Oil Painting Mediums | Egg Tempera Medium | Maroger Mediums | Demonstration
Classical Painting Technology
This is a rather short description of the classical
painting method that works equally well for egg tempera
and oil painting.
There are some differences, of course, but the basics are the same.
In the future, I may extend the egg and oil painting technology section
and include several animated demonstrations, if many of the visitors will ask for it in
our survey form.
In the meantime, remember that nothing can substitute studying the
works of old masters in the museums.
Make your drawing on paper as if it is
your final product. Copy it on tracing paper and retrace the lines on the back side of it
with dry pastel pencil (Carb-Othello).
Transfer drawing to the board and rework it with diluted burnt umber
paint using a fine brush.
Don’t think that drawing is something
that is not fully related to the painting with colors. Drawing is "the melody"
of the visual art and the colors are "the harmony". Keep in mind that "the
harmony" gives only the moods or impressions of the moment but only "the
melody" is able to unfold the whole story.
By drawing your subjects "inside-out" you study it on a much
deeper level than by just dubbing it with #40 brush.
I know that most of us don’t have enough patience. In this case, our paintings will
be similar to the "3 chords guitar music" - just O.K. for friends and family.
Draw with precision using different pressure and line thickness. Draw
with a pencil and with a brush.
Gilding
There is only one way of a true gilding - water gilding on a bole ground using loose gold leaf. This one is very hard to master and you’d have to take lessons from the professional gilders. Try it before by yourself though. Order Kölner Water Gilding System from Sepp Leaf Products ( 800-971-7377)
Imprimatura is the classical term for a
semi transparent or transparent color layer used to create a toned ground for a painting.
It literally means "what goes before first".
Imprimatura acts as harmonizing element for all upper color layers if
they are laid according to the laws of the classical technique allowing the imprimatura to
show through in certain places.
It also determines an overall darkness (or lightness) of the
composition.
The advantage of an imprimatura over a toned gesso or a toned primer is
that the white ground reflects the light through the imprimatura and upper
semi-transparent layers, creating almost a magical 3-dimensional illusion.
The color of an imprimatura depends on the lighting source in the
composition you are going to paint and the subject.
If we would consider a raw umber to be a neutral color for imprimatura, then you may want
to go to a warmer or cooler sides by mixing yellow ochre with bone black in different
proportions.
Never choose the darkness of this layer by mechanically picking 50%
grey tone.
You always can put the second layer or add darker tones during your
next step - shadows study.
The portions of the drawing which are
darker then imprimatura are painted with Burnt or Raw Umber in thin layers. Imprimatura
should still be slightly visible through the darkest parts.
Small details are usually omitted. Areas where bright reds or bright
blues are going to be painted are usually left uncovered.
In this stage, only four colors are used:
Lead or Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre and Bone or Ivory Black. The trick is to
mix them correctly to have a scale of neutral grays. First mix Black and White, then add a
bit of Yellow Ochre. Add Red Ochre carefully just until it eliminates the greenishness
brought to the mixture by Yellow Ochre.
Work thick in the lights and less thick in the shadows. Don’t use
semi-transparent "soapy" layers. Leave a small parentage of the darkest parts of
the shadows uncovered.
By the end, the objects on your painting should look like they are made
out of unpolished marble without out details in the highlighted areas and the darkest
shadows.
Mix real object colors. To the previous colors add : Ultramarine, Prussian Blue, Madder Lake Deep, Red Cinnabar or Cadmium Red, Cadmium or Lead Yellow. Each color for each object must be exactly of the same darkness as they are on the previous layer. For highlighted areas and shadows use one step lighter and one step darker mixtures. Sometimes you’ll need a lot of layers to complete this stage. Each time narrow the highlighted and shadow areas, painting them lighter and lighter.
Glazing can be done with transparent or
semitransparent colors. Don’t overdo it and carefully choose the areas for glazing.
After the glazing is done, the very dark shadows are finished with the semi-transparent
(almost opaque, if needed) colors and at last the very highlights are put on.
Egg tempera painting and even
icons were often finished with oils. Be cautious though, if somebody will suggest using
some "old magic recipes " for this purpose, such as Maroger
Medium or Amber Varnish.
You may ruin your work completely without knowledge about how and where to use them.
Here are several recipes of Oil Painting Mediums &
Varnishes.
Varnishing
Let the painting dry as long as you can
afford before varnishing it. Damar varnish is O.K. Olifa (heat
thickened linseed oil with lead) should not be used in Fine Art at all.
There are many new developments in the area of acrylic and polyurethane
non yellowing varnishes. Unfortunately most of them are not removable. On the other hand,
some of them are extremely durable and might be the best and the only choice for
protecting valuable artwork.
I’ve used some of these successfully for several years on some of
my works. For the time being, I’m leaving the choice to you.
Several basic painting rules
Oil Painting Mediums | Egg Tempera Medium | Maroger Mediums | Demonstration
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