Having won the First Prize in the 2006 Gamblin Torrit Grey Painting Competition last year I was eager for the ‘o7 paint to arrive as I’d been thinking about what to paint this year.  I thought I’d stay in the Chinese motif and recalled an old drawing of a take out Chinese food container, painted the drawing onto a 12x9 inch board then laid down the first layer of paint and those are the 3 images above.

Here another layer of paint refines the image and things are looking fun.  The pendulum was put in motion, an old trick I learned when painting airplane propellers in motion.  ( See Machines on my web site.)  Using alkyd oil mixed in with the paint speeds the drying time, allowing one to paint more quickly.

Every spring, Gamblin Artists Colors collects the pigments from their air filtration system and recycles them into Torrit Grey.  The mix of pigments is different every year, so Torrit Grey is always unique.  "We turn all the pigment in the dust extractor into a color called Torrit Grey and we give away 5,000 tubes of it every year in honor of Earth Day," said Robert's wife Martha Bergman-Gamblin.  Many pigments used in the making of fine artist's oil paints are carcinogenic, such as lead and cadmium, hazardous to one's health and the environment.

The primary rule of the competition: Make a painting using only Torrit Grey plus black or white oil paints.  2007 Torrit Grey is a cool tone, so I used it for the background.  The paper was done with Van Dyke Brown, considered to be a black and allowed in the competition.

The painting has been established and is now at the glazing stage which refines values.  I use Gamblin’s Neo-Megilp for transparencies / glazing.

June 1, ‘07

Below is the finished painting, Folded, 12x9 inches, oil on board.

Prints can be purchased by contacting me:  info@coulterwatt.com  and type “Folded” in the subject line.