Luminist Painting Techniques of the Artist

Layne Arguimbau grinds his own pigments from powders, makes his own gesso grounds for panels and lead grounds for canvas and in addition adds his own hand-finishes to his frames to enhance the artistry of his compositions. He cooks his own oil-resinous mediums in the tradition of the Flemish Masters, presently using, such hard resins as amber, sandarac and colophony. Painting in a traditional north light studio, He is a light effect painter and considers himself a Luminist because of the rich luminous transparencies and brilliant light effects of his canvases.

There is something about sailing and painting on an old wooden catboat that has its charms especially bringing home the "Spirit of the Opera Cup " award.

Have you ever felt that some things never change and remain an inspiration for all time? That was the divine inspiration of the Sistine Chapel, now stripped down with harsh chemicals and looking shockingly out of place.

The problem is artists are romantics and scientists are doubters and they fall at opposite ends of the human spectrum. Romantics try to see everything in a vale of beauty where scientists try to create a logical understanding of the world to make a safe place for them and others. One talks in abstractions and subjective feelings about warm fuzzy stuff and the other in mumbo-jumbo terms no one can understand. The object here is not to agree but to understand each other’s differences.

Madonarro is Italian for street painting or rather one who paints Madonnas for alms on the street. This art form was practiced in Italy from the fifteenth century. As a young artist, I traveled to Italy to learn how to draw from classical statuary. Instead, I learned to draw art on the street.

In Florence, I awoke each morning and hung out by the Uffizi, where I would draw portraits of the tourists for money. That freed up my afternoons to visit the many museums and do drawings after masterpieces in the Pitti Palace, the Academia, and the Uffizi. Six months of this, and I was sick of the tourists and the crowded museums. So I packed up my few belongings and headed for Rome.