Oil painting technique
Thur
colours of the lowest intensity have to go on first and
white is left for the paper colour.
In an example where a church spire protrudes into the
background sky, one cannot paint it over the sky if the sky is
not a single block of colour, because watercolour allows
some of the colour beath it to show through.
Therefore either masking fluid is used to blank out the spire
shape to allow full flow of the brushed sky, or less satisfactorily,
very careful brushwork and colouring around the blank space
can work.
How do the great painters produce detail, and eliminate brush
strokes in oil, and deal with the issue I describe?
For example:-
http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=15017
--
Thur
Beowulf
> ..
> How do the great painters produce detail, and eliminate brush
Why would a painter want to eliminate all brush strokes-- that is what gives
a painting some character compared to say a photo. The brush strokes of a
van Gogh or Rembrandt give it personality. But if wanting to minimize
strokes for blending etc., a badger (fan) brush is used to smooth and blend
the paint on the canvas, and glazes done with a soft flat brush can lessen
brush stroke effects.
Thur
"Beowulf" <beo...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:QFkYd.451$7C6...@fe02.lga...
Leonardo introduced this aim (probably learned it in the Low Countries)
e.g. see
Robert Gamblin on Leonardos Sfumato technique.
http://130.238.79.99/ilmh/Ren/flor-leonardo-monalisa.htm
Sometimes a painting is spoiled by those brushstrokes, especially where
objects such as the example I gave are noticably edged by a brushline.
Some of the careless Modernist paintings in the Abstract Expressionist
style show this in the extreme. They do give it character, but not a good
one.
--
Thur
Paul Mesken
>In an example where a church spire protrudes into the
>background sky, one cannot paint it over the sky if the sky is
>not a single block of colour, because watercolour allows
>some of the colour beath it to show through.
>Therefore either masking fluid is used to blank out the spire
>shape to allow full flow of the brushed sky, or less satisfactorily,
>very careful brushwork and colouring around the blank space
>can work.
>
>How do the great painters produce detail, and eliminate brush
>strokes in oil, and deal with the issue I describe?
Eliminating brush strokes can be done in a lot of ways. The badger
brush has been mentioned. There are also fan brushes but I do not like
them (certainly not the hog fan brushes). "Dry brushing" is another
way which leaves no brush stroke (a dry brush with a minimum of paint
on it, done by brushing the paint off before applying it). This is
done to subtly add color (like a slight blush on the cheeks, for
example). One thing I use for the "blocking in" of major areas at the
start of a painting is to apply the paint and then wipe it off (quite
rigorously), this leaves a very thin layer of color (which has
penetrated the ground layer). This is done to prevent brush strokes
that may show in subsequent layers. Painting over paint is also better
than painting over the ground layer. And there are, of course,
leveling mediums like stand oil (great stuff). Some use very small
sized brushes (like #0 and smaller, I kid you not), the strokes are
not visible anymore in such a case. It also prevents big shiny or
sunken in areas. It's a bit of an "egg tempera" approach, more like
hatching than painting.
As for the church spire, that's probably done with a basis of opaque
ochre which covers any trace of blue that might be in its area. Going
over the spire's area with a brush dipped in a little bit of turps
after doing the first layer of sky also works (and after that doing
the spire's first layer, after letting any trace of turps evaporate).
You can also see it's not a perfectly sharp boundary which isn't that
bad (there's also that light yellow ochre in the sky which nicely
harmonizes things). The top of the spire clearly shows sky color
underneath it, the spire also "leaks" a bit. Too sharp a boundary
would make it "pop out" (you might want such an effect, of course).
Especially since yellow and blue are so contrasting. Colors tend to
blend in our eyes. This looks natural.
To get soft blending (especially in skin) a little bit of Venetian
Turpentine might be added which softly "fuses" the boundaries (very
subtly). This gives a more natural boundary (and skin hardly ever show
harsh boundaries, it's not made of plastic).
With opaque oil paints (like Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, the
Cadmiums, Cerulean Blue, etc.) you can paint over a lot of things when
done thickly enough. However, care should be taken. One could chose to
do a complete sky first and then paint a spire over it but when this
sky is done with a "bleeding" color and this layer is not completely
dry yet then the color might "strike through" (the very fine pigment
particles migrating through the spire's layer). An example of a
bleeding color is the organic pigment Phtalocyanine Blue (PB15:3, for
example). It's often used as a cheap replacement for the more
expensive mineral pigments Cerulean Blue (PB35 or PB36) and Manganese
Blue (PB33). Both being popular sky colors. Most organic colors are
bleeding colors.
The spire is not so difficult to do (it's a simple enough shape to
stay out of when doing the sky). The trees (the leaves), however, are
done by simply painting them over the sky. The sky shows a little bit
through the color of the leaves but this is not a bad thing.
Paul Mesken
>e.g. see
>Robert Gamblin on Leonardos Sfumato technique.
>http://130.238.79.99/ilmh/Ren/flor-leonardo-monalisa.htm
By the way : "sfumato" techniques can greatly benefit from the use of
Venetian Turpentine. Joseph Sheppard has a very nice demonstration of
its use (with the aim of sfumato) in his book "How to paint like the
old masters".
>Sometimes a painting is spoiled by those brushstrokes, especially where
>objects such as the example I gave are noticably edged by a brushline.
>Some of the careless Modernist paintings in the Abstract Expressionist
>style show this in the extreme. They do give it character, but not a good
>one.
Beginner paintings often show a bad choice in brush stroke direction.
Let's say you want to paint an arm with appropriate shading. Beginners
often have their brush strokes following the length of the arm (its
axis of elongation). This looks horrible because of the thick
saturated edges of paint that accumulate at the sides of the brush.
It's better to work perpendicular (around the arm instead of along
it). This breaks up the shading areas and it's easier to get those
"soft edges". Soft edges are the ones blending very subtly into the
next shade, if an edge grows softer it's harder to see where the one
shade ends and the other begins ("lost edges" are the ones in which
the boundary cannot be seen anymore). This is often the case in
rounded objects, apart from the boundary between the shadow part and
the light part which is often one of the darkest shades and often hard
edged (also called the "shadow accent").
Also : working along the length of the arm (which is bad) leaves brush
strokes that make it look like the arm is actually a composition of
parallel ribbons instead of one thing (the shades don't unite because
of their hard edges). It's also easy to fall into the trap of making
shading areas parallel which gives the impression of flatness.
Although our bodies show a great deal of symmetry; symmetry and
parallelness should be counteracted because these two are so strongly
associated with flatness (on the other hand, if you want flatness then
symmetry, straight lines instead of curved ones and parallelness are
the way to go).
Lastly : those thick edges of paint at the boundaries make it harder
to softly blend things simply because there's more paint at the edges
than inside the brush stroke, it needs to be spread out over a far
greater area.
I also find the weaker tinters to be very helpfull to get soft edged
work. It's quite hard to control subtleness in a painting when using a
very strong color like Cadmium Red, for example.
For soft blend work I use soft brushes (Sables and Kolinsky's), Round
and Filbert (filberts prevent the accumulation of paint at the edges
because of their shape).
Sable Brights (or Flats, which are longer) are good brushes to put
down the majority of paint with. They don't leave much of brush
strokes. Hog hair brushes, on the other hand, do show lots of brush
strokes.
Seldom Seen
>Sometimes a painting is spoiled by those brushstrokes
Not unless the work is entirely free of same except
for the "spoiled" passage.
Egg tempera is an older medium than oils, and one where
brush strokes tend to flatten out and not show. The
same can be achieved in oils, if that is the intent
of the artist. IOWs, it depends on the artist's intent,
and the style in which the artist prefers to work.
the_...@yahoo.com
Thur wrote:
> How do the great painters produce detail, and eliminate brush
> strokes in oil, and deal with the issue I describe?
> Thur
The Renaissance painters often made their forms by painting tiny
contour lines.
the sarp
Nerd Gerl
Thur
"Paul Mesken" <usu...@euronet.nl> wrote in message
news:t28431ht9ou9g8gmn...@4ax.com...
It's something new to me, that some oil paints are more opaque than
others.
Thanks, my question seems answered.
I thought that we have had too quiet a period on rec.arts.fine.
--
Thur
Seldom Seen
says...
>It's something new to me, that some oil paints are more opaque than
>others.
That is a fundamental fact for all "paints" no matter
what the vehicle is. Transparent and opaque are the
two main categories, followed by degrees of permanence.
Paul Mesken
wrote:
Yes, there are distinct differences in pigments. Ralph Mayer's book
"The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques" lists a lot of
properties of pigments. The properties of even more pigments can be
found on the site of Bruce :
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterfs.html
(just click on the colors)
It's for water colors but the properties are more or less the same for
oil paints although not all pigments used for water color can be used
for oil paint (only a few, some pigments are so weak that the very
vehicle of oil takes away from their color and they can only be used
for water color or egg tempera).
Of course, few (if any) pigments granulate as oil paint as opposed to
the same pigment in water color (so, Manganese Blue doesn't granulate
as an oil paint but it does as a water color).
There's not that much of a "drying shift" in oil paints as there is in
water colors (which can be quite substantial as can be easily
observed). But in oil paints some pigments have a strong tendency to
"sink in". That is : the typical depth (which oil paint colors show)
disappears when the color dries and it becomes a matte, flat, opaque
color (basically, the oil gets sucked into the painting and away from
the surface). Worse, this "sinking in" produces a very uneven shine
which often has to be repaired by rubbing oil (some use retouch
varnish) over the "sunken in" areas. I have a lot of different
Cerulean Blues (both as dry pigment and as paint from manufacturers)
and they _all_ show this property strongly (more so than other
pigments). It gets worse the thicker the paint is applied and it's not
because of the quality of the paint. Blockx and Old Holland Ceruleans
sink in as much as my own homemade paints.
Apart from the pigment's own tendency to show this "sinking in", there
are also methods that can produce it. The use of turps do it as well.
Turps flatten and dull the paint, that's why a lot of painters don't
like to use turps in oil paints (myself included, I only use it on the
first "blocking in" layer). The absorbency of the layer which is
painted upon has a lot to do with it as well. As does the "inertness"
of the pigment. Some pigments bond chemically with the oil they are
dispersed in (like Lead White and Zinc White, which form "soaps" with
the oil), others are completely inert and just float around unaffected
in the oil. Most notably Titanium White which always needs some
addition of Zinc White to prevent the oil from "leaking out" of the
paint when drying which results in a quite dramatic case of
"yellowing" (not real yellowing, of course) because the yellow oil
comes out of the paint and shows yellow streaks over the white paint
(looks very dirty). Some manufacturers (like Michael Harding and
Blockx) use the much clearer Poppy Seed Oil as a vehicle. I guess this
way they can get away with using less Zinc White in the Titanium White
paint.
When one makes their own paints from dry pigments (which is an easy
thing to do and financially attractive), it also becomes clear that
some pigments have a very distinct texture (especially the mineral
colors which, typically, are coarser than the organic colors). Oil
paint manufacturers like to mull their colors to such an extent that
all of their paints are completely smooth (hiding the textural
properties of the different pigments). Also, a lot of the mineral
pigments they use are actually manufactured artificially (and those
are smoother than the natural found mineral pigments).
Especially natural found Yellow Ochre (there are lots of different
ones) has interesting textural properties. Yellow Ochre is often a
basis for skin colors. Using the textural properties of Yellow Ochre
gives a far more natural effect to the painted skin (a very fine
coarseness). This is an attractive effect which is impossible to get
when using a completely smooth paint.
Different pigments also have different drying rates. For example :
Burnt Umber and Lead White are two quick drying pigments. Others are
slower drying.
This is important because if you put a quick drying paint over a slow
drying one (which isn't dry yet) then cracking might occur.
Different pigments also require a different amount of oil to turn them
into workable paint (a lot depends on the particle size of the pigment
but also other, chemical, properties). Some paints are "lean" (meaning
they require little oil, most notably Lead White), others are "fat"
(requiring lots of oil).
This might be of some importance given the "fat over lean" rule (which
means a lot of things). When painting in layers, the lower layer
should be lower in oil content than the layer above it. This is to
prevent cracking (to be honest : I never had a cracking incident in my
entire life). Personally, I don't think it's that important to
consider (that is : the oil content in the paint, additional oil is
another matter).
There's also the flexibility (and, thus, how likely a color will
crack) issue. Some pigments produce tough, flexible paint which will
hardly ever crack (most notably : Lead White, the white of choice).
Others produce brittle paint films (the two other whites : Zinc White
and Titanium White). If you value archivalness then a bit of Lead
White in all colors will greatly enhance permanence (things will also
dry quicker because Lead is a siccative, just like Manganese and
Cobalt).
The consistency of different pigments is something one will find out
about quickly enough. Unless one uses Talens Rembrandt paint. Talens
goes through quite some effort to produce paints of homogeneous
consistency (of course, a real painter uses the differences between
pigments instead of trying to hide them).
There's the permanence issue, some pigments (but only a very few of
the modern ones) are suspect. Most notably Alizarin Crimson which
should fade. However, I didn't observe any fading in the one I have
from Michael Harding (which is the real deal : PR83). Perhaps the
fading happens more for water colors than for oil colors.
Nevertheless, it's perhaps better to be safe than sorry (although
Alizarin is a beautifull color, which is the reason why it's still
used). Permanence is a bit difficult. Some reports tell that a pigment
is absolutely permanent while others state that the pigment is
impermanent. Smalt (a Cobalt Glass pigment) is such an example. It's
an absolutely beautifull blue (subtly sparkling). There are a lot of
oil paintings which show great defects in Smalt (it turns an opaque
grey, possibly because of "Ultramarine Sickness", which involves
moisture). But current tests to make Smalt show this defect failed.
Probably, the old Smalt was of an inferior quality while nowadays
Smalt is permanent.
But fading of color is not the only defect a pigment can show. Some
pigments can promote cracking. Burnt Umber over another layer is such
an example or painting over a layer of Ivory Black.
Most defects, though, come about by an improper use of mediums
(impermanent mediums used in excess). Cracking and yellowing is, first
and foremost, a thing that has to do with oil (the vehicle, not the
pigment). Also, not following the guidelines ("fat over lean")
produces impermanent work.
....
Oh, lastly, some pigments are quite poisonous. Lead White (also known
under the names Cremnitz White, Flake White and Blanc d'Argent) is
quite poisonous. There seems to be some banning of this very usefull
white going on in a lot of countries (but it's still sold at the
proper places). A lot of "Cremnitz White", "Flake White" and "Blanc
d'Argent" sold are no longer real Lead Whites anymore (the name of a
paint doesn't have to do anything with its ingredients, the ASTM
pigment code for genuine Lead White is PW1, this is the only guarantee
one has that it is the real deal, PW4 and PW6 are the ASTM codes for
respectively Zinc White and Titanium White).
There are other poisonous paints (like Orpiment, genuine Naples
Yellow, etc.) but they are not as popular as Lead White. Some even go
as far to say that the usefull Cadmiums are poisonous (it's a heavy
metal thing).
Old Holland, Blockx (last time I checked), Michael Harding and
Williamsburg are some of the manufacturers that still sell the genuine
Lead White. The dry pigment itself can be bought from Kremer (although
_making_ Lead White paint from the dry pigment poses a far greater
health threat than using the paint, it's also a _lot_ of work given
the stiffness and low oil content).
Let me be clear about this :
Lead White is the single most usefull color the oil painter has.
It has the best archival qualities of the 3 whites (although it grows
more transparent over the years), best mixing qualities for warm
colors (it doesn't slap colors dead like Titanium White), is the
quickest drier second only to Burnt Umber and gives mixtures these
qualities as well and has proven itself in the many centuries it has
been used in. All those old oil paintings are made with Lead White.
Titanium White and Zinc White are recent inventions (hardly a century
old). Zinc White is a good mixing white for cool colors (blues and
blueish colors). Titanium White is only good for highlights (and it is
the most opaque white) or for mixing "pastel" colors.
But you shouldn't eat this Lead White, nor rub it in open wounds or
smoke or inhale it. It can cause cancer (eating lots of Calcium
containing food does detoxicate the body from heavy metals, if one is
concerned). Keep it out of your body and wash your hands. That
shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.
Some painters are so squimish that they won't use this color (or other
far less toxic colors like Manganese Blue, Cadmiums, etc.). It's their
loss. After all : the petrol one puts in one's car is also a cancer
causing agent. But still we use it.
It's best to make a bit of a stock of Lead White since it's sold less
and less.
So, me thinks I've done my share to "liven up" this newsgroup :-)
Paul Mesken
wrote:
>It's for water colors but the properties are more or less the same for
>oil paints although not all pigments used for water color can be used
>for oil paint (only a few, some pigments are so weak that the very
>vehicle of oil takes away from their color and they can only be used
>for water color or egg tempera).
Hm, a bit unclear here. What I meant was that "only a few" of the
pigments used for water colors are *not* used for oil colors.
So, _most_ of the pigments used for water colors are *also* used for
oil paints. There are also some pigments that are used for oil paints
but not for water colors.
Some pigments used in both can look better in an "aquaous medium".
Most notably Cobalt Violet (PV14 and PV49, both of them looking much
the same) and Manganese Blue (PB33). That has to do with a difference
between the undertone (the color showing when the paint is very thinly
applied) and masstone (the color showing when the paint is thickly
applied). Both these pigments look their best in their undertones (and
there is a major difference between the masstone and undertone,
Manganese Blue's undertone is a beautifull "electric blue" while its
masstone is a dull Cerulean Blue look-a-like).
However : in oil paint, more or less the same can be achieved by
adding a lot of glass pigment to the paint. Making one's own paint
with these pigments and lots of glass pigment and as vehicle a mixture
of Stand Oil and Alkyd (Dammar is a bit cloudier and dries slower)
gives great "jewel like" paint (also for other pigments).