Margret E. Short Fine Arts

Portland, Oregon artist Margret Short - a modern day master of 17th Century Dutch art using the chiaroscuro technique to create still life and floral paintings.

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.

Chicanery

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Who could have guessed one of the most helpful and instructional guides for this project would be a cunning art forger? While examining one of my favorite art book's bibliography (the best feature of any book!), the title, The Art Forger's Handbook jumped off the page. Eric Hebborn wrote about his artistic skills describing ingenious deceptions, … [Read more...] about Chicanery

Sculptural Scoops of Paint, and Other Seedy Topics.

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Detail from Painting a Day Series Painting #4 copyright Margret E. Short 2010 Over the recent months I have been experimenting with a new medium purchased at Natural Pigments, called Velazquez Medium. It is completely different from the more commonly used liquid mediums. This one is made with finely ground calcite in linseed oil, which extends … [Read more...] about Sculptural Scoops of Paint, and Other Seedy Topics.

Priming Canvases Part #2

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Several readers asked more questions about the steps following the rabbit skin glue application during the process of priming linen. After the glue has dried, usually 24 hours is a good bet, I sand the surface of the linen very lightly with a fine grit sandpaper block. If you run the palm of your hand over the surface, you will feel the … [Read more...] about Priming Canvases Part #2

Even Sargent Scraped

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Many many of you commented on my technique of scraping back unsatisfactory passages in a painting in progress which was a common practice of painters such as John Singer Sargent and others. Pictured here are two scrapers from Dick Blick that I find irreplaceable tools in my studio, and I employ them often. … [Read more...] about Even Sargent Scraped

Sizing Canvases

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Many supports are suitable for oil painting including cotton canvas, linen canvas, wood panels, and copper. All are centuries old techniques and still used today by many artists. I use mostly linen, wood panel, and copper, but primed paper, gator board, and many others are popular also. Just go to the painting support … [Read more...] about Sizing Canvases