In addition to the linen canvases, my plan is to use 4 birch panels as a painting surface. Pictured here are 3/4 inch birch panels cut to size. Traditional gesso made with rabbit skin glue, chalk, and water was soaked, heated and applied in 7 coats, sanding lightly between each coat. This mixture is applied with a fine soft brush stroking in … [Read more...] about Birch Panels
Chiaroscuro and Other Oil Painting Techniques
Chiaroscuro is from the Italian language and the root meaning is chiaro, light, and scuro (obscure), dark. It is a perfect technique to use in oil painting to achieve drama of contrasts such as that used by the 17th Century Dutch. Another technique that helps attain this look is impasto oil painting, which is used freely in the main focus of the composition and then to a lesser degree in the shadow areas. It is very effective in all sizes and subject matter such as oil paintings of flowers, still life, and even landscape. Fumed Silica gel is a great medium to use for getting texture in oil painting. It is a combination of linseed oil and silica mixed together which forms a fluffy clear medium. When mixed with paint, the consistency retains its shape and stays put with no slumping.
Priming
After the glue is thoroughly dry the fabric must be sanded lightly to remove the fine furry particles of fiber from the face of the canvas. It is now ready to prime. Here I have used an oil lead primer from Robert Doak & Associates. It is applied to the surface with a step down palette knife in a thin coating. After several days of drying add … [Read more...] about Priming
Glue Sizing
The next step after stretching the linen over the bars is to prepare the glue sizing. Rabbit skin glue comes in a crystal form and looks somewhat like cream of wheat. This is truly one of the historic materials and techniques and has been used for centuries. The crystals are soaked overnight in water and then heated in a double boiler where the … [Read more...] about Glue Sizing
Preparing the Supports
There are several supports which can be used for painting with oil. Canvas, wood panel, copper are some. For this project I will use only linen canvas and panels made of birch. Here I am stretching raw, unprimed linen over sturdy stretcher bars. Making sure there is enough to pull around the bar, I staple the back side securely, but not too … [Read more...] about Preparing the Supports
Modern Versus Historic
In my research of historic pigments thus far, I have come to this conclusion. The main difference between the modern day pigments and those of the 17th century is particle size. Modern paint makers use technology which enables them to grind paints to a uniform smooth consistency. The grinding techniques or the synthetic process by which paints are … [Read more...] about Modern Versus Historic
All for Beauty
As I have mentioned in previous posts, many pigments were really nasty and very poisonous. Two yellows, called orpiment and realgar, both made by alchemy, are extremely poisonous and for this reason have gone out of use. Other pigments were poor driers or not permanent and thus lost popularity. So the list narrowed, and it is now published … [Read more...] about All for Beauty