Artists Magazine - USA (2020-04)

18 Artists Magazine April 2020

Build TUTORIAL

HELEN OH demonstrates

how to use simple

materials to create three

DIY artist tools.

CRAFTING

YOUR KIT

There’s a tradition in Western art

of painters making self-portraits in

which they appear inside their studios,

surrounded by the equipment of

their trade. Seeing these paintings

always invites self-reflection on my

own studio tools. There tends to be

a remarkable degree of consistency

among artists over the centuries,

myself included.

One tool shown frequently in the

painter’s grasp is a mahlstick. It shows

up in Rembrandt van Rijn’s Self-

Portrait With Two Circles and Johannes

Ver meer ’s The Art of Painting. Harvey

Dinnerstein holds one in his left hand

in The Studio (at right).The mahlstick’s

name is derived from two Dutch

words: malen, which means “to paint,”

and stock or stick. The instrument is

designed to steady the painter’s hand

in order to render fine details. Thus, its

inclusion in a self-portrait

is presumably

intended to commu-

nicate the skill of

the artist.

Traditional

mahlsticks are thin,

straight, wooden

rods. The far end is

wrapped in a cham-

ois cloth ball, which

is filled with cotton

and tied to the rod

with string (Figure 1,above).Asanart

student, I bought a sectionalaluminum

mahlstick made of three12-inchseg-

ments that slotted together to create

a 36-inch tool. It was lightweight, but

I still found it cumbersome to use.

In this article I share how to make

a mahlstick of my own design. I pre-

fer a hooked mahlstick so it can rest

onthetopof

thecanvaswith

thestraightportion

againsttheeasel.Thisfreestheother

handandallowsforgreatermovement

(seeimageontheoppositepage,at

bottom).Inaddition,I’lldemonstrate

howtomodifyanordinarytriangle

andrulertomakeimplementsthatare

helpful for painting straight edges or

lines (see Figure 2, above).

Helen Oh is an artist and conservator,

and an instructor at the School of the

Art Institute of Chicago and Palette &

Chisel Academy of Fine Arts. She’s

represented by Gallery Victor Armendariz.

Harvey Dinnerstein depicts himself with a mahlstick in hand in The Studio

(1978; oil on board, 23½x20½).

COLLECTION OF THE ROBERT HULL FLEMING MUSEUM, U. OF VERMONT, BURLINGTON, VT.;

GIFT OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS

Figure 1

Figure 2