Tad Spurgeon

oil paintings

Nobody expects the pastoral resistance.

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The Craft as a Creative Process

As a painter I'd always been interested in the materials,

but began looking into older painting practice actively in 2001.
While I'd read the various modern painting professors, it had
begun to feel like I was working with a flat-earth craft. Where
was the original globe? Between Rembrandt and Ralph
Mayer, several dimensions seemed to have gone missing.
During the next ten years of research, several different
ways of painting came together based on older practice. In the last three years, I wrote a book
about what I learned, and how I learned it.
The book is based on the period texts on the one hand, and the more reliable findings of modern
technical art history such as the National Gallery Technical Bulletins on the other. The focus is on
how to use hands-on experience with the materials to fashion a craft of one's own; how to make
more lively materials and better quality paintings in the manner of the great 15th to 17th century
heyday of the craft. It is about how to think and act creatively in paint, and develop the technical
aspects of the craft into a living process. It turns out this is not rocket science, but having the initial
technical keys explained will save you a great deal of time. If you have always had a feeling that
some pretty important things have disappeared, and want to know what they are, please read on...

Testamonials

"I'd like to thank you for publishing such an extraordinary book which contributes so much to the
craft of painting and to all artists who wish to go deeper."
Juan Kovacs, Mexico.
Website.

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"Your book is the bees knees. I've been spreading the word to painter friends. Don't know how
many will act. All would benefit, it's a wonderful corrective. I'm amazed by what you've assembled,
experienced, pursued, and developed. I feel lucky to have a copy. Having followed your blog a few
years makes the cover to cover absorption a little less overwhelming. Still, it's a lot. Your humor is
well timed throughout to relieve the periodic panic. I'm halfway through, having read individual
sections at the beginning to get my bearings. I'm extremely envious of the integrated nature of your
life, practice and studio set-up. It's a great read."
Laraine Armenti, Massachusetts.
Website.
"I would like to thank you for all the effort you took to put all this information out on your website,
and to write this book. It is so hard to find any serious information about the craft of painting. For
years Ive been trying to learn more about materials, oils pigments and methods, but a lot of the info
you find is either biased, untrue or very shallow. And modern textbooks on painting hardly go into the
materials, they basically say: buy some paint and work fat over lean, now go paint....."
Arco Scheepen, Netherlands.
Website.
"Living Craft: a Painter's Process" is an indispensable resource for oil painters of all levels.
Clearly written and beautifully organized, Tad brings oil painting to its essence. The book creates a
framework, both technical and philosophical, that guides the artist through the entire practice of oil
painting. The book is rich with technical information, which, as a self-taught painter, has brought my
work to a new level. This is a book for any painter, from beginner to advanced, looking to develop or
hone their craft in ways that will ultimately clarify and enhance their unique artistic vision.
Rebecca Kinkead, Artist, LLC
Rebecca's website and unique success story are here.
I am eternally grateful to the alignment of the stars leading me to Tad Spurgeon. I have spent
decades painting and teaching art at the university level. Tads intellectual depth, sprightly wit,
inspired research, and generosity of spirit in sharing his knowledge with fellow painters has greatly
enhanced my artistic processes like a fortuitous gift from the muses. The Living Craft offers a
unique and brilliant treatise on everything imaginable related to oil painting. It is a modern day
masterpiece and an absolute must read for an integrated studio practice that embraces a deep and
personal connection to materials and making.
Allison B. Cooke, Wisconsin.
Website.

The book is a little over 195,000 words, 300 pages in 11 point type in 8.5x11 format, printed on
heavy weight paper and will open flat for studio use.
The introductory price for the book is 75.00 plus postage and handling. In the U.S., Media Mail is
5.00. Priority Mail east of the Mississippi is 10.00. West of the Mississippi, Priority Mail is 15.00.
First Class International to Canada or Mexico is 15.00. First Class International to Europe, Great
Britain, Australia, or New Zealand is 25.00. Orders go out the same day if before noon or the next
business day. For other countries, or for priority international options -- basically twice first class -please feel free to email me.
Once you select the appropriate postage option, click the buy button and you will be directed to
PayPal. You can use an existing PayPal account, or any major credit card to make the purchase.
The name that will appear on your PayPal receipt is Zoetrope. You can also send me a cheque if
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The name that will appear on your PayPal receipt is Zoetrope. You can also send me a cheque if
this is more convenient, email me for the address.

postage and handling options

usa, media mail $80.00

Unique Features Of Living Craft

The result of ten years of day to day research by a working painter. Not puritanical, not
alchemical, simply practical. What did earlier painters know about their materials at a basic level
that hasn't made it into our era? How can this hands-on craft be functionally reconstructed in our
time?

Living Craft is the only text available whose research is based on the conservation findings of
The National Gallery Technical Bulletins into the materials and methods of older painting practice. It
is the only book to explain how and why older methods are intrinsically different than modern
methods, and the only book with systems based on documented older methods. All currently
available books on the craft are derived either from Doerner's 19th century system based on damar
and stand oil, or feature a lopsided dependence on various other resins that is not supported by the
30 years of NGTB research into older practice. The techniques I found may be new, or they may be
old, but they are based on period materials, and have never been written about before.

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Focused specifically on oil painting, not a condensed overview of many different media. Written
in the trenches, not the ivory tower. Featuring genuine prose, not technical boilerplate. Designed to
create a smooth transition from the limited form of painting promoted in the 20th century to one
which is unlimited based on older practice. Painting is addressed by a painter: as an experiential
whole, not as a frog on the dissecting table.

An extensive variety of materials based on older practice are detailed, including 65 unique
formulas proven in the studio. All formulas tested for years in the studio. The techniques stress
reliable options to explore, not rules to obey. Not a restatement of the material on this website, the
next step.

A detailed explanation of many limited palette combinations derived from older painting that
produce the most harmony from the fewest pigments. A huge time saver for any painter, cutting
through the mystery and redundant mayhem of commercial paint colours.

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Older painting approached the relationship between value and temperature in much more
evolved ways than were typically taught in the 20th century. The uniquely organized way color was
mixed and implemented in older painting is explained, a method that was all but lost by the end of
the 19th century, destroyed in the 20th.

Functional exercises for teaching yourself how the logical principles of color mixing were used
in older painting. This is the key to the older technique of turning less colour into more.

Detailed list of the most useful permanent pigments for daylight painting, and their working
properties.

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A detailed explanation of specifics of the older technology concerning the oil. Rembrandt,
Velsquez, and Vermeer used linseed oil, but it didn't yellow. Why? Because, in spite of what the
manufacturers say, all oils are not the same.

Stress on safe practice, including many different ways of making oil paintings without using any
resin or solvent whatsoever.

A discussion and comparison of many simple older methods for producing a faster drying oil.

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A discussion of which modern materials can be used without issue.

Unique and highly efficient method for refining the oil. Rembrandt and Vermeer began with a
primitive cold-pressed, organic linseed oil. What if one simple procedure gave access to an oil with
a unique painterly character on which a much more stable, solvent-free system can then be built?
Might the key be a process, rather than a specific ingredient?

Complete discussion of the identity and function of the oil. This is something that can be
confusing because of the subtle machinations of commerce. While quality modern commercial
linseed oil can dry without yellowing, this is at the expense of the drying rate of the oil. From left:
Hand-refined cold-pressed organic linseed oil, hand-refined cold-pressed organic linseed oil
exposed to oxygen for three weeks, cold-pressed linseed oil put out by Holbein.

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Several formulas for unique materials based on the unusual rheological potential of oil refined in
the older manner. Quick drying oil with this rheology is available nowhere but in your own studio.

Detailed section on making panels, with a variety of proven recipes for grounds.

Detailed discussion of handmade paint technology, including how to make gelatinous,

thixotropic paint without any additives in the original manner. Just as all oils are not the same, all
paints are not the same.

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Discussion of the use of pigment mixes to create a more finely tuned palette.

The book also includes many options for creating stable impastoed paint.

Including an extensive section on formulating and using the versatile and highly stable chalk
putty medium, which allows solvent-free painting in a variety of styles. Chalk has been found in the
work of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Chardin, and Cezanne. As a material, it has proven to be much more
than an extender.

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Explanation of how to make many varieties of the fumed silica gel, the most stable gel medium
available.

Discussion of the pros and cons of all traditional resins, including the hard resin varnishes.

Detailed discussion of modern and traditional options for a final varnish.

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Section on painting landscape outdoors.

Section on alla prima painting.

Section on indirect painting or working in multiple thin layers.

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Detailed discussion of underpainting options when working in layers.

Detailed discussion of egg emulsion mediums and egg alternatives in tempera for
underpainting.

If you are interested in the book, please take a look at or download a PDF file of three different
selections, the Table of Contents, and the Formulas Index here. For the more technically oriented, a
PDF file titled Oil Thixotropy: An Investigation into the Potential Use of a Non-Newtonian Reaction in
Older Paint Technology here. This provides an example of the unique level of practical information
at the core of the book.
I am also very happy to answer questions about the book, so please also feel free to contact me
about anything specific.

For further information on technique or a specific painting please contact tadspurgeon@comcast.net

copyright 2002-2012 by Tad Spurgeon. All rights reserved.
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