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.

Preparing the Supports

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Img_0102_1 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 tightly. There must be some slack which will be tightened when the sizing/glue is applied. One concession for this project is the use of staples and a staple gun. Purists would use tacks with a tack hammer which is the authentic method. I very consciously made the decision to use staples because of the tremendous amount of time saved.

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.