Live data from Hacker News

Paint Is Colored Glue

delanceyplace.com

51–60 of 100 posts

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#51

> Linseed oil is also used for many applications beyond oil paint, such as treating wood, to create a transparent, protective plastic barrier -- just as oil paint does, but this time, without color. Or for seasoning cast iron! https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-w...

Before anyone runs with your suggestion, it's worth pointing out that flaxseed is what people can use (which is a food-grade equivalent to linseed).

And then before anyone runs with that suggestion, it's actually not a great way to season cast iron - it turns brittle and the seasoning will chip away (experienced this myself, and then did research).

A great place to start for seasoning cast iron is on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5rhq9n/the_rcasti...

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#52
post #51

> Linseed oil is also used for many applications beyond oil paint, such as treating wood, to create a transparent, protective plastic barrier -- just as oil paint does, but this time, without color. Or for seasoning cast iron! https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-w...

Before anyone runs with your suggestion, it's worth pointing out that flaxseed is what people can use (which is a food-grade equivalent to linseed). And then before anyone runs with that suggestion, it's actually not a great way to season cast iron - it turns brittle and the seasoning will chip away (experienced this myself, and then did research). A great place to start for seasoning cast iron is on reddit: https://…

The flaxseed oil method has worked great for me so far. But it is indeed a great internet debate. :)

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#53

Labor has become more expensive than parts, for many aspects of home repair. We haven't adapted our habits to this. The last time I let my university landlord paint my apartment, it took days to clear the furniture, and I was instructed to do no paint prep. There were peels coming down from the ceiling. The painters exploited this "paint is glue" theory by painting under the peels and pushing them flat. I channeled m…

Ballpark estimate by somebody who operates in the paint industry and has done so for almost fifteen years (albeit what is for you likely a foreign country: Italy). Industry associations estimate that the cost of materiel amounts to between 20% and 30% of the total cost experienced by the homeowner, depending on various factors (interior/exterior, type of finish desired, & cetera). So roughly three quarters of your “painting bill” comes from labour, not material. Knowing this, the DIY chains actually hike the prices of what are admittedly lower-grade paints because they know that by cutting out labour costs theirs is still a winning proposition for cash-strapped homeowners desperate enough to “Damage It Yourself”.

It’s pretty dismal. And broadly speaking, it's unsustainable.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#54
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few years ago I looked at buying a listed building in the UK (mentioned in pevsner as well). And you MUST use special old paint that fades very quickly to be authentic.

Never, ever buy a listed building unless you are rich and retired.

Lol - well there are a pair of really nice Arts and Crafts houses I have my eye on for when I win the lottery :-)

I did not go through because the developers stuffed up and got sued by English heritage for months.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#55
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can highly recommend John Berger's legendary documentary series Ways Of Seeing . The first episode explores precisely this issue - how our perception of painting is affected by reproduction. It has perhaps the most arresting opening scene of any documentary series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk

My favorite painting in the world is Jackson Pollock's Mural , his first major painting. It's owned by my alma mater the U of Iowa. The canvas is 9x20 iirc, just huge. They used to display it in a large central gallery, where you could look at it from more than 50 feet away, or get your nose right up to it. One of the great things about this painting is how it is a totally different experience at different distances.…

Another of my favorite examples of the "reproduction doesn't do any justice" is Mark Rothko. Like Pollock, he's often held up as example of an artist whose work "doesn't look like anything" and "my kid could do that." And it's true, if you're looking at a poster of a Rothko, it just looks like some large splotches of color.

But, in a gallery, people encounter the Rothko and just stop. Many of them will stare at those large splotches of color for 1, 2, 5, even 10 minutes. Turns out there's a whole lot going on there that just doesn't translate into print.

Sadly, a lot of the techniques that abstract expressionists used don't translate well into the future, either. Layering just oil paint, that's pretty durable. Layering different kinds of paint, not so much. I've seen a fly dislodge a flake of paint from one of Rothko's paintings just by landing on it.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#56
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the link instead of a downvote, never seen this post.

I didn't downvote, but your comment comes across as dismissive of the subject because it isn't directly related to digital tech.

To clarify, the smiley makes condescending.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 15 years later, the apartment looks just-painted Curious what you mean? In my experience, new paint coats are needed because of marks left on walls -- accumulated smudges, scuffs, furniture bangs, nicks, filled anchor holes, etc. None of which higher-quality paint has anything to do with... I assume? Am I wrong? Assuming paint is applied correctly in the first place, what are the longevity benefits of using a highe…

A lot of scuffs and smudges can be cleaned off with a magic eraser and some elbow grease. It's certainly easier than re-painting.

Soft rubber eraser works too.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#58

The technique described as "They overlaid many thin layers of oil paint" is technically called glazing. And, by "thin" layers, they mean a layer that is mostly oil, with varying levels of pigment. Many of the old masters would paint a detailed, monochromatic underpainting, and glaze many layers of color on top of it. Definitely not a process used by people who want to finish quickly.

That's interesting, it's very similar to the way many comics are done -- one person does the drawing and inking, and it's often colored by a different person (or at least as a different process if the team is small).

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#59

Labor has become more expensive than parts, for many aspects of home repair. We haven't adapted our habits to this. The last time I let my university landlord paint my apartment, it took days to clear the furniture, and I was instructed to do no paint prep. There were peels coming down from the ceiling. The painters exploited this "paint is glue" theory by painting under the peels and pushing them flat. I channeled m…

You sometimes need to be careful, depending on climate and construction specifics, what sort of paints you apply to the walls in modern buildings. Using vapor-closed paints (or worse, vinyl wallpaper) will not allow the drywall to dry to the interior and can result in mold and mildew growth.

I don't know the characteristics of acrylic artists' paint, but there might be reason to be careful.

One thing I've also been wondering about is if repainting every other year, even with vapor-open paints, would have a similar effect. So many rental properties just end up with layers and layers of paint.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#60
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With head tracking it should be possible to get close. The thickness changes are small, so the 3D effect is mostly from the uneven light reflection revealed by head movement, not stereopsis.

The texture of oil on canvas is extraordinarily complex and subtle. You would need billions of pixels and polygons and trillions of rays to even begin to capture the heavy impasto of Van Gogh or the coarse diffusion of Bacon.

> You would need billions of pixels and polygons and trillions of rays

So give it 5 years, and you'll have it on your phone...

If there's one thing I've learned over the decades about computer technology, it's to never say "impossible" or "never"...

Eventually, what you once might have thought to be only in the realm of "big and expensive" inevitably becomes "cheap and commodity" in a far shorter time than you expect.

Post reply on HN