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.

Sneak Peek

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Lessons_3_detail_lace Here you can see a detail of the still life painted from the color palette of the landscape by Jan Asselijn. Other than the color on the vase, it has the same monochromatic tone as the Dutch painting with several touches of bright color on the teapot. This painting will not be shown in its entirety until the exhibition in June at the Lawrence Gallery.

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.