Artefex has so many panels! I want to try them all!

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    September 2023 I took on the challenge of painting 30 paintings in 30 days! For a slow, detailed painter like myself, this seemed like a pretty monumental task…which is exactly why I did it! This stretched me in so many ways. 

      Teaming up with me for this adventure was Artefex, a small California company that makes beautiful artists’ panels in a variety of surfaces. Their Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) panels come in so many options, it can be a little mind boggling. So, let me break down what I found for you. 

Allinpanel- Great for building up texture easily

First off, let’s talk about the Allinpanel. This panel consists of linen in a variety of weaves (medium, fine, and extra fine) mounted on a rigid, archival ACM panel and comes primed with your choice of acrylic priming or oil priming. 

This first painting of this 30 day series was on a medium weave, oil primed Allinpanel. I’ll be honest, at first I wasn’t so sure about it. I usually go for a smoother texture. However, it turned out to be exactly the panel I needed. The medium weave had considerable drag, but that made it the perfect panel for a heavily textured, alla prima painting. I was able to lay down thick tiles of paint without pulling up previous layers. By some magic, however, this texture somehow didn’t get in the way for areas of the painting where I wanted a smoother effect. This is a great panel if you want to build up thick layers of paint quickly and add a great deal of texture, especially if your style is a little looser. 

If you still want some tooth, but you like a slightly smoother surface, the Allinpanel in fine or extra fine might be a better option for you. There is still some considerable brush drag on the initial layer, but not as much as with the medium weave. As with the medium weave, the linen texture made it easy to apply paint and build up layers, however, because the weave is finer, you have much more control over the tiny details. These are beautiful panels for both direct and indirect painting styles. 

As I mentioned, the Allinpanel is available in both oil primed and acrylic primed. If you’re an acrylic painter, you’re strictly limited to the acrylic ground. However, if you’re an oil painter, you can take your pick. The panels perform very similarly, but I found the acrylic priming to be a little more absorbent. 

Alcot- Really unique surface. Great for going back and forth between adding paint and taking off paint. Good for working in indirect layers

Speaking of acrylic, Artefex has another great acrylic primed option. The Alcot panel is cotton polyester mounted to ACM panel. Like the Allinpanel, it is available in medium, fine, and extra fine weave. However, as opposed to the Allinpanel’s irregular, linen weave, the Alcot panel has a uniform weave. That’s really where the similarities end. This is a really unique panel. To be honest, it takes a little getting used to.

This trompe l’oeil painting of a feather hanging from a painted cedar plank was painted on a fine-weave Alcot panel. I fought with laying down paint and building up texture without picking up wet paint from the previous layer.

The next painting I did on an Alcot panel, “Beckoning,” started out the same way and I ended up scraping off a fair bit of my paint in frustration.. THAT’S where it got fun! The areas where I scraped the paint maintained the really beautiful, glowing paint layer that I was able to build on a little more easily. I realized that in expecting it to behave like an Allinpanel, I risked missing out on what it actually is- a panel that’s somehow both textured and slick at the same time. Once I got the grasp of that I really started loving this panel! This is a great panel if you like to play with adding and then scraping paint; building up and taking off texture in different areas. I personally like the fine and extra fine weaves the best, but if you like your texture to show, the medium is a great one. Note: After I completed this 30 day project, Artefex released an oil primed option. I cannot wait to try it!!

This painting, was done on Alcot panel that already had a dried layer of paint on the surface. I found it easier to build up layers with that initial paint layer down.

Oleopanel- Oil painters only. My favorite for indirect painting and minute details, but also great for alla primas

While we’re on the subject of oil priming, Artefex’s next option for oil painters is the Oleopanel. Unlike the Allinpanel and Alcot panel, which have linen or canvas adhered to the panel, the Oleopanel has a lead oil priming applied directly to the ACM panel. It’s available in a slightly bumpy, eggshell texture, and a smooth texture. These are absolutely beautiful panels, especially if you like a smooth surface. The paint goes on like a dream and feels SO smooth, with enough tooth to keep it from slipping and sliding off the surface of the panel. Even with all this smoothness I was able to add layers and build up texture with a direct painting method, though not as easily as with the Allinpanel. The slight texture of the eggshell Oleopanel was easier for alla prima painting than the smooth, however both the smooth and the eggshell handled thick paint application more easily than I expected from such a smooth surface. Though they can be used for direct painting, I think the Oleopanels are best suited for a more indirect painting style. 

Tempanel- Very versatile and unique

Artefex Tempanel is another truly unique panel. Originally intended for tempera painting, this absorbently primed panel can handle a huge variety of mediums. The priming is a little hard to describe. Just to play with all the different options, I used this panel for a mixed-medium piece, trying out pen and ink, watercolor, and oil paint. First off, I loved drawing on it. The pen handled the way it would on really nice paper. I loved the way the watercolor handled as well, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. It sort of sits on top of the surface, sinking in slowly. If I had expected it to respond the way it would on paper, I would have been flustered, however, I was just playing and experimenting and I loved the outcome. While the surface wasn’t as absorbent as I expected for the watercolor, it was more absorbent than I’m used to when working with oil. I actually ordered more of these panels to play with some more because they really are so different and interesting. In addition to the mediums I tried, you can also use acrylic paint and dry mediums.

Chartapanel- Drawing and watercolor

Speaking of dry mediums, Artefex has other panels for that, too! The Chartapanel! These ACM panels are mounted with either Arches Coldpress Watercolor paper, or Strathmore 400 drawing paper. To try out these two different papers side by side, I painted a diptych. The Arches watercolor paper has an absorbent texture, making for lovely soft edges. Though intended for watercolor, it can also be used for dry medium (such as the charcoal shown here). The Strathmore drawing paper has a smooth, crisp finish, making for sharp lines and clean edges. Though intended for drawing, it can also handle watercolor (again, as seen here). I love the concept of mounting watercolor and drawing paper to these archival panels, because it solves so many problems! Being on paper, watercolor paintings are automatically more delicate and harder to preserve and restore. These panels are impervious to the effects of time, so using them to support this delicate paper makes loads of sense. Plus, no matter how much water I used the paper didn’t wrinkle, curl up, or separate from the panel at any point. Brilliant!

Copper- Unprimed, very archival, very slick. Great for thin layers, indirect painting

Last, but not least, the copper panel. Aaah, I love copper! That glow is so beautiful! Because it’s so beautiful, many artists choose to leave a fair bit of it showing. However, I personally like to paint thinly over it- just enough to knock off the shine a bit while still letting it glow through. I have seen artists paint in an alla prima style on copper, but it’s slick…SO slick! It’s hard to get the paint to adhere and the first layer will likely be streaky. Because of this, I like to work in thin layers, letting each layer dry before moving onto the next, but that’s just me.

So there you have it! The Artefex panels! I hope this guide makes it a little easier for you to choose. I really have nothing bad to say about the panels or this company. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, or talk directly to them! They’re so responsive and knowledgeable. You can find them at https://www.artefex.biz/

I originally wrote about my entire painting journey in my newsletter. My loyal band of newsletter subscribers gets updates, new paintings, and behind the scenes stories direct to their inbox before anyone else. If you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you along! You’ll find the sign up link at www.ErinHardinArt.com.

How NOT to Throw a Pity Party

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I attempted to throw a party yesterday.

It was a pity party.

I don’t know why. Maybe it was because my husband was out of town. Maybe it’s because my 4 year-old has a lying problem. Maybe it it was the fact that by the time I got both kids to school I felt like I’d put in a full day’s work and I didn’t want to do anything.

Maybe it was all those things, but the final straw were the violas.

Poor violas!

I bought violas the other day with the intention of potting them and making a pretty little display for next to my front door. Yet, almost a week later there they sit in their disposable plastic cups from the nursery, dying. So when I pulled back in the driveway after dropping my little one off at school and saw these poor wilted violas, my pity party festivities began.

Have any of you ever thrown a pity party? They’re very easy. You don’t have to decorate, in fact, decorations may ruin your pity party, and you don’t ever ever clean up. They happen mostly in your own head. You can try to invite other people to your pity party, but the guests usually just pop in for a moment and don’t stick around. The most important part is the playlist. The playlist consists of hits like, “Why can’t I get it together?” “I’ll never be a success,” and the ever popular, “It’s not really my fault.”

Perhaps the most important element for a successful pity party is at least some degree of melodrama. So, with that in mind, I picked up one of the little cups of violas, the one that, in my opinion, would have been the prettiest had it lived, and carried it inside. My intention? To paint a portrait of my failure.

How annoyed are you with me right now? Are you rolling your eyes? You absolutely should be. Sidenote: I had other work I needed to be doing. Other paintings on my easel, etc., but when you have a party to plan…

So, here I sat with my mostly dead violas in front of me, watercolor sketchbook out, fully intending to not only paint a portrait of my failure, but then to blog about it! (Good Lord, that melodrama was turned up high!) There was one little flower that was still alive…a symbol of what could have been had I not failed them (Can’t you just hear the cello music?).

See the one live bloom? I was going to pose the question, “Does that one flower make me a success or a failure?” Oh the drama! *eye roll*

However, something went wrong. I started painting and sort of lost my party theme. Instead of listing how I had failed, I got lost in doodling the details. The dead blooms changed from something to lament to just something to observe…something to depict. Instead of something to fix and change they became something that simply are what they are.

By the time I finished my watercolor sketch, my pity party had really petered out. So, I left the party and got to work. Successful parties need engaged guests and a pity party is no exception.

Oh, and a weird thing happened. A couple hours later I noticed my violas had perked up. Maybe they were just chilly outside. Or maybe they were playing dead for attention and suffered from their own share of melodrama. Who knows?

Well this is embarrassing…

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I started writing a few blog posts (and many many months) ago that I was working on the business side of art. I told you about trying to convert my website to WordPress, about picking a platform, etc. And then I just stopped. Stopped communicating, stopped working on it, just stopped.

Partly because, well, 2020.

And partly because I changed gears.

Again.

And partly because, to be honest, I was embarrassed. Embarrassed that I said I would give you information and I didn’t have any myself. So I sort of abandoned ship for a while on the whole website endeavor.

Not because I’m wishy washy. I’m actually absurdly stubborn when it comes to sticking with things. Instead it’s because I was spending so much time and energy trying to sort things out and learn how to speak computer code, trying to fix problems, etc. that I wasn’t painting! If improving my art website was keeping me from MAKING art…well, that seems to defeat the purpose.

So, I’m trying something new. FASO. FASO makes websites specifically for artists. For some weird reason I tend to be suspicious of anything that makes things too easy, however, I think I’m going to like it. As your personal guinea pig, I’ll try it out and let you know. In the meantime, head on over to my website and let me know what you think.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming: The art.

The Dilemma by Erin Hardin 16″x11″ Oil on panel

This painting is entitled “The Dilemma” and it seemed suitable to today’s post and that feeling of being stuck. So often I feel, as I’m sure many of you do, bound in some way. Sometimes there legitimately are outside forces at play, but most of the time if I’m really honest with myself, I realize that I’m the one holding myself back. Sometimes it’s inertia, sometimes disorganization, sometimes fear. It’s frustrating- this tangled, tied up feeling. It makes me grumpy, moody, mean, definitely not creative. I can usually find something or someone to blame…at least ostensibly, and that might work for a minute. But in truth, no one’s going to untie those strings but me. Sure they might try. And it might even work. However, the interesting thing about human beings is that if I haven’t figured out how to untangle myself, I’m likely just going to pick those ropes back up again. Maybe that’s because we’re SUPPOSED to figure out how to untangle ourselves. Like one of those metal puzzles that are next to impossible to put down we humans just keep picking up the same dilemmas until one day, finally disgusted with the tangled mess we’re in, we think to ourselves, “I’ve been here before. I’ve tried this and I’ve tried that. Now it’s time to try something new.”

And so, we do.

Good luck today my friends.

On choosing a hosting platform and why I shouldn’t build a house

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Oh y’all! I wrote to you ages ago saying I was going to share my journey into the business side of the art world. And I still am, really! It’s just taking me a minute. When I left off I was in the process of trying to create a WordPress.org site. In case you missed that part, here’s a link to the post. In short, WordPress.org is actually a plug-in that you use on a website hosted by a hosting platform (more on that in a minute), WordPress.com (where we are right now) is like it’s own little world. So, it’s sorta like building your own house based on designs by a contractor named WordPress (.org) or living in a apartment building where you can decorate how you like, but you can’t paint the walls and changing the furniture is pretty much where your control ends (.com).

It’s a good thing I’m not building an actual house, because if so, we’d be sitting in the rain while I tried to choose a floor plan. First off, I had to settle on a hosting site. This just means the company with the powerful computers that gets your site out there on the internet and keeps it running. I started off with Siteground, based on someone’s recommendation. However, despite everyone else RAVING about their customer service, I found some things lacking. They were very nice, but I had problems like never receiving a callback, though I had scheduled one, etc. Also, I felt like they had a slight lack of understanding just HOW little I knew. So, then I went with GoDaddy. Their customer service is incredible. I never feel dumb talking to them. However, I’m also always aware of just HOW good their sales team is. I found out that I have to pay extra (on top of the already substantial amount I was paying) to get a security certificate, which rumor has it Google is going to start requiring. If you don’t have one (which I hear is really not a big deal) you get that little tag on the search bar that says “site not secure” or something similar. So, I switched again (I’m probably starting to develop a bit of a reputation in the hosting world). Finally, I went to Bluehost just because WordPress endorses them. Honestly that process exhausted me so much that’s the last thing I’ve done. I can’t even tell you if Bluehost is working out for me because I just had to step away from all that for a bit.

I did transfer all my posts, pictures, etc. from here to the new (not yet live) site. Now THAT was a thing that was a problem I worked out on my own (GooooO me!). I’ll tell y’all about that next time and we’ll continue this (longer than I anticipated) journey.

In the meantime, keep painting and I’ll see you soon.

Taking Art by the Business End:

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I’ve been doing some heavy duty thinking. Thinking about a lot of things- what’s next for my art, both on the creative side and on the business side; what my goals are; and how best to connect with you (yes YOU), and just generally speaking how to be better at everything. That’s part of why I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been hiding out in my own head. But I’ve decided maybe that needs to change. Maybe I’m in my own head a little TOO much.

So, just to keep y’all in the loop, here’s what I’ve been doing. First off- this blog is going to be moving. Hopefully I can just slide everything over to a different platform with little to no disruption. However, it’s possible that that won’t work. I’ll give you a few more warnings before I make the switch.

Here’s why I’m making the switch. Currently, this blog is hosted through wordpress.com. However, apparently, I should have hosted it through wordpress.org. Stay with me here if you’re interested at all in building a website/blog and in building an audience. If this is not your thing and you don’t have any questions about computer stuff (which, frankly gives me a terrible headache), then here’s a pretty picture to look at.

Oil painting of my little wild child. Still working on a title.

If you are interested in the businessy, computer side of things, (or even more, NOT interested, but know you should be) read on and I’ll try to break things down for you.

I didn’t realize when I started this blog that there was a difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org, but apparently there is.The way it was explained to me, wordpress.com is like renting a space, and wordpress.org is more like owning a space. So, just like renting an apartment, with wordpress.com the technical things aren’t really your problem. That’s the advantage. However, also like renting an apartment, there are certain limitations to what you can do (don’t knock down that wall!). So, even though the technical side of things can almost make me feel queasy at times, I’ve decided I’m ready to push through the limitations. I have big goals, big hopes, big dreams, and big plans and time’s a wastin’.

As I figure this stuff out, I’m going to keep posting about it. Maybe I can help some of you figure out your “next right step.” By the way, that term is from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Have you read it? Just thinking in terms of, “What’s the next right thing?” really helps me when I feel overwhelmed.

I’ll talk to you soon. In the meantime, keep painting.

Hands hands hands

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I love to paint hands. Love them. All the joints and angles and fat parts and skinny parts and knobby parts… are your palms sweating just thinking about it?  I, too, used to cringe when I got to hands- all the joints and angles make them a bit of a challenge. Make the fat parts too fat and you get sausage fingers. Too skinny and you get E.T. But get those angles right and… ah, satisfaction. Now, they’re my favorites. So, for practice(and for fun):

Since I’m working on a mid-value background, I layout the general shape, then establish my darks.
Keeping the greenish middle value in mind for the greener areas of my skin, next I lay down the lighter areas
I travel back and forth between dark and light, and really try to capture the color temperature as well
Typically I work with an easel, but in this case I had my panel laying flat so that I could view it from approximately the same angle as the model… by which I mean my hand.
To avoid getting too detailed too soon, I lay my shapes in broadly, with the intention of smoothing and blending later.
By laying the paint down broadly, I can get a feel for the form.
I’m careful about the amount of blending I do. I want the painting to look finished, but I don’t want it to lose its shape.
Almost there.
Finishing touch.

Click on the images above for more details on my process.

Oh, and here’s my palette. Because that’s fun too!

img_2019-1

Look at all the pretty colors… and not one of them labeled as a flesh tone. Reality lies between the lines.

If I was painting someone with a darker skin tone, I would likely use many of these same colors. However, I’d spend more time up top, at the darker end of my color strings. And, of course, the opposite holds true for fair-skinned folk, whose skin tones lie in the lower third of my palette.

So, go out and paint something that scares you. Maybe next I’ll tackle feet… or profiles. Eeek…

Summer time and the livin’ is easy

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Ah, it’s summer. Time to relax, unwind, enjoy complete freedom and fun, right? Right?? That’s what everyone else is doing, according to the always accurate, always honest world of social media. And clearly that’s how it SHOULD feel according to every magazine and television commercial out there. So why do I feel like I can’t catch my breath? Probably because I’m human. Or more accurately, because I’m human and I have two small people in my house.

ALL.

THE.

TIME!

Why won’t they leave me alone???

I’m just kidding. I really am. Sorta. I am so acutely aware of how quickly these moments pass and I truly want to enjoy them. But to be honest I enjoy them a bit more when I have a few minutes to gather my thoughts and I enjoy them a lot more if I have a chunk of time to paint.

I’m working on that, though.

That balance. That flow.

Because isn’t that life? Things just aren’t going to line up smoothly all the time. Right now it’s for the wonderful reason that my children are tiny and school is out. At some point it may be for a harder reason. Who knows?

But I do know I have to paint. I have to find that time for my work. If I don’t, I stagnate. Then I’m no good to anyone.

So I’m working on it. And hopefully I’ll have something to share with you soon. But for right now I’m movin’ a little slow.

Every Picture Tells a Story

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This is Baby Monkey. My little girl’s best buddy. Her constant companion for the better part of her life. So loved is Baby Monkey that I worried about her safety, constantly checking to see that she hadn’t been left behind at stores, hotels, airports. The perfect size to clutch in a chubby little 3-year-old fist, she went everywhere with us.

But my little girl isn’t 3 anymore. She’s 6. Tall, headstrong, funny, bold. Baby Monkey stays home most of the time nowadays, no longer making trips to the grocery store and school. Recently, though, after a long day out my daughter said, “I want to go home. I want to go home and see Baby Monkey.”

Still special. Still loved.

In Full Bloom

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I just finished this commission and I love it. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever done. However, it began the way many of my paintings began.

It began with love.

A couple. A wedding in an exotic locale surrounded by the people that love them best. And flowers. Beautiful flowers.

Five years later, that wedding is a marriage- no longer just a celebratory statement of love, but a daily, quiet, steady, continual recommitment to a relationship with kids, a mortgage, and all the trappings. And through that weekday love, the memory of that wedding, and those flowers, glows bright.

Five years. The flower anniversary. As a gift to each other they chose this: a daily reminder to hang in the heart of their home of that beautiful day, that embrace of family and friends, and those flowers.

Hello, darlin… nice to see ya

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It’s been a long tiiiime…

Hello there stranger! How the heck are ya? Do you even remember me? I’m sure that’s questionable. Remember in my last post I promised you that I would tell you soon what was keeping me so busy. Apparently I lied. I apologize.

See here’s the deal. I had a baby! I say that like it just happened. Oh no. It wasn’t recent. It was so long ago now I’m embarrassed to say. Embarrassed because while a new baby might be a reason to neglect a blog, a 20-month-old, despite the fact that he’s into everything, seems like less of an excuse. The thing is that while I expected that to mean extra work, no one told me that the craziness increases exponentially with each child so that 2 children is somehow through some mathematical mystery 4 times the work. I would imagine that people with 6 children never ever stop moving and never take in any sustenance but the last drops in the bottom of a juice box and the 1/2 a chicken nugget child #4 dropped on the floor that the dog failed to notice. So hats off to those of you that make multiple children look easy. But I digress. Where was I? Ah yes. Kid x 2= Work². However, it’s also Fun², so while there’s extra cleaning messes, laundry, correcting, containing, and refereeing, etc; there’s also extra snuggling, kissing, teaching, learning, and laughing. It’s good. It’s great! But it is busy.

I am very happy to say, though, that work as been busy as well. I’ve done several commissions which I have really really enjoyed. I love the collaboration involved in helping someone flesh out what they want in a painting and bringing it to life. My commissions have ranged from an oil painting done from an old photograph of the client and her mother, to a traditional portrait, to a portrait of a beloved stuffed bunny, to tiny boots and baby knees (plus a couple of pet portraits not shown here). The work has been varied, but so so good with each piece presenting its own challenges, learning opportunities, and rewards. I’ll probably go into detail about some of these in future posts, but for now here’s a brief glimpse of what I’ve been up to since the new kid came along:

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