Artist – Part 9 – My Tools / Old Socks

Since my college days my tool of choice for taking away oil paint from my canvas has been old socks. Some people don’t really care about what type of rag they use but after trying many different materials I found that cotton socks are the most absorbent. While cutting up some old socks the other day I came across and old favorite pair… worn in the heals and toes… they must have been in my rag bag for at least 6 years.

It’s funny also how different parts of the sock can be used for different aspects of paint work, the elastic for cleaning brushes and the rest for the surgical work of defining the lighter part of the underpainting. In school I’d keep the sock whole but now I cut them into pieces 4”x4”.

The socks that brought up these thoughts were a pair of light brown ones. I thought back to when they were freshly washed and turned up new in my sock rotation, they were chosen first above all other pairs even when newer socks appeared and these became ratty. Then the fateful day when a hole appeared and they were put in a bag for painting rags.