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As I sit in my studio I am reminded about the good old days. What's taking me back? Well... its the pungent smell of oil based paint.
Its not a smell I particularly enjoy. Not at all. While others here occasionally pine for the good old days when everything was done by hand with oil based paints I have no such desire.
We have a big welded steel sign background which had to be coated out. Oil based paints were the logical solution. I know there were other paints we could have used, but we will have to touch this thing up when it gets onsite next week, and it will undoubtably be too cold to use acrylics or waterborn paints there... so it made sense to do it with oils from the start.
My crew didn't enjoy working with the sticky, gooey paint that was so slow to set up - compared to the acrylics and waterborn paints we are used to. There's plenty of blue fingerprints around the shop where there weren't previously. And even with our ventilation system on full blast (with a matching fuel bill to heat the make up air, the smell permeates every corner of the shop and studio. It will undoubtably fade in a day or two.
I feel much the same when a particular problem means we have to carve something totally by hand instead of using our modern CNC router to help us out. Or when the plasma cutter just won't do and I have to break out the old fashioned acetyline torch to work with steel.
Although I still (and probably always will) do my rough sketches with pen on paper I LOVE using the digital drawing pad to help me do my finished art with much less effort than the old ways.
Modern tools and methods take the drudgery out of many tasks. They allow me to enjoy my work, and be MORE creative in the process.
I for one do not miss 'the good old days' one little bit in Yarrow.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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So Dan...there are all ways of looking at things.
We just had "cane grinding days", down here in good old Florida. Every person in 4 counties, showed up with all the grandbabies, inlaws, outlaws, and whomever. So as you can imagine, most of us were slightly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love that took place.
It's amazing to me, to see just how many people in this great land of ours, have rural backgrounds.
Every time I turned around, there was another person with a story.
Amen, and amen.
-------------------- Jeff Ogden 8727 NE 68 Terr. Gainesville FL, 32609 Posts: 2138 | From: 8827 NE 68 Terr Gainesville Fl 32609 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Yeah, I can remember when waterbased paint and the "mircale" Paint Rollers hit the market! Horrors in the industry like the invention of computer cut letters
I was taught by an old dude who could coat out an 8x4 in enamel .... with a 4" brush! ... and you could see your reflection in it!
Use acrylics every day now ... excellent in their place .. but there is nothing like the control and finish of enamels.
Smell? Ever opened a can of acrylic that has "gone off"? Putrid!!!!
posted
The sweetest smells are the ones that do the most damage Heck we've got to die of something, might as well enjoy the trip hehe.
I've been raised in a modern era of computer technology, I wish some of those 'Old time' things were still around. Gold leaf on glass, man it will never, ever, ever be beaten by gold vinyl or paint......sigh.....I'm in love with the old ways
-------------------- Anne McDonald 17 Karnak Crescent Russley Christchurch 8042 New Zealand
"I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure" Posts: 877 | From: Christchurch | Registered: Sep 2006
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I am still doing it the old way here in the UK and am very proud of my traditional skills and its heritage.I see the modern approach as the easy option and in this world of 'instant' I can see how it is easier to produce work using new machinery and modern technology but I love the old ways, the smell of the paint, the mistique of the glass gilding. I feel its our responsibility as skilled artisans to preserve the past for the future.
-------------------- Brian the Brush brian the brush uk Yorkshire, UK www.brianthebrushuk.com Posts: 123 | From: United Kingdom | Registered: Sep 2001
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I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dan and the work he is able to do at his business, but I still love what I do and the way I do it. And, that is mostly by hand, mostly oil based paint, and mostly traditional methods.
I have to agree with Jon; there's nothing much worse than a can of acrylic that has 'gone off'.
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
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I was in Dan's shop last night and the fragrance he speaks of was marine enamel, painted on a panel the entire width of his large shop. That stuff is nasty and there was lots of it!
I'm not an avid user of one shot, however I don't remember it smelling anything quite like this.
Let's just say, I didn't stick around long for idle chitchat.
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Heck we've got to die of something, might as well enjoy the trip hehe.
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