Another full painting day. Started by completing the underdrawing for Man on the Edge of Emotion, then transferring that to a pre-toned canvas panel. Then, painting, and I decided to glaze Hand of Destiny, the biggest underpainted and unfinished work from 2011:
The idea seemed to lack the avaricious emotion of the older (now destroyed) painting which inspired it, 'Soul of Genius'. Here is the study:
The hand here seemed otherworldly, which was perhaps a benefit... so I made my hand that of a tree, which changed the idea. Perhaps there is an environmental dimension, or one of rebirth and the cycles of life and death. I'm still unsure if I prefer the older version, but that seemed a little too boring, too flat, originally, which is why I destroyed it.
The new version definitely has something extra.
In other news, my white oil paints arrived, so I could compare different brands:
The amazing thing is how different each look and feel. These are:
#1. Michael Harding's Titanium White #1 with Titanium and Zinc (pre-2021, no longer manufactured), in safflower oil.
#2. Blockx Titanium-Zinc White, in poppy oil.
#3. Charvin (a new brand to me) Titanium-Zinc White, in poppy oil.
#4. Blockx Zinc White, in poppy oil.
#5. Michael Harding's Titanium White #1 with Titanium only (2021), in safflower oil.
#6. Blockx Titanium Only, in poppy oil.
#7. Michael Harding's Foundation White with Lead and Titanium (old, no longer available), in linseed oil.
#1 and #2 are almost identical in hue, the Blockx very slightly more grey and indicative of slightly more zinc than Harding's. #2 was by far the heaviest tube by weight, despite having less millilitres, and the paint was thicker than Harding's. #3 had a very slightly yellowish hue, as did #6 (probably the oil), but all of #1, #2, #3 were very similar. Charvin's paint was not as thick/dense, though it is two-thirds the price of the Blockx. From this tiny 20ml sample it feels like a good paint, it had oil on top of the tube which can indicate a pure paint without oil-absorbing additives, but it is not as good as Blockx.
#4, the zinc white, is notably grey. A surprise as I'd always thought zinc to be the whitest pigment, but I was wrong; my belief was based on Dali's words, and he was used to using Lead ('Silver') White, and probably in Linseed. This zinc had a good feeling, fine ground and better than the Winsor and Newton zinc I remember (I don't have any here to compare).
#5 was dry in the top of the tube and very thick, semi-set, a problem with a few Harding whites, his tube seal is simply poor. I extracted a good lot to remove any semi-oxidised paint. The bulk of the white remained very thick and very stringy, slumpy, a horrible gluey texture.
#6 had a fine feeling, little different from #1 and #2, which was a surprise, as my experiences of pure titanium paint have been stringy and difficult. This felt easy to use. It was the whitest and brightest of all of the colours. #5 being a close second.
#7 is here mainly as a comparison, particularly with ageing. It felt dry, stringy, unpleasant, and the tube oil was very brown, the colour of old ear-wax. The texture of the applied paint was very smooth and strokeless, a fine grain pigment.
Of all, I like #2 best, although #6 is very good too. #1 looks and feels almost identical to #2, but, judging by weight and viscosity, has a slightly lower pigment load. I like #1, my standard white, and it's cheaper than Blockx by some margin, but is no longer available.
