Advice needed on reproducing a certain painting
Beowulf
by William Bouguereau "Jeune Fille Allant à la Fontaine" [Young Girl Going
to the Fountain]
http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=1695
Any help on painting it (techniques, materials, methods) appreciated. Thank
you in advance! I am particularly interested in what colors to use, and
also any tips on painting the background since I an not very skilled in
landscape painting methods at all-- such as how to paint the rocks (should
I use knife painting for them, scrumbling, etc?). Colors seem to be very
earthy-- yellow ochre, umbers, whites and greys, tinted umber greys, etc.
Paul Mesken
wrote:
Yes, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber (the dull greyish variety, not the
chocolate color made by some manufacturers). Ivory Black also seems to
be used (it was quite popular until the impressionists who advocated
against its use). The dull, weak greens in the skin are clearly a
little bit of Ivory Black with Yellow Ochre. Naples Yellow Light might
also have been used for the very light yellows (seems a bit too harsh
to be a Yellow Ochre). Besides : it was a popular color in those days
(for skin colors). The red of the lips and on the cheeks and fingers
is Vermillion (no question about it), the brownish variety (there's
also an orangeish variety). Of course, in Bouguereau's time there
hardly was any other serious red. Some Ultramarine might have been
used although it is hard to tell. Some varieties of Ivory Black can
look blueish when surrounded by warm colors (the blues aren't that
blue when looked at them in isolation, they are almost grey). The
white is, of course, a Lead White because Titanium White and Zinc
White didn't exist in that time.
Now, unless you have genuine Vermillion (which is one of the most
expensive paints around, it's a mercury sulfide color) you can use a
Cadmium Red. But beware : most Cadmium Reds (the mediums and lights)
are quite orangeish. This becomes particularly clear in mixtures (full
body they look perfectly red but they behave like very red oranges in
mixtures). Mixing it with a little bit Burnt Umber can make it
slightly brownish like the real deal.
The same goes for genuine Naples Yellow (a lead color, also quite
expensive). A Cadmium Yellow can take its place but it should be
neither overly greenish (like the "Lemon" or "Light" variety) nor be
too warm (orangeish).
If you want to use the real deal : Michael Harding makes genuine
Vermillion (MH has the brownish variety) and genuine Naples Yellow
Light for reasonable prices and excellent quality. You can also get
the dry pigments from Kremer.
As for the background : that is not done with a painting knife. It's
mostly just darker colors painted over a light background. Here and
there the lighter colors are re-stated (some light highlight lines
over rocks). But mostly it's just dark over light.
Bouguereau was a master with his edge work. That is the challenge of
painting one of his works.
Pay also special attention to his fold work. You can see what kind of
material (and its thickness) her clothes are made of. This is done by
the edge work in the folds. Thick fabrics have more cylindrical shape
(and thus quite soft edges which go from light to dark). But thin
fabrics have sharp folds, showing hard edges. Folds in thin fabrics
also show more straight lines (giving in easily to the forces that
cause them) whereas thick fabrics show more smooth curves (giving in
slowly to the forces that cause them).
The texture he gives to the clothing is very interesting. See how he
alternates somewhat warm dark colors (Burnt Umber with some Yellow
Ochre in it) and cool light colors (Ivory Black with perhaps a slight
dash of Ultramarine in it) to make up the skirt's texture.
Paint what you see, not what you know. Some things might easily be
overlooked because they aren't logical (at first sight, at least).
Observe how some areas on her right arm (our left) are quite light
where we expect it to be the darkest (inside her sleeve, for example).
Such things are important because it shows the transparency of the
fabric.
Regardless of how some think of Bouguereau, he was a great master in
technique. Look very closely at how he did this work. It probably will
take weeks to get close to his quality. It's quite a challenge.
And don't bother too much about that background, it's only there for
compositional reasons and to give some atmosphere. It doesn't need to
be copied in fine detail.
To recap the colors I think were used :
*- Lead White (PW1)
*- Naples Yellow (PY41), can be replaced by a not too light Cadmium
Yellow
*- Yellow Ochre (PY43, nowadays mostly PY42)
*- Vermillion (PR106), brownish variety, can be replaced by a proper
Cadmium Red with a bit of Burnt Umber to make it slightly brownish
*- Burnt Umber (PBr7), not too brownish
*- Ivory Black (PBk9), blueish variety
And perhaps a bit of Ultramarine (PB29). I also wouldn't be too
surprised when a Sienna was used (especially in the feet).
Beowulf
..
> Yes, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber (the dull greyish variety, not the
> chocolate color made by some manufacturers). Ivory Black also seems to
> be used (it was quite popular until the impressionists who advocated
WOW! Thank you for the lengthy explanation and tips!
Beowulf
..
>> http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=1695
...
> And don't bother too much about that background, it's only there for
> compositional reasons and to give some atmosphere. It doesn't need to
> be copied in fine detail.
Should the background be painting in before the figure of the girl or could
it be painting in after or alongside the painting of the girl? I was just
wondering because if the bg was painted in first, wouldn't that prevent
problems with getting some of the rocks and such up against the figure
without edge effects? Or is it just a matter of careful brushwork painting
the girl and the bg at the same time?
Paul Mesken
wrote:
It depends. Different painters do it differently. I always start by
"blocking" areas in with a very thin basic color for each area. All of
the skin areas a very thin layer of Yellow Ochre, for example. Others
like to put in a color that contrasts with the color that will
eventually fill the area (putting down orange as "blocking in" color
for a blue area, for example). Others simply divide the areas up with
a single warm color and a single cool color or (quite popular) use a
single color for everything (Burnt Sienna seems to be popular for
this).
Whether you paint with lots of glazing (in transparent layers) or
heavily alla prima (all at once), such initial blocking in offers a
couple of advantages :
- You get an idea about how the painting will generally look like.
There's a major difference between how a drawing looks like (with only
lines) and how such a drawing looks like when filled in with color. Of
course, when doing prelimenary color studies the effect will be known
before the final painting starts but it is a good way when doing
spontaneous work.
- It's easier to paint over a thin layer of dried paint than over a
primer (especially with very absorbent grounds like genuine gesso).
- There will be no edges where the canvas or panels can be seen
through if everything is covered with color. This alleviates one from
the need to be extremely precise with edges between the background and
figure because there will always be color seen.
So, should the figure be painted first or the background? A lot of
painters like to do the figure first because the background is far
more variable. It can be changed easily during painting to get things
like the balance right. The background serves the figure, not vice
versa.
After the "blocking in", I like to do faces and hands before anything
else (and in the face the eyes because everything else in the face is
over the eyes). It's the hardest part (so I won't waste a lot of time
to get the perfect background, only to mess up finally in the face)
and I also like to put my hand on the panel for precision work (I like
to prevent the use of a Mahl stick). Of course, I cannot do such a
thing when there is a wet background. It's also a good motivation. If
the difficult parts are done right then you're motivated to do the
rest right as well. Besides : a painting comes to life when the face
is done.
I don't worry too much about the edges between the figure and
background (of course, I do them as accurately as possible) because
those edges can always be re-stated in the final stage. That's the
great thing of oil paint, it's very forgiving, unlike egg tempera.
There's always a lot of re-stating going on in the final stage anyway
(the finishing touches).
All of this doesn't mean that the background should remain a
homogenuous single color until the figure is finished. It's often
quite handy to get some more detail in. But it's also quite handy to
keep it "open" (the possibility to change it) as long as possible.
Furthermore : a lot of painters do the figure first but not before the
edge _around_ the figure has a good deal of paint of the background on
it. This can be handy to get subtle edges between the background and
figure.
Beowulf
I agree very much about the face and especially the eyes; the eyes give the
figure a soul, character, the painter always seems lifeless and hence less
motivating to work on without the eyes. I am going to work more at doing
the face and eyes earlier on!
the_...@yahoo.com
Beowulf wrote:
> Any help on painting it (techniques, materials, methods) appreciated.
Thank
> you in advance! I am particularly interested in what colors to use,
and
> also any tips on painting the background since I an not very skilled
in
> landscape painting methods at all-- such as how to paint the rocks
(should
This may not be what you need, but the only tip I could add regarding
copying another work is to create a grid over the original. Then, when
you make the copy, the squares of your copy grid should be reduced to
half the square area of the first grid.
the sarp
pigsm...@hotmail.com
of ARC, there must be quite a few people out there today trying to copy
Bouguereau... something that may be impossible :-)
Beowulf, As far as whether background or foreground is painted first,
there is no question about it -- THE FOREGROUND. Look at the photos of
Bouguereau in the process of painting. His figures are almost complete
but the background is totally white!
Erik A. Mattila
> I agree very much about the face and especially the eyes; the eyes give the
> figure a soul, character, the painter always seems lifeless and hence less
> motivating to work on without the eyes. I am going to work more at doing
> the face and eyes earlier on!
>
Beowulf, did you ever read Ibañez' "Four Horseman of the Apocalpse"?
What you wrote made me think about two characters in the novel, the two
Spanish painters, who had mastered the art of painting the glint
highlight in eyes, giving the picture soul etc.
Paul Mesken
<e...@nospamimpix.com> wrote:
>Beowulf wrote:
>
>> I agree very much about the face and especially the eyes; the eyes give the
>> figure a soul, character, the painter always seems lifeless and hence less
>> motivating to work on without the eyes. I am going to work more at doing
>> the face and eyes earlier on!
>>
>Beowulf, did you ever read Ibañez' "Four Horseman of the Apocalpse"?
Death, Pestilence, Famine and... the other one :-D
>What you wrote made me think about two characters in the novel, the two
>Spanish painters, who had mastered the art of painting the glint
>highlight in eyes, giving the picture soul etc.
Yeah, the glint(s) in the eyes. A lot of beginners make the mistake to
paint the white of the eye actually white (as in "straight from the
tube"). Not only does it look weird (flat and ghostly), it's also
wrong (eyes always show shadows and are, for a part, in the cast
shadow of the eye lid). The eyes are bulbs, they should be shaded like
bulbs (and the cornea is a bulb on the eye, the iris is a more or less
flat disc)
There's not always a highlight(s) in the eye but the eye looks so much
better with them. Even on photos eyes look dead without a highlight.
In the movie business there are people operating small spots to put
highlights on the actor's eyes.
One small point highlight on the cornea. The color of the iris a bit
lighter on the opposite side (this is also important). And a somewhat
bigger highlight on the white of the eye (which only works if the eye
is a middle light grey around that highlight).
Quite formulaic but it works like a charm :-)
This is one of the few instances in which Titanium White comes in
handy :-)
Erik A. Mattila
I think that Ibañez had the "formulaic" idea in mind when he invented
the characters. Funny he choose Spaniards to trounce on, I wonder if he
was satirizing Picasso.