New Member from Canada

[Alexandra Tyng]

Hi Jason,

Welcome! I'm hoping you'll enjoy exchanging ideas here. This forum has been so informative for me, and I've met so many supremely talented, dedicated, and generous artists since I joined last year.

I really enjoyed seeing the work on your website. It looks like you have a lot of scientific curiosity that moves you emotionally, and the way you express it in your paintings intrigues me. If you decide to try oils, you'll get a lot of help (if you want it), but as far as acrylics go, I know there are people on this site who would love to see and hear how you handle problems like drying time, blending, etc. In fact, one of my students paints only in acrylics, and she spends what seems like a tremendous amount of time re-mixing colors that have dried on her palette, so I'd love to know some tips on the best way to retard drying time.

Alex

P.S. You're welcome to link me, too!

[Jason de Graaf]

I checked out Morgan Weistling's site...Very amazing draughtsmanship. I'm really impressed by how he can paint straight onto a canvas and start with painting an eye first and work his way out......completely antithetical to what I've been taught. I'm all about the planning (probably because I'm not as confident as he is).

You've have some really nice work too Alexandra. In acrylics the only time I may use a retarder is to paint a wide area of colour where there is a gradation like a sky. Having a mixed colour dry on your palette is a drag now that you mention it...I don't mix together a lot of colours though so it's not so hard to mix up more of the same. On some of those paintings on my site, for instance "Tim", I wanted to have a really flat colour for the background so I mixed the colour I wanted in one of those film containers so I could always have that same exact colour when needed.

[Kimberly Dow]

oooo - nice work. I especially like the balls and fruit being dropped into water.

Welcome Jason.

[Heidi Maiers]

Hi Jason,
What a pleasure to view your work. Such vivid color and jaw dropping realism. Of course your portrait work is splendid as well. So glad you dropped in here to share your talents and techniques and hope you will stick around. True, most here are oil painters, but they even welcome the odd balls like me with open arms. You'll find that our new member Joy lives up to her name - her posts are really a joy to read!

[Jason de Graaf]

Holy cow Heidi....I was perusing your site and looking at your demos, very impressive. So I know you've been asked this a millions times but how many hours does it take you to do a life sized bust?

[Heidi Maiers]

Thanks Jason,
Like painting, it all depends on the level of detail, type of clay I am working in, and whether it is a commission or not. I can complete the modeling of a ceramic bust from a live model that is not a commission in about 20 hours. Average time for a commissioned bust is about 150 hours. Sometimes there is the exception when you have a very particular customer. I have a bust in progress now that I started 6 months ago and thought it was done a couple of times, but the customer keeps sending more and more changes, even after he has approved it twice already for final skin detailing (which takes about a week on an FX bust). Very frustrating and so far have over 1000 hours into that one. Lost track. I suppose the down side of doing commission work is that it seems to mean you will work unlimited hours on a piece until the customer is satisfied.

[Terri Ficenec]

Jason--
Hi and welcome! Really enjoyed looking at the work on your website. Especially liked the landscapes (skys!) and water ones.

When I joined the forum in 2003, I was working in acrylics... some of my old acrylic stuff is around here on the forum. . . but I've removed it from my website. . . Took me about six months to try the oils and I haven't looked back. I don't find there's any more clean-up with the oils... they're fresh longer on your palette and more forgiving to your brushes if you don't clean up immediately . . . Not saying you should switch, if you're happy with your results. The crispness of the acrylics may be perfectly compatible with your style. . .

[Jean Kelly]

Hi Jason, and welcome. I've nosed around your site also. At first I had no idea that they were balls, or oranges, or anything dropping into water. I just loved the design, and the excitement they generated. Took me awhile to figure out the reality!

Jean