The inspiration for this series is the abundant wildflowers of the Canadian Rockies.
Every summer my wife and I spend several weeks in the Rocky Mountains, camping and hiking. The wildflowers in the backcountry are phenomenal. In our hikes we cover a lot of terrain, and the flowers change depending on the elevation. It is so inspiring: I felt the desire to paint it.
This will likely be my most “realist” series to date.
Going Natural
While contemplating the topic of wildflowers, I found that I could not justify using a petro-chemical/plastic based product to create my works with. For years I have happily used high quality acrylic paint for my works (my favourite paints are Golden and Tri-Art). I love working with it; the colours are vibrant, it is easy to work with and, best of all, it dries very fast.
I wanted the medium for this topic to be as pure and natural as possible. I needed to switch from my favourite acrylic medium to a natural one. This proved to be more challenging than I initially anticipated. After all, wasn’t that what the old Masters used?
Acrylic Gesso
First I had to decide what kind of under layer (gesso) I should use to protect the canvas from the oil paint, If you don’t use an under layer with oil paint the canvas quickly deteriorates. With acrylic paint the only reason to use a gesso is to save paint; Otherwise, you would use much more paint, since it gets absorbed by the canvas. Some painters will not prepare a canvas with a gesso when they use acrylic paint, to get a different texture. Acrylic paint will not eat at the canvas like oil does.
In my research I found no natural (and non toxic) medium that you can apply to a flexible canvas. Traditional Gesso, with hide glue, is non toxic but it can only be used on board, because the flexibility of canvas will cause it to crack the paint. I do want to continue to paint on canvas rather than on board, since I like to paint large works and that gets too heavy! So I needed to look for another option.
Gesso containing lead works very well on canvas and was often used in the old days. Of course this is no longer an option anymore because of it toxicity! Acrylic Gesso (Tri-Art), although not natural, is the only option. So there is my first concession.
Walnut Oil
After extensive research and eliminating many brands and types of oil paints, I decided to use paint based on walnut oil. These oil paints are completely natural and non toxic. The smell is very pleasant, but I will use an exhaust fan nevertheless.
The brand I decided on using is M. Graham. They are a small company and make their paints with pride. Their paints only ingredients are walnut oils and pigments. No additives. Choosing pigments has to be done with care. For example; I chose not to use the Cadmium pigments. They are very toxic.
Another benefit of using walnut oil is that the whites will stay white (paints based on linseed oil will discolour over time). Anyone who knows my work will know that I have an obsession with white in my work. If I am using white, it has to be absolutely white, not “white-ish”. (I have had some arguments with curators of exhibits of mine, who tended to use lights that toned down the white in a painting). Using walnut oil will ensure me that the white in my works will still be white a hundred years from now!
At the end of the drying time, a varnish will have to be applied to protect the paint from deteriorating. That is yet another difference with acrylic paint: acrylic will not deteriorate and does not have to be varnished. Varnish is sometimes applied to acrylic paintings to protect the painting from dirt, but it is not necessary. The acrylic varnish is made of the same ingredients that the acrylic paint is made of.
Tools
No more pallet knives and scrapers: Brushes!! (Really!)
The first paintings
Excited to start working after a long research period, I stretched the first canvasses and applied the gesso. You need to put a minimum of three layers of gesso between the canvas and the oil to protect canvas from the oil paint.
I used the brushes to paint with my new paint. I like it!
The colour of these paints are very vibrant and have a very differently feel than the acrylic paints. The paints spread very different. I also discovered that the drying time of this type of paint is much, much slower than acrylic paints. It is even slower than linseed oil based paints would be.
I was aware of the slow drying properties of walnut oil, but I did not anticipate that my first three paintings in this medium would take over 6 weeks to be dry to the touch!
This gave me reason for my second concession: I will now be using an additive to speed up drying time. I am using Walnut Alkyd Medium. Several more paintings are done now and it takes only 3-4 days to dry.
The slow drying time not only affects the drying once the painting is done; it also affects how I paint. I can not go over a layer of paint only hours after it is applied, like I do with my acrylic works; I have to wait a day or more before applying a next layer! This is very different for me, since I tend to work fast and in spurts. It means coming back to a painting when my mood, my state of mind might be different from when I started the painting.
