studio products medium demo

This is the first part of the demonstration using the Studio Products 3 part medium kit.



This is basically a very loose sketch where I just want to have a little infomation to "build" my painting on. I used the #1 underpainting medium with a mixture of earth tones for my underpainting. This dries very matte ( and REALLY quickly ) and will be receptive to my second / third / fourth... layers where I block in some shape and color. The underpainting should be "lean" (as in it should have as little oil as possible) in order to have it dry quickly and so that you have a strong paint layer to build upon. Each layer should have slightly more medium ( containing oil- the "fat" part ) than the last. The point of this being that you don't want to paint over layers of paint that dry slower than ones on top of them ( this will eventually lead to cracking).

Now a word on safety:

This medium does contain lead. Now, I know you're supposed to flail your arms and say "Danger, Will Robinson" whenever we hear the "L" word, but seriously there are some things to consider here. First, I have kids, a little dog ( who doesn't need ANY more problems), and a family around me a lot. Do you know how I keep them from getting any of the negative toxic effects of using some of these materials?

I DON'T PAINT AROUND THEM.

If you take some relatively minor precautions, you can work with all of these materials safely. Wash your hands. Don't eat or smoke around your painting, and work in a well ventilated area. Turpentine can be absorbed through clean skin, but its the only solvent that will dissolve Damar ( OMS won't and really shouldn't be included in your medium either ). So...

DON'T GET TURPENTINE ON YOUR SKIN.

Flake White causes testicular cancer ( they actually print these very words on the label), but is a totally invaluable white to have in your palette. So...

DON'T RUB FLAKE WHITE OIL PAINT ON YOUR ... Oh, wait... you can get the cancer through other methods of absorption. Just be careful with it.

Anyhow, that's my thinking on painting safely. I think the lengths that Robert Gamblin and M. Graham have gone to in order to make oil painting safer are wonderful ( alkyd mediums are still petroleum based, so... ). I think that their paints and mediums are fantastic regardless of the added safety, and I use them. I do also think that an oil painter should have as many products at his disposal as possible in order to make the best work , and the "old master" materials and methods are too important to discard in an effort to make things totally "safe" ( which is not the case with ANY oil painting supplies... AT ALL). If an individual is too stupid to follow some pretty simple precautions, I think they might feel more comfortable using the family of products from the Crayola family. Pin It Now!

the mysterious cube

the mysterious cube , 2009

24" x 24" , oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery


I saw a commercial for the Inspiration Cafe in Chicago tonight during the "Oscars". This was cool because I received the first place award in their 16th annual juried exhibition on March 13 . Even more weird is the fact that my show at Judy Saslow gallery titled "Fresh Faces 2009" is also on March 13. The piece that I won the juried exhibition will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Inspiration Cafe on the night of the show. The Inspiration Cafe corporation is a wonderful organization that fights homelessness in a multi-tiered fashion through education and the provision of food and housing. I am very lucky to be able to contribute a little in their good work.

My favorite episode of "The Adventures of Superman" is The Mysterious Cube. In this episode, there's a criminal-killer guy who seals himself inside a cube of metal that "even Superman cannot penetrate" for seven years. The really stupid part is that everyone goes along with the idea that the guy ( who everyone knows is Mr. Robber-Killer ) will be declared dead after seven years, and thus be ineligible for prosecution. I remember even as a little kid that this didn't sound like the way it worked. So, you can go off and rob and kill a bunch of people and then hide for seven years? No, Chief Inspector Henderson.

Superman "solves" this one by consulting a local scientist who convinces him to "concentrate really hard" in order to manipulate his molecules enough to pass through the cube. See? You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Its also funny that as a kid I was willing to suspend my disbelief enough to go along with the molecule-manipulation thing by a super-human being from another world, but wouldn't bite on the "seven years-get-out-of-prosecution" thing. Pin It Now!

h bomb

h bomb, 2009

24" x 24", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

Here's something pretty cool. Studio Products , a company that makes some of the finest ( and hardest to find) artist supplies has moved their factory roughly a mile away from my house. The same guy that makes the absolute best gessoed panels, Realgesso, also makes some of the best paint available to the fine artist.

I don't paint with the exact method every time, but I generally use the "old master" working method involving an underpainting, something of a Grisaille ( grayscale ) layer, and then a glazing of color. This company has a three-part medium kit that accompanies each step of the painting. I'm going to try it out this week, and I'll post some progress pictures. I will say that I am really enchanted by the chemistry oil painting with regard to using mediums. I usually use Gamblin's assortment of oil painting mediums ( all of Robert Gamblin's paints and mediums are alkyd based), but I do like using the "old master" recipes ( there's like a million cool little ways to tweak oil mediums with balsams, waxes and oils in order to customize your painting style ). Generally, in order to make a Caravaggio style painting, you use a certain working order, but you need the right medium to make it work effectively.




Also, I got some paint that they actually made right there. Yes, I totally dig the whole we-make-it right-here-thing. I got a sample of the colors I use in my regular palette, and I have to say that this paint has some of the highest pigment of any I've used ( similar to a Williamsburg or Old Holland ) with an exacting measure of paint to pigment ratio.

Here's the thing; if I've learned anything it's that you need to use good paint. Good supports and mediums are important, but the paint is the critical element. If you use some crap student brand paint, you are working harder at fighting your supplies than concentrating on the aesthetics of your piece. Hey, you'll use more paint ( there's generally less pigment and more oil in cheap oil paints ), but at least it will take you longer to finish. Pin It Now!

KISS ( Love Gun)

KISS ( LOVE GUN), 2009

15" x 30", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

When I was in third grade there was this kid named Amzi who was this huge Kiss fan . His really "cool" parents had taken him to a KISS concert, and he was member of the KISS ARMY ( according to his notebook ).

I remember he brought all of his KISS albums to class for show-and-tell, and nobody was really into KISS at the time ( the average Georgia third grader, I mean). I also remember that he got into this weirdo-crying-"I HATE ALL of YOU"-fight with the entire class when his albums were not adequately revered by his peers . Now I vividly remember thinking that it was really bizarre that a kid would have this sort of reaction to other kids in the class not liking his KISS albums. I mean, yeah, boys usually are the ones who do all of the crying in grade-school, but this was a stand-out performance.

Okay, cut to 1987 in my P.E. class, and two guys get into an actual physical fight over...Motley Crue. Okay, at the end of the fight ( remember, we're like 16 years old, but this is the emotionally stunted rural south) the "Coach" breaks up the fight.

FUN FACT:

All male teachers in southern high schools are referred to as "Coach", whether they coach anything, or not.

Okay, Coach Billy Joe Bob Frank breaks up this slapping-scratching-rolling-around-fighty thing, and the one kid breaks down and cries. Yes, he cries, and with all the sadness and angst of a little girl whose pony has died,this kid says,''He said Vince Neil is a queer!".

I must also note that the word queer in this case is spoken in multiple syllables. Its pronounced "kU-wEEEr".

Did you know that I was the only one who actually got sent to the office for this fight. Yeah, I was "sent up" for laughing.

... and maybe for pointing out to the "coach" and the two boys the whole irony of the fact that this kid was fighting for the supposed honor of his boy/man love object ( in this case, Vince Neil of Motley Crue).

Oh, and one other thing ; on the day of this fight ( and this is the best part ), we were learning square dancing in class with 23 boys and 4 girls. Awesome. Pin It Now!

the big tomato

the big tomato, 2009

24" x 24", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery


"The Big Tomato" is a Dragnet radio show from 1951 ( Sorry, but I've been listening to these a lot lately while I paint...). In this episode, "the big tomato" is the main supplier for "tea" in the Los Angeles area, and Joe and Ben ( Romero, his partner who, incidentally, nobody can ever pronounce his name). The main guy is smuggling the weed in tomato cans into the country, and it's up to Joe to shut it down.

I've recently been "tooling up" my new website, and revising my "artist's statement" and biography ( I guess that doesn't really change much, but...), and I realized something; some of the information that I had read through various artist's websites is written in the third person. As if some authority had come in and written it on their behalf ( when, in fact, we know that the guy/ gal wrote this thing themselves).

If I write a bunch of slick sounding "art speak" on my behalf ( in the third person) will I elevate my work? Is the artist ever really the qualified person to speak about his/ her work? I realize that it's sort of a "launching point" for people to see where the artist is coming from, but seriously, some of these "statements" come off maybe a little...hmmm... pretentious.

This is my new artist statement ( for today ):

Nature aesthetic feelings words oppression government bad people mean words global warming words economy little puppies babies racism mutually assured self destruction more words visa mastercard check or cash.

Good, huh?


Ah, forget that one. This one's better.

My new artist statement ( for tomorrow, but not the day after):


My artwork can cure cancer, so... buy some and you won't "catch" it.


Love,

Otto Pin It Now!

songbirds

songbirds, 2009

30" x 40" , oil on canvas

available at the Judy Saslow gallery


Over the last couple of months I've finished A LOT of paintings. I have to say this period was made more difficult due to the onset of epilepsy by my little dog named "Peanut" ( which has been spelled wonderfully by my niece as "Peenut"). Just when I would really get into something ( because its ALWAYS when you least expect it), my little pal would turn into a canine tsunami. All of my redneck acquaintances told me they would "put her down". This, incidentally, is why I continually make fun of them ( seriously, if anyone is sucking up too much of my oxygen its...). I just look at it as another facet of her personality. The shaking-all-over-and-knocking-over-expensive-lamps-side of her personality.

Okay, I have to share ( which in most cases I'm the last one to hear about these things ) something cool that has totally enhanced my painting environment. This would be the inclusion of Joe Friday's lectures on the evils of "tea". Check it out:



The moral of this story is that if you smoke pot, your children will die. Thanks, Joe.

Either way, these episodes of Dragnet '68, '69, and '70 will probably not be available on DVD, and you can watch them ALL on HULU.

Free ( previously unavailable ) Dragnet episodes. My doggy has epilepsy.

The "Lawd" giveth, and the "Lawd" taketh away. Pin It Now!

some new work for '09

apple cock , 2009

20" x 20", oil on canvas


When I was in fifth grade, I got in trouble by Mrs. Brown ( now dead ) for "conspiring to corrupt fellow students" by looking up dirty words in the giant dictionary in the school library ( and then circling them). Mrs. Brown was an old "suthun" troll who fell asleep during class and had daily readings from the bible ( only in Georgia can you get away with that sort of thing).





town crier , 2009

12" x 12" , oil on canvas


Yeah, I suppose there is an element of danger when you walk out the front door. I guess how you deal with this sort of "doom" defines what sort of person you are. I think what I'm really saying is that unless you work in a hospital or the local dump, do you really need to carry around a little container of Purell hand sanitizer?


Here's a couple of paintings that will be in the Miller Gallery's "Rosemary's Babies" show on February 13. Over the last couple of years, I've made over 200 little paintings and its been nice getting back to larger sizes. Also, working on canvas has been different too ( the boards tend to "suck" the paint into it while the canvas has more of a tooth to work with).

Please contact the Miller Gallery in Cincinnati, OH for more information about purchasing either of these paintings. Pin It Now!

January Challenge

This is the challenge for January. Jelaine sent us this cool little bottle. I actually was the cause of the delay in this month's posting ... again. I'll get it together. Over the next few days, I'll be posting some of my new paintings going out to the galleries.

Looking at this month's group of paintings, I come off like "mr. downer", but I think I subconsciously went against the flavor of my new work ( which could be the converse of my little bottle painting).




M Collier

Nectar Detector's, 2009

6" x 6", oil on panel




Jelaine Faunce's

Female Pills, 2009

6" x 6" , oil on panel



Otto's

"Son, we found this in your room, and...", 2009

6" x 6" , oil on panel Pin It Now!

Rosemary's Babies 2

I'm happy to be a part of the Miller Gallery's upcoming show "Rosemary's Babies 2" on February 13, 2009 in Cincinnati. The work offered by the Miller Gallery is stunning and I'm proud to participate in their show. Also, the gallery site is pretty cool too with lots of info and pictures of the work.

Speaking of "cool sites", I'm giving ottolange.com a little make-over magic with the help of my good pal and the second funniest guy I know, Walter Stephens. I'd also like to thank Mark Shufflebottom for figuring out the math to make my site come to life ( and why I feel just a little bit dumber when I think of my attitude in high school ... "Ha! Calculus? Like I'm ever gonna need this!!" ).

Live and learn...and get Luvs ( which ,incidentally, is kind of a crappy sentiment for your children ). "Yeah, we used to use those expensive diapers for our first kid, but now that we're on number four we just pick up a few copies of the Sunday paper!". Pin It Now!

finished portrait painting

portrait ( with lolli'), 2008

30" x 30", oil on canvas



I finally finished my portrait. Sometimes my method of painting is difficult in that I want to continually work on something that requires a "drying period". The other part is that I have to visualize the end result though a series of seemingly unrelated glazes. Its like working on a puzzle where I know there's a picture there, but I have to put pieces in a certain order before I start to see the end.

I feel now its okay to start pulling out my Christmas albums. They were pushing the Christmas thing the day after Halloween ( Andy Williams floating in the air next to the 1/2 price Jack O Lanterns?).

One thing I do look forward to in the holiday season is the Rankin / Bass stop-motion Christmas movies. Paul Frees is one of my favorite voices ( he also did voice work with William "Cannon" Conrad on The Whistler radio show ). Pin It Now!

portrait painting part 5

This is my portrait with the shirt "sketched in" and the hair with more detail. I'm using a Maroger medium for this painting and its taking a little more time to dry. I think the humidity is screwing around with it.

I was watching ( well, listening to it) to The Road to Utopia while I was painting. There's a line that Bob has that makes me laugh every time. In this "Road" movie, the movie starts with Bob finally getting Lamour in the future ( they have bad grey wigs and make-up). As they're getting ready to go to bed, Dot hears a familiar singing outside ( from Bing... presumed dead), and she say's, " do you hear that, Chester ( Bob )? ". Bob's line: " Hmmm ... yeah, who'd be sellin' fish at this hour?". Pin It Now!

portrait painting part 3 ...and 4

This is a little more on my portrait. The hair is kind of "sketched in" at this point ( the underpainting is showing through more than it will be in the finished work).




This is a little more done with the background painted in. I let a little underpainting come through to warm up the tones. When everything dries a little, I'll get a little more aggressive with my glazes.

Okay, part of my painting process involves listening to music or... old time radio shows. One of the absolute best is one called SUSPENSE. Now some of these stories are pretty crappy in a Shakespearean sense, but listening to some of my favorite stars belt this stuff out is fantastic. Cary Grant, James Mason ( Captain Nemo and Barlow's "keeper" from 'Salem's Lot ), DeForest Kelly ( Yes, "Bones" does one too), and the king...William Conrad ( Cannon). You can click here and listen to all of these shows for free. Pin It Now!

November Challenge

Jelaine Faunce

"Global Warming", 2008

6" x 6", oil on hardboard panel



M Collier

"ICY" , 2008

6" x 6" ,oil on hardboard panel



Me

"Penguin and a Joker", 2008

6" x 6" , oil on hardboard panel

This little wind-up penguin guy was the pick this month by M Collier. My first inclination was The Penguin ( the Burgess Merideth one ) and his pals...Caesar Romero as the Joker. This one was a little minimal for me. I am drawn to more of a thicker brushy style lately, but I think my execution is always different form what I visualized. The Joker card is from my set when I was a little kid ( '66 Topps). Pin It Now!

Portrait Painting part 2

This is the underpainting for my portrait. The figure will be monochromatic in this painting ( similar to my larger charcoal drawings). This neutral kinda leans toward the warm side.

I've been listening to my Yes albums in my studio lately. I had a little touch of the feeling I had when I was a kid , and would draw pictures at home and listen to my records. I wore the grooves off of some of them ( Spike Jones' Omnibust and The Coaster's Greatest Hits come to mind). Pin It Now!

Portrait painting

This is the under-drawing for a portrait I'm working on in a series for a show in March. I tend to be "sketchy" in the drawing ( I like to get to the action quickly). The next step will be a glaze over the entire painting which will obscure some of the drawing, but give me enough info to build on. Alla Prima ( painting that's done all in one shot ) has an immediacy that adds a real element of life, but glazing layers of paint allows for a more subtle tonal range ( at least for me). Pin It Now!

Iron Pear commission

"iron pear", 2008

12" x 12", oil on hardboard

private collection

This was an interesting commission piece that took some noodling around with to figure out. The idea was to join separate elements ( pears and iron) within the parameters of the fusion of two people ( and the little guys that followed). When I was painting the smaller pears I kept fighting the urge to make them alike. As I was "nearing the finish line", I ended up removing all of the little pears and thinking in terms of children. The "revelation" that nobody's kids are exactly alike ( with the exception of the Village of the Damned ) is one that I feel slightly stupid about now. Pin It Now!

tomato plant

"tomato plant" ,2008

6" x 6", oil on hardboard panel

private collection

This is the first one of my tomato can series. I actually transplanted the little plant to this can a couple months ago and it took off. I was at my local "home store" ( they always say that on This Old House...even though Lowe's is a sponsor) and it was an impluse buy. I like all that little crap they have at the checkout. My favorite products-that-never-should-have-been-made-things are usually there. My current fave is the toothbrush that plays music. As if to say, "at no point in my busy day will music not be a part of my life...AT NO POINT!! Do you HEAR me?". I realize that it can be somewhat of a challenge to get a 4 or 5 year old to brush his/ her teeth, but this was an adult toothbrush. Do I really need to hear the Black Eyed Peas perform "My Humps" while I brush my teeth? Pin It Now!

bit O honey... bees

There's some chat about the fact that the supercollider in Geneva could cause a black hole or some sort of other physical anomaly . Maybe this could unravel the fabric of time and space, and thus open up a pathway to alternate dimensions ( see "supersymmetric string theory". Things could be like the Star Trek episode "Mirror Mirror" where we are transferred to an alternate universe where we would meet our "alternate" selves. I imagine that my "Evil Otto" would:

- wear lots of yellow gold jewelry

-listen ONLY to Folk music

-wear sleeveless shirts ( like evil Kirk did) or have a little well-groomed beard ( like evil Spock did)

I romanticize my evil counterpart, but more than likely I end up just being the same guy ( with a great head of hair... this would be the "evil" part).


"bit O honey... bees", 2008

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

private collection Pin It Now!

pixie stix commission

"pixie stix", 2008

12" x 12", oil on gessoed panel

private collection


This is a commission I recently completed. I had a problem finding Pixie Stix to begin with, but another issue was that the label had changed from when I was a kid ( we can thank the good folks at WONKA candy for that). Wasn't there some kind of elf guy on the label? I also added back the flavors that WONKA candy removed ( they have it down to three).

While I paint, I like to have either music or a movie playing while I work ( the screen isn't in my view, but I like to hear it). I was watching / listening to one of my favorite movies Our Man Flint. I know its a spy spoof in a sea of those kinds of movies, but James Coburn is fantastic as the super cool Derek Flint. One of the highlights is when he actually "speaks" dolphin. Also the awkward fighting is great ( imagine falling down the stairs...with another person). Awesome!

The best part is the music ( Jerry Goldsmith... This is a great OMS to have in any record collection). Leslie Bricusse actually wrote lyrics to "Your Zowie Face"? Nelson Riddle covered both the Flint theme song and "Your Zowie Face" ( one of my favorite songs ever! )

Oh, and he lives with three women that share him ( and oddly have no jealousy issues whatsoever). See? Super spies even have move evolved interpersonal relationships than "regular" people. That's why they're called "super" spies.

Here's a taste:



Pin It Now!

candy-o

I remember cutting the grass at my Mom's house when I was 13 listening to Candy-O on my 14 lb Sony Walkman. Even then, I thought it was cool being able to listen to the song I wanted to listen to as many times as I wanted. It took a while to convert to the CD from vinyl ( and cassettes... which I never liked but...). Now, I'm getting the feeling that the push is being made towards MP3.

No more album art?

I thought that I was "settling" when I was getting the japanese mini-album versions of my favorite LPs ( there are some spectacular versions of the ELO catalogue).

-Fun Fact: The soundtrack to Xanadu has on the actual record label a "ELO side" and a "ONJ side". ONJ being Olivia Newton John. You don't get that sort of thing with an MP3 download.


"candy-o", 2008

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel Pin It Now!