Page 20 - Artist Materials Advisor

Thanks to developments in chemistry over the past 300 years, painters today have hundreds of pure and permanent colors from which to choose. Although fewer pigments were available to painters of Medieval Europe, they had minerals, earth, plants, bones, shells, and insects, and they knew how to transform these into pigments. The question arises whether the extensive range of modern synthetic pigments provides artists of today with anything superior to the natural and artificial pigments used by Medieval and Renaissance masters. Working with natural pigments may offer a renaissance in our understanding of color language. This article discusses what the unique properties of natural mineral pigments can offer to contemporary painters...

Roger de Piles (October 7, 1635–April 5, 1709) was an art critic, theorist, and collector whose significant contribution to aesthetic theory rests on his Dialogue sur le coloris ("Dialogue on colors"), in which he initiated his famous defense of Rubens in an argument started in 1671 by Philippe de Champaigne on the relative merits of drawing and color in the work of Titian. In 1668, he published an annotated translation of Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy's De Arte Graphica that greatly influenced the aesthetic discussions of the day. De Piles later published several painting manuals that became essential resources for oil painters in the following centuries. The following is a translation by the editor of chapter 4 (incomplete) of Roger de Piles' Les Elémens de Peinture Pratique....

Recipes that we have tried and used. Grind the gallnuts to a fine powder and immerse them in half the water. In a few weeks, mold will cover the top surface. Skim off the mold and pour the liquid through a filter. Dissolve gum Arabic in a small amount of water and add it to the liquid. Dissolve the ferrous sulfate in water and add it to the liquid...

Terra-merita is a vegetable color produced by the decoction of an Indian root (Curcuma longa). This reference (Osborn 1849) describes the pigment produced from the plant known in culinary as turmeric. The yellow-orange extract is prepared from the root of the Curcuma longa plant by drying and powdering, then by solvent extraction, typically with ethyl acetate. The resulting powder is 18 times stronger in the essential ingredients than is the common spice, which is simply a powdered form of the dried root. Curcuma longa extract is a polyphenol that is oil-soluble in its natural state. The extract is without flavor and aroma. It readily colors any substance if there is oil present...

Fourth in our technical series on painting icons, this article discusses the kovcheg or ark—a recess in the surface of Russian icons—since the 10th century and their use in icon panels from the past to today...

Besides an artist's notes or treatises on painting of the period, the systematic arrangement of separate colors and mixtures on the palette, which the painter prepared before he began his work, can be used to study the artist's painting procedures. Such palettes can be found in portraits or self-portraits, where the palette is held in hand with the rows of colors and tints visible...

Calcite is a naturally occurring calcium carbonate mineral in rocks such as chalk, limestone, and marble. These rocks are the primary sources of the extender pigment. Its whiteness, softness, and fine-grained nature make it an ideal white pigment, both abundant and easily processed. Chalk is relatively transparent in most paint media and is often used as an extender of other pigments and employed with animal glue as a ground for painting...

Lead white is the most important white pigment used in painting throughout history. It was known to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and commonly used in the preparation of ointments and plasters, as well as cosmetics. It was first identified in literature as a pigment by Pliny, who mentions it, among other colors, as used by the ancients to paint ships...

Dive into the vibrant world of Renaissance art through the lens of Peter Paul Rubens' distinctive color palette. This article unveils how Denman Ross adapted these historical hues for the modern artist, bridging centuries of artistic innovation. Explore the synthesis of color theory and practical application that can enrich your artistic practice. Click to discover the secrets behind achieving the lush vibrancy and dynamic warmth synonymous with Rubens' masterpieces...

In his Transactions (1806), S. Grandi describes a method of preparing an absorbent ground for panels, but for which he later wrote works equally well for stretched canvas. He describes the materials, such as boiled sheep trotters, and wheat flour paste, and the preparation to make absorbent grounds...