Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Paint Is Colored Glue

delanceyplace.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 100 posts

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#91

Post by caymanjim »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #87
ryandrake wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to the educational and satisfaction benefits (which I also agree with), I look at it this way: my standard of living is better because I do everything myself. What others spend on hiring painters, movers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, auto mechanics, I save, and it allows me to live like someone who makes quite a bit more than I do. I’ve got a modest tech salary, and wouldn’t call myself desperate o…

> to live like someone who makes quite a bit more than I do That's kind of misleading, because it ignores the value of your labor. You work more hours, and you get a lifestyle improvement that can be measured in dollars. You're not preventing costs, you're changing how you pay. If that's optimal in your specific case then great! But it's easy to imagine a person where it's not optimal at all. If Bob saves $X for ever…

Most tech workers make a salary. Your labor has no financial value if it's "paint my house" vs "watch TV".

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#92

Post by Daub »

One point the article missed is the relationship between Canvas, primer, medium and oil paint. All three are traditionally derived from the same plant: flax. For this reason, there is great chemical compatibility between them, which accounts for their longevity.

Even longer lasting is Buon fresco (the earliest form of fresco). This is essentially pigment painted into wet plaster. The paint is not a glue, rather a stain. Effectively the support and the paint are one.

Another interesting point is the difference between how light paint is applied to dark. Light paint is usually painted quite thickly, and for this reason is very good at reflecting light. This improves the upper registers of the painting. The last thing you want dark paint to do is reflect light. Thickly applied black paint takes on a very 'flat' look. An experienced oil painter would apply black paint as a very thin and 'dry' layer (dry = no or little medium). They are also likely to employ an underpainting layer of brown-red. Applied in this manner the darks have a profound depth. The end result is a profoundly wide dynamic range.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#93

Post by Dylan16807 »

caymanjim wrote: post #91
Dylan16807 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> to live like someone who makes quite a bit more than I do That's kind of misleading, because it ignores the value of your labor. You work more hours, and you get a lifestyle improvement that can be measured in dollars. You're not preventing costs, you're changing how you pay. If that's optimal in your specific case then great! But it's easy to imagine a person where it's not optimal at all. If Bob saves $X for ever…

Most tech workers make a salary. Your labor has no financial value if it's "paint my house" vs "watch TV".

That's true in a very short term sense.

Over the long term you can either find some freelancing hours or get a job that offers a different expectation of worked hours and a different amount of pay.

So if you're out of balance you can fix it to do more of the job you want and have more leisure hours too. Or less of the job you don't want.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#94

Post by arghwhat »

jdietrich wrote: post #34
arghwhat wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (I also distinctly remember being shocked by the size of some paintings, especially the crowning of Napoleon ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_Napoleon_I#/medi... ) This painting was printed in many of my history school books, but I was not even remotely aware that is nearly 10 meters wide.) And yet, it's the postal stamp-sized Mona Lisa that gets all the attention... Sure, it's a good painting, but I p…

There's a place for both. Rothko's Seagram Murals are bland and unremarkable in the pages of a book, but become utterly overwhelming in person due to their sheer scale. Conversely, Sir Charles Bell's watercolour sketches of battlefield wounds are so affecting on part because of their small size. When stooping over to peer at these pocket notebook sketches, you are transported to a field hospital in Waterloo, standing…

It was not to say that small paintings do not have their worth. My point was more that Mona Lisa, specifically, seems... unremarkable in comparison to the other works.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#95

Post by arghwhat »

nabla9 wrote: post #17
arghwhat wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (I also distinctly remember being shocked by the size of some paintings, especially the crowning of Napoleon ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_Napoleon_I#/medi... ) This painting was printed in many of my history school books, but I was not even remotely aware that is nearly 10 meters wide.) And yet, it's the postal stamp-sized Mona Lisa that gets all the attention... Sure, it's a good painting, but I p…

The painting opposite of Mona Lisa is the The Wedding at Cana. It's one of the most impressive paintings in Louvre (I think it's the largest). I have wondered if they placed it there as a joke. There is over 100 people in the painting being busy and only person looking outward directly towards Mona Lisa is Jesus looking surprised. Mona Lisa is looking directly at Jesus and smirks.

Hah, I will now believe that this was indeed placed there as a joke.

There are actually a few more people than just Jesus looking out towards Mona Lisa, some with amusing expressions. It is just a rather busy painting, so it can be hard to notice.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#96

Post by largolagrande »

bunderbunder wrote: post #55
beat wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You might be interested by this video about the challenges faced by conservation scientists with Rothko murals : https://vimeo.com/111469325

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#97

Post by qubex »

retzkek wrote: post #81
qubex wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 “…

> cash-strapped homeowners desperate enough to “Damage It Yourself” I find it a sad statement that one suggests the primary reason for DIY is out of desperation - surely I am not alone in doing many home and auto maintenance tasks myself out of primarily the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning and executing a new skill? Sure, /r/DIWhy is full of examples of ill-advised and unsafe DIY attempts, typically in electri…

My characterisation of DIY as “Damage It Yourself” might seem a bit mean, but it very much represents the (admittedly biased) statistical feedback we as a sector get from those who choose this route. As somebody remarks further down, competence in these kinds of home-maintenance activities generally derives from experience “earned the hard way”.

Obviously DIY and the attendant issues are entirely absent from the industrial sector, which I spend most of my time frequenting.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#98

Post by ryandrake »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #93
caymanjim wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most tech workers make a salary. Your labor has no financial value if it's "paint my house" vs "watch TV".

That's true in a very short term sense. Over the long term you can either find some freelancing hours or get a job that offers a different expectation of worked hours and a different amount of pay. So if you're out of balance you can fix it to do more of the job you want and have more leisure hours too. Or less of the job you don't want.

I concluded the same as caymanjim. I’m a firm believer in “Your spare time is only worth money if you’d otherwise be making money.” I’m not paid hourly, so the opportunity cost of my spare time is $0, and like many tech companies, mine forbids freelancing/moonlighting. The math works out to favor DIY in my case but it’s obviously not for everyone.

If I had a job where more hours directly translated into more money, 1. I would drop DIY projects and 2. I would probably become a workaholic.

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#99

Post by Dylan16807 »

ryandrake wrote: post #98
Dylan16807 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true in a very short term sense. Over the long term you can either find some freelancing hours or get a job that offers a different expectation of worked hours and a different amount of pay. So if you're out of balance you can fix it to do more of the job you want and have more leisure hours too. Or less of the job you don't want.

I concluded the same as caymanjim. I’m a firm believer in “Your spare time is only worth money if you’d otherwise be making money.” I’m not paid hourly, so the opportunity cost of my spare time is $0, and like many tech companies, mine forbids freelancing/moonlighting. The math works out to favor DIY in my case but it’s obviously not for everyone. If I had a job where more hours directly translated into more money, 1…

Okay, but considering that it could save you a huge amount of time overall, next time you're looking for a job consider searching harder for one that has paid overtime opportunities. (But not enough to enable workaholism.)

Re: Paint Is Colored Glue

#100

Post by stevehawk »

kowdermeister wrote: post #83
stevehawk wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To clarify, the smiley makes condescending.

Really? It was not the intention. I just found it odd to be on the top of HN, so I assumed it to have a deeper meaning which I still find funny.

I know, it's the burden of text.
Post reply on HN