished

 

Thanks for the link. Be sure to watch the video if you go to the site.

Looks like a fascinating exhibit. Artists approach painting with various methods and this would give us a small glimpse into that. Actually, quite a rare thing to see.