There are several colors I could not do without on my palette. This is a splendid very dark burnt umber from Cypress. It is very dark almost black with a warm undertone and is easy to make. There are many versions of this pigment, but this dark one is my favorite. One terrific and useful characteristic of this pigment is the drying quality; … [Read more...] about Uber Umber
Historical Pigments
Challenges
Many attempts and many methods were tried and aborted before this beautiful surface was achieved on my painting, shown above. Initially, I used a wet on wet technique by applying a mixture of yellow ochre, red iron oxide, and white to replicate the actual color of the clay on the Greek vessel. Then, atop the wet surface I applied a mixture of black … [Read more...] about Challenges
Greek Vases 101
The black figure style of Greek vase painting was invented about 700 BCE and crossed over into the Golden 5th century BCE when the red figure style was adopted. The technique of the former method was to apply a liquid clay called slip over the terracotta colored surface of the vessel. This created black silhouettes atop the reddish color. This was … [Read more...] about Greek Vases 101
Nicosia Green Earth
Left - Pure Nicosia Green Earth mixed with Linseed Middle - Holbein Silver White Right - Exact beads of each color mixed together Nicosia Green Earth has many differing properties than Bohemian. This one has far lower saturation qualities. As you can see, mixing the same size bead together resulted in a much more pastel tone. This is a … [Read more...] about Nicosia Green Earth
Bohemian Green
Left - Pure Bohemian Green Earth mixed with linseed Middle - Pure Holbein Silver White Right - Exact beads of each color mixed together Working with historical colors is consistently challenging, especially when considering the natural green earth pigments. Their characteristics are vastly different in all aspects including handling … [Read more...] about Bohemian Green
Fumed Silica Gel Stays Where You Put It
Left - Fumed Silica Gel mixed with linseed oil Second from Left - Red Iron Oxide mixed with linseed Second from Right - Red Iron Oxide mixed with Fumed Silica Gel Far Right - Fumed Silica Gel dry There are basically two ways to paint with oil paints. One is oil only, and the other is using solvents. These days many people are … [Read more...] about Fumed Silica Gel Stays Where You Put It