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Margret E. Short Fine Arts

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.

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One Down, Many to Go

December 16, 2010 by Margret Short

Azurite &malachite jar72@3This detail is from the first completed painting in the new Part ll project which shows both versions of malachite. Impasto paint was floated onto the surface of the jar in the focal areas. Across the table is a golden cloth which is used as a perfect foil for the bluish green of the jar setting it off nicely.

According to Francois Delamare and Bernard Guineau in their book, Colors, the Story of Dyes and Pigments, the Egyptians used malachite from deposits in the eastern desert and west of the Sinai. It was first crushed then ground into acacia sap or egg and used as decoration in tombs, temples, and even papyrus painting.

To the ancients it had medicinal properties and also was used in makeup which helped protect the eyes against the harsh sunlight of Egypt. Cleopatra painted her eyelids with it………….think Elizabeth Taylor with those heavily black outlined eyes with green eye shadow seducing helpless Richard Burton.

Tagged With: Cleopatra, deposits, Egyptian Tombs, Elizabeth Taylor, malachite, papyrus, pigments, Sinai, temples

Chiaroscuro Painting

Oil painting with the chiaroscuro technique illuminates the focus area with a strong light. All other areas are painted with less detail, lower values, and intensity of color giving a mysterious appearance. By putting one or two objects in the important focus area, a strong but simple composition will emerge. Combining these oil painting techniques with a selection of superior natural pigments and oil paints result in the beautiful and evocative quality known as Chiaroscuro Painting.

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