Watercolor and Oil Paintings by Susan Harrison-Tustain
For me painting in oil and watercolor is like speaking. I love to share my vision of all that compels me to capture the indefinable: timelessness, agelessness and a sense of enduring quality. These are found in the everyday commonplace things, the beauty and sometimes rawness of nature, the people who have impacted on my awareness, the delicate, the elegant, the graceful, the youthful, the aged and the ephemeral. To me these are the things that hold the key to all that is true. They are the narrative behind all of our lives. Each an allegory in which I hope you will find an awareness of purpose for their existence.
I paint in both watercolor and oil with equal pleasure – each allowing me to use my artistic license to paint in fine detail and also artistic ‘suggestion’.
The quality of the materials I use is exemplary:
Watercolor painting:
Materials:
My watercolors are painted on Arches Hot Pressed paper 300gsm (140lb). This is a handmade100% rag paper with a hard surface that allows beautiful smooth fine detail as well as large soft blended washes so indicative of fine watercolor painting.
Schmincke artists quality watercolor paints are a superb medium ideally suited to my watercolor paintings. da Vinci watercolor brushes are without doubt the finest brushes I have trialled and each add to the pleasure of watercolor painting.
Oil painting:
Materials:
My oil paintings are generally painted on very fine Belgian linen. Mostly oil primed, I find this substrate a joy to use.
My oil paints are a variety of brands which are chosen for their individual pigment properties. I use Old Holland and also Gamblin brands. Each of these are superb quality. I use a variety of brushes: da Vinci, Scharffe and Isabey.
I use Gamblin Galkyd lite and I also use Walnut oil in my oil paintings. These allow my paints to flow with ease whether I wish to paint with rich buttery paint or in fine oil paint glazes.
My first layer in an oil painting is thinned with Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS). I prefer Gamblin brand. I like to use Gamblin Galkyd with a small amount of walnut oil in the middle layers of the painting. The final layers are mostly walnut oil with a touch of Gamblin Galkyd.
