Sand & Stone Technics
The Textural Masterclass: Transition Your Canvas Practice from Flat to Architectural Art.
Painting with sand had a special attention and interest for me since I saw the sandpaintings of the Navaho Indians in the SouthWest of the U.S. … their symbolic and traditional expression is amazing, but I was looking for the possibilities of sandstructure on canvas and paper in combination with acryl, oil and aquarel …
Always important to try new dimensions in the technics of expression
In this serie of images I show the proces of working with sand on canvas. In matter of fact the result on paper is the same, although paper has more absorbation of water. To fix the sand I always use a transparant white ( here the mark of Amsterdam paint ). The slices are fixed before the sand … mosttimes the composition must be clear. Sieving the sand on the surface means that a part is not fixed … more paint for more sand. Less or thinner sand can be realised with a finer sieve. The grains can be very fine, like desertsand of the Sahara, or more rough. The slices or stones are all from the surface of bigger stones and unstucked during the erosion in millions of years. The colours vary from deepred, ochre to brown and darkblue … the landscapes are painted in these colours while in other themes the effect of paint in sandstructure is the goal for reaching more dimensions.
sTEP 1
The landscape of the Alentejo is not only coloured by trees and bushes. The soil and masses of rocks have a lot of ingredients which always surprises. Especially the slices and stones, through millions of years polished by the atmosphere show a range of natural colours.
sTEP 2
The irregularity and diversity of the sizes make the slices and stones very suitable to use as the start of a natural and organic composition. Also as part of a more static or formal composition the use of slices and stones open a lot of possibilities.
sTEP 3
Sand … the finer and more similar size of slices and stones give a range of possibilities to use in the composition. It can give an accent and can connect parts. From spots to lines or even lyrics as a structure that creates an extra dimension.
sTEP 4
The size of the canvas inspires me to use a lot of slices. The hilly and rough landscape of the Alentejo will be realised in natural colours. Some sketched lines done with a B3 pencil indicate the way the composition will be created.
sTEP 5
For fixing the slices and stones on the canvas I advise to use the Acrylics Transparent Zinc White of the brand or trade mark Standard series AMSTERDAM. The flask on the image has a content of 500 ml. and has a firm partition to close and open.
sTEP 6
Use the Zinc White Transparent Acrylic pure, so without diluting with water and take a bit of paint to prevent the paint getting dry and curdled. The brush to use has to be soft and pointed. Don’t use cheap brushes to avoid the brush losing some hairs … Always fix the slices and stones first and let it dry for 24 hours. The canvas has to be flat on the table.
sTEP 7
The Acrylic Transparent Zinc White paint painted on the canvas still is a part of the composition. Always use enough paint for the lines or surfaces before starting the sieving with sand. Choose the right measure of the sieve. If the sand is more coarse or rough, use a sieve more rough.
sTEP 8
Most sand is fixed on the painted parts. Even if the paint is still wet most sandgrains stick on canvas. After sieving and fixing the sand the canvas can be bounced clean, so the not fixed sand goes off.
STEP 9
Make sure the sand fixed on the canvas stays in the Acrylic Transparent Zinc White paint. Even as a glue the paint has to dry for twenty-four hours. The sand structure is on the definitive spot in the composition and can be touched and painted with acrylic or oil paint.
STEP 10
After the slices, stones and sand structure are fixed and dry, the canvas can be put on the easel. Take the distance of the painting and ensure yourself this part of the composition is done. If you decide to supply more … no problem. Follow the procedure described from image 5.
STEP 11
The upper part of the landscape composition pretends to be the sky. The cobalt oil paint thinned with medium is painted over the whole surface leaving free the white parts which can be later painted as real clouds in contrast with the hills.
STEP 12
The lower part with the stones, slices and the sand structure can be painted. Oilpaint on sand structure always delivers an enormous range of fluid effects, depending on the way the paint is thinned. In some parts the colour of the sand comes through and gives the natural wastage which gives the accent on the dimension of the structure.
STEP 13
In the ultimate realisation of the composition the final colours can be used for the accents and contrasts. Most times the colours are darker and more covering to give more expression to this three dimensional landscape.
