Monday, September 22, 2014

Lunch Prep in Casein

For the two hour Quick-Draw event in Dubois, Wyoming, I painted the action in the commercial kitchen where the food crew was prepping lunch. While I painted, I had a GoPro time lapse camera set up in the midst of the scene. (Direct link to video).

What attracted me was the cool light coming from the window and bouncing off the stainless steel surfaces of the stove, in contrast with the relatively warm light of the indoor fluorescents. 

I painted it in casein on an 8x10 acrylic-primed masonite panel. I used half-inch and 3/4 inch flat synthetic travel brushes, with just a few touches with the smaller rounds.

This is how the casein looks when it's handled with thicker impastos than I would normally use on a sketchbook page. On a panel you don't have to worry about the emulsion cracking.

Casein is the most like oil painting of all the water media. The difference is that with the fast drying time, detail can be added to detail without previous layers picking up, so the medium is perfect for a subject like a kitchen counter with loads of overlapping details, and it's ideal for a plein-air quick-draw, because it encourages faster and more direct handling than oil painting.
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Susan Kathleen Black Foundation Workshop

6 comments:

KostasK said...

excellent piece of art as always.

Talking about Casein colors, what is the difference with water mixable oil colors?

Steve said...

kevvvvvvin is definitely on to something!

James Gurney said...

Ha! I'm going to start tying on my napkin like that from now on.

Kostas, don't know. Haven't really played with the water-mix oils yet.

Dan said...

James, the contrast between cool window light and (relatively) warm interior light is nice, and everything harmonizes well. I like how this is one of the most interesting aspects of the painting, and it's also the main thing that attracted you to the scene.

I've only just experimented with casein a couple of times. I didn't have much success blending edges away (similarly to gouache). This seemed to be a big difference between casein and oils. Do you blend much in your casien paintings?

For what it's worth, my mom uses water-miscible oils and says they handle much like regular oils, except you can thin with water and clean up with water, and they don't dry to the exact colors they are when wet. With odorless thinner like Gamsol, I haven't found the solvents used with regular oils to be that daunting yet, but I haven't done very much oil painting.

Joel Fletcher said...

That is a phenomenal amount of objects to paint in 2 hours. Nice composition and colors!

I beg to differ with Casein "being the most like oil painting of all the water media". I think that designation would go to Golden's OPEN acrylics. However, each paint has it's own idiosyncrasies, which may or may not suit an artist's working method.

Wi Waffles said...

I have been working in casein in addition to other media on some paintings on paper, and am about to have to ship them. I wonder if they can be rolled up safely, or will the casein paint react badly?