Westerberg Fine Art

Zinc White (zinc oxide,PW4) and was developed in the late 18^th century. It is translucent, about 5 times less then Titanium white, has a low tinting strength.  Zinc is much cooler then titanium.

Titianuim White (titanium dioxide,PW6) is probably the most well-known and widely used white oil paint today.  Titanium is a very opaque and stiff white.  It also is very powerful in its tinting strength, which can wash out colors it is mixed with.  Titanium white is somewhat cool in color but not as cool as Zinc White.

Most all paint manufactures tubes of Titanium white contain Zinc White.  Adding Zinc white to Titanium makes it more viscous, allows more flow, and lessens its tinting strength.  Adding Zinc to titanium also makes a more permanent paint film.

Titanium White has approximately twice the covering power of Lead White and is very stable. By 1945 it accounted for more then 80% of the market.

Lead White (basic lead carbonate PW1 )  the oldest of the three types of white, around 400 B.C.  Almost all Oil painters used Lead White before 1916 when Titanium white was developed. Lead white dries the fastest of all whites and is very dense and warm.  It is structurally the strongest white and is almost always mixed with zinc white.

Lead white is very dangerous and should not be eaten or come in contact with your skin or eyes just like most of the oil colors we use to paint with. James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) became sick from lead poisoning while painting “Symphony in White”.

Unbleached or Titanium Buff is Titanium dioxide processed differently then Titanium white. Buff titanium is made from titanium pigment (PW6) heated to high temperatures with a larger pigment particle size; this shifts the color toward a grayed, pale coffee brown. Not all paint manufactures produce titanium buff this way some such as Utrecht add Zinc White (PW4) and Raw Umber (pbr7) to titanium white.

  My Wife and I are proud parents of two Boston Terriers, Stella and Lucy.We would do anything for her and her sister.  Stella has been diagnosed with a very painful condition called Patella Luxation, which means her knee caps don’t stay in the place where they are supposed to.

 Stella has a severe case, which means that her knee caps are not in the correct spot most of the time, they are off to the side. Because of her condition she cannot jump or play without pain, and there is a high risk of tearing to the tendons in her knee and chronic arthritis.

 The operation to fix Stella’s knees must be performed by a veterinary Orthopedist, and it is extremely expensive: $3000 per knee. Stella has the condition in both her knees so 6000. +

 This condition is common in Boston Terriers. Some have it and are fine their whole lives. Stella is not so lucky and being only a year and a half old the operation is a must.  Stella has a long future of jumping and running ahead of her – if she receives treatment for her luxating patellas.

 To raise money for the surgery I am going to auction off a couple of paintings of  Stella and Lucy on Ebay. Below is the first. Here is the link “Stella Fundraiser”

“Stella in Pink”

(12×8″ oil on panel. This portrait is of Stella at 8 months old.)

If you would like to help but do not want to bid on a painting I have a donate button below.

 (Any money raised past the cost of her surgery will be donated to Boston Terrier rescue group.)

 Please help – bid on her portrait and spread the word!

Thank You !

The other day I received the best outdoor painting pochade box on the market the, Open M Pochade Box. It’s a great box, easy to set up, breakdown, very compact, lightweight,well made and very study.  The company that makes them is very friendly and will answer any question you may have.

The only thing I don’t like about it  is the wood palette.  I don’t like to mix my paint on wood because of the very warm yellow color, and I can’t clean the paint with a paint scraper or razor blade.  So I asked Doug at Open M if I could put a piece of glass on top of the wood.  He said of course it is very easy modification. I had to remove one screw and purchase a piece of glass. I put a piece of neutral Grey palette paper down then before putting the glass down I sealed it by lining the edges of the palette with silicone.  Next I placed the glass down and put the screw back in.  Let it dry for about 3 hours or so and your done.

The Silicone will not only hold the glass down, but will seal the glass on top and won’t allow any mineral spirits, linseed oil, or whatever you may be painting with to slip under the glass and stain or damage the wood or paper underneath the glass.

Ready to go Paint!

What is Torrit Grey? Well about a year or so a go my good friend Lorna told me about Gamblin Oil Paint Manufacture’s Annual Painting competition using their color
Torrit Grey.

Every spring, Gamblin Artists Colors collects a wealth of pigments from their Torit® Air Filtration system. They filter the air around the areas where they handle dry pigments so that their workers are not exposed to pigment dust. Rather than sending any of our high quality, expensive pigments into the landfill, Gamblin paint makers recycle them into “Gamblin Torrit Grey”.  So Torrit Grey is a compilation of all Gamblin’s pigments and each year it is a slightly different color but always seems to lean toward the green side because of their powerful Phthalo green pigment.

“Pigment dust should not go into the earth, water or landfill, but into paint,” says Robert Gamblin.

Torrit Grey can be acquired at most art stores that sell Gamblin paints.  If you buy a tube of Gamblin paint they will give you a tube of Torrit Grey for free!  I just ordered some Gamblin paint from Jerry’s Artarama on line and they sent me a free tube.

The competition offers a $500 Gamblin Materials first prize and several secondary awards for more information and an entry form click here.  Basically you can use only Torrit Grey, Back, and White the subject matter can be anything……

One of the most frustrating problems I have had and most painters face at one time or another is finding the correct lighting for your studio.

If you paint at night or don’t have a skylight in your studio you need light. The problem is getting the correct temperature light so that your painting looks the same in daylight as it does when you painted it under your studio light.

The temperature of the most incandescent bulbs or florescent tubes  can vary greatly but most painters prefer to paint under 5500k which is the color of north light.  North light is the preferred light of most traditional painters such as John Singer Sargent, Richard Schmid, Anders Zorn to name a few, because it is a soft, cool and consistent light source.

In the past I had used a few different color florescent tubes to replicate north light in my studio and it was ok.  The problem was I had a few different color florescent tubes and the fixtures were starting to hum and they flickered.   I was starting to lose my mind…….

So I consulted a couple of lighting experts, here is their blog post where they go into much more detail about lighting Steropsis.com

They told me were to buy correctly balanced florescent tubes.   They suggested t8 florescent tubes, the thinner tubes, which are more efficient don’t hum or flicker !  Here is the link where you can purchase these tubes T8 5000k

They are around $5.50 a piece. You can also purchase them through Amazon. Unfortunately you can’t buy these tubes at Home Depot or Lowes.  You can however buy the fixture at Home Depot or most lighting stores.  The type of fixture you are going to need will depend on the size of your studio space just make sure it holds t8 tubes.  I have two four tube fixtures in my studio.

Here is an example Home Depot.

All of this shouldn’t cost you more then $200.00 and it is well worth it!  My studio now has new t8 5000k lights and they are unbelievably nice.  I was actually quit surprised at how close these lights are to natural light.  Thank You Lorna and Mike!

This is a color Chart I made using the “Zorn Palette”.  This was not Anders Zorn’s ( 1860-1920) only palette he did have other colors that he used especially when he worked outside, this palette refers primarily to his indoor work.  It is basically simplified primaries: Red, Yellow, and Blue.

I use Gamblin Ivory Black, Utrecht Yellow Ochre, Windsor Newton Cadmium Red and Titanium/Zinc White.

The Chart shows the range of the palette as you can see it is fairly large.  Let me explain how the colors are laid out.

The first swatch (upper left corner) is Ivory Black, and below I have gradated it white white.  Next to that is Ivory Black mixed with Cad Red, Black being the dominate color. Ect ect ect….

Below are examples of Zorn’s Work.

I used this palette quite a bit when I was learning to paint and I still use it today.  Its a great starter palette.

Below are the brands of paint I typically use.

Here are a couple of my Zorn Palette works

Check out the Jan/Feb edition of Artist’s Magazine.  They did an article on the iphone App EnsoMobile created for me.  On newsstands now!  Page 18.

Don’t have a newsstand nearby? order it here Print Edition