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.

Margret's Blog

Cinnabar

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  My favorite red pigment used by ancient Greeks is cinnabar. It was a perfect hue to use on these poppies. I used burnt umber and madder for the shadow tones, and heightened the lights with yellow ochre and white. A very similar hue can be attained by using vermilion, a much more intense in color. Just calm the heat with a nice earthy … [Read more...] about Cinnabar

Your Approach?

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If you can imagine you wanted to replicate the image of this jar, how would you attack the task? Would you paint the light colors and apply the design wet in wet? Or would you try my technique described in the previous entry below? What colors would you use? All three vessels were a huge challenge and a matter of trial and error involving … [Read more...] about Your Approach?

Lekythos

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My Greek painting is nearly finished and will be revealed in about a week or so. I want my client to see only snippets beforehand, so just details like this one will be shown for now. Hours and hours of research went into all aspects of the composition in addition to pigments. This lekythos  jar was popular during the classical period of 5th … [Read more...] about Lekythos

Knucklebones

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 In ancient Greece, a popular game played by adults and children alike was called astragali or knucklebones. The dried ankle bones of sheep were perfect for this because they have four sides - one flat, one concave, one convex, and one with a sinuous side. A value was placed on each of the differing sides. Two or more players toss the bones in the … [Read more...] about Knucklebones