On 9 Aug, 2015 With
Whistler’s Oil Painting Technique Whistler’s approach to portraiture in his late maturity was described by one of his sitters, Arthur J. Eddy, who posed for the artist in 1894: “He worked with great rapidity and long hours, but he used his colours thin and covered the canvas with innumerable coats of paint. The colours increased in depth and intensity as the work progressed. At first the entire figure was painted in greyish-brown tones, with very little flesh colour, the whole blending perfectly with the greyish-brown of the prepared canvas; then the entire background would be intensified a little; then the figure made a little stronger; then the background, and so on from day to day and week to week, and…
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On 21 Jul, 2015 With
Caravaggio’s painting technique: Using all of the technical and art historical information we now have on the paintings that can be firmly attributed to Caravaggio we can summarize his technical practices as follows: 1) Preference for using a linen canvas support mounted on a wooden strainer. 2) Preference for dark red-brown ground, often left visible, and used as mid-tones. 3) Use of dramatic, single-source lighting. 4) Use of incisions done free-hand in the still moist ground to establish the composition and fix the pose of his models. 5) Did not use preliminary sketches but began by loosely drawing the outline of forms in dark paint and locating major highlights in lead white (abozzo). 6) Used limited palette, primarily earth colors,…
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On 30 Jun, 2015 With
Rossetti did not have the natural technical talent that is seen in the small detail and brilliant color of a typical Pre-Raphaelite painting, and his early oil paintings, the Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1849) and the Ecce Ancilla Domini (1850), were produced only at the expense of great technical effort. In the less demanding technique of watercolor, however, Rossetti clearly revealed his imaginative power. The series of small watercolors of the 1850s produced such masterpieces as Dante’s Dream (1856) and the Wedding of St. George and the Princess Sabra (1857). In almost all of Rossetti’s paintings of the 1850s he used Elizabeth Siddal as his model. Discovered in a hat shop in 1850, she was adopted by the Brotherhood as their ideal of feminine beauty. In 1852 she…
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On 12 Aug, 2012 With
Oil painting materials: Stretchers Stretchers.—The keyed stretcher, with wedges to force the corners open and so tighten the canvas when necessary, is the only proper one to use. For convenience of use many kinds have been invented, but you will find the one here illustrated the best for general purposes. The sides may be used for ends, and vice versa. If you arrange your sizes well, you will have the sides of one size the right length for the ends of another. Then you need fewer sizes, and they are surer to pack evenly. Stretching.—You will often have to stretch your own canvases, so you should know how to do it. There is only one way to make the canvas lay smoothly…
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On 25 Jan, 2012 With
Secrets of Rembrandt’s Painting Technique Rembrandt’s paintings have transfixed viewers for centuries, but now a new study reveals a scientific explanation for their calming beauty. By painting more detail in and around the eyes of his subjects, Rembrandt tapped into an innate human attraction to the face. This creates a more calming and immersive experience for the viewer. To figure out Rembrandt’s painting secret, scientists used computer rendering to match photos of current models (and a scientist) with four of Rembrandt’s portraits. They manipulated four regions of the portraits: regions centered about each eye, on each side of the chin, and the region where the collar meets the skin of the neck. CREDIT: Steve DiPaola, James Enns, Caitlin Riebe. Steve…
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On 11 Dec, 2011 With
Turner’s Palette Joseph Mallord William Turner was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Cobalt blue Emerald green Viridian Orange vermilion Barium chromate (yellow) Chrome yellow Chrome orange Iodine scarlet Burnt umber Carbon black Turner’s yellow Many red lake colors White [titanium? flake?] This doesn’t feel like his complete palette. And his palette did change over time.
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On 5 Dec, 2011 With
Van Dyck’s Palette Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. Van Dyck’s Palette: Lead white Charcoal black Lamp black Raw umber Yellow ochre Red ochre Madder lake (sub. Alizarin Crimson) Lead-tin yellow (sub. Cadmium Yellow) Vermilion Lapis lazuli Green earth Indigo Cassel Earth Smalt (sub. Cobalt blue)
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On 17 Nov, 2011 With
Whistler’s Palette James Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Lemon Yellow Cadmium Yellow Yellow Ochre Raw Sienna Raw Umber Burnt Sienna Vermilion Venetian Red or Indian Red Rose Madder Cobalt Blue Antwerp Blue (a weak pigment inferior to Prussian Blue) Flake White Ivory Black
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On 3 Nov, 2011 With
Gérôme’s Palette Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. Lead white Cadmium yellow Yellow ochre Mars yellow Vermilion Light red Burnt sienna Rose madder Purple lake (laque pourpre) Emerald green Mineral blue* Cobalt blue light Ivory black *According to Vibert (La science de la peinture, p. 288), mineral blue (bleu minéral) is a pigment with the same chemical composition as Prussian blue.
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On 9 Sep, 2011 With
The former residence of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn has been restored to its former glory; the way it was when Rembrandt lived here in the 17th century. Everything’s there: his studio, his living quarters and his art. You’ll most definitely be surprised by his curiosity cabinet. When Rembrandt filed bankruptcy in 1656 an inventory was made and his valuable possessions were sold. Thankfully the list with Rembrandt’s inventory was saved and that’s how you can get a representative glimpse on Rembrandt’s life today. Besides the rooms of the house, the Rembrandt House Museum shows: Paintings by Rembrandt’s contemporaries, his pupils and his teacher ‘Pieter Lastman’. Rembrandt’s graphical work: The museum harbors a large collection of 260 Rembrandt etchings (in…
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