Preamble
This is the second post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed all the posts in this new series below:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
There have been one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics.
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio.
(iii) Color theories and color schemes.
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials.
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V.
(vi) Protein fibers.
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers.
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers.
(ix) Fabric construction.
(x) Techniques and woven fibers.
(xi) Basic and figured weaves.
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics.
(xiii) Napped fabrics, double cloth and multicomponent fabrics.
(xiv) Fabric finishes.
(xv) Schrinkage, durable press and wash-wear finishes.
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends.
(xvii) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link highlights the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous Art Resource series.
There are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely: (1) the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms; (2) Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff; (3) A Fashion Data Base; (4) the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins; (5) the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns; (6) Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements; (7) Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms; (8) Glossary of Scientific Terms.
Note: From time-to-time all the above data bases will be updated.
If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g., click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (e.g., click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or any of the other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.
The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember, these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student. Undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and whilst other parts may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). Hopefully, the trade-off between these two extremes will mean that the Art Resource posts will be useful in parts to most, but unfortunately, may not be satisfying to all!
Painting Art - Part I[1]
A paint is made by compounding pigments (powdered colors) with a liquid which is called the vehicle or carrier of the color. As will be seen, many elements contribute to the degree of ease or difficulty which a paint may be manipulated or controlled; one of these is the nature of the surface or ground to which it is applied. No good paint is made by simply mixing pigment and vehicle; grinding with strong pressure is essential.
White porcelain mortar and pestle for grinding pigments and other substances for making paints. The unglazed inner surface lets you easily abrade nearly any material to the fineness you require.
Like pencils and crayons, liquid paints are filed off or taken from the brush in a similar way by the irregularities of the ground (paper, canvas etc) and also by absorption, which sometimes acts as an alternative or adjunct to coarseness or tooth. In very smooth grounds, absorbency of the surface acts as an alternative for coarseness, picking up paint from the brush brush and causing it to drag in a desired manner. Each technique of painting has its own special requirements as to the degree of tooth and absorbency that will best enhance facility of manipulation as well as permanence of adhesion.
A ground or primer is the background surface on which you paint. It is usually a coating such as a gesso primer, which physically separates your painting from the support. It is the foundation of a painting, applied onto the raw canvas, paper, or other support. It helps to seal and protect the support, for example keeping linseed oil from seeping into the support when oil painting, and it also provides a better base surface for subsequent layers of paint.
If one draws a loaded brush of oil color across a clean sheet of glass, a highly unsatisfactory effect is produced; normal, direct painting is not possible, and adhesion is imperfect.
Oil color across a clean sheet of glass.
If ground glass is used, a great improvement is immediately noticed; the tooth of this glass surface takes the color much more satisfactorily. If the same paint is applied to a panel coated with a smooth, polished ground which has been coated with varnish in order to make it non-absorbent, exactly the same difficulty is encountered.
A painting utilizing ground glass. The self portrait has much of the textural effects if the ground was canvas instead of glass.
If the ground is completely absorbent, the paint will be taken from the brush and drawn into the absorbent surface so rapidly that another impediment to manipulation is presented: satisfactory painting is hampered by too much drag. If such a ground is treated with a thin coat of size so that its absorbency is just the right degree, neither too much nor too little, the paint can be applied successfully.
Supports for an oil painting.
If pumice, a coarse, tooth-imparting, inert pigment, has been added to the ground, or if the ground has been scored or imprinted with a texture, oil paint is well taken from the brush, even if the ground is otherwise too non-absorbent to take it by absorption alone. Water color and tempura paints require a full degree of absorbency for their proper functioning, but the surfaces of their grounds do not have to be particularly rough.
The palette knife application of this ground completely hid the canvas grain, creating a surface that was comparable to rough watercolor paper. The texture complemented the granulating wash, as the heavy pigment particles settled in the pits of the surface. You can see in the 'Permanent Sap Green' swatch that the paint was caught within the surface texture, making it difficult to lift away the color entirely. The ground is toothy and very rough, giving a broken soft pastel line.
The coarseness of very rough watercolor paper is for the purpose of imparting the desirable grandular appearance to sparkle and has not much to do with the brushing of adherence; smooth watercolor paper will hold the color particles as well.
Smooth watercolor paper hold the color particles well.
Occasionally painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface, such as glass or a metal sheet, is required, but the processes are not in general use, and the resultant coating is seldom expected to last very long.
Watercolor painting of silver and gold on metal surfaces.
Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer, (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).
This is the second post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed all the posts in this new series below:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
There have been one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics.
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio.
(iii) Color theories and color schemes.
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials.
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V.
(vi) Protein fibers.
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers.
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers.
(ix) Fabric construction.
(x) Techniques and woven fibers.
(xi) Basic and figured weaves.
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics.
(xiii) Napped fabrics, double cloth and multicomponent fabrics.
(xiv) Fabric finishes.
(xv) Schrinkage, durable press and wash-wear finishes.
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends.
(xvii) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link highlights the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous Art Resource series.
There are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely: (1) the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms; (2) Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff; (3) A Fashion Data Base; (4) the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins; (5) the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns; (6) Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements; (7) Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms; (8) Glossary of Scientific Terms.
Note: From time-to-time all the above data bases will be updated.
If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g., click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (e.g., click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or any of the other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.
The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember, these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student. Undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and whilst other parts may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). Hopefully, the trade-off between these two extremes will mean that the Art Resource posts will be useful in parts to most, but unfortunately, may not be satisfying to all!
Painting Art - Part I[1]
A paint is made by compounding pigments (powdered colors) with a liquid which is called the vehicle or carrier of the color. As will be seen, many elements contribute to the degree of ease or difficulty which a paint may be manipulated or controlled; one of these is the nature of the surface or ground to which it is applied. No good paint is made by simply mixing pigment and vehicle; grinding with strong pressure is essential.
Like pencils and crayons, liquid paints are filed off or taken from the brush in a similar way by the irregularities of the ground (paper, canvas etc) and also by absorption, which sometimes acts as an alternative or adjunct to coarseness or tooth. In very smooth grounds, absorbency of the surface acts as an alternative for coarseness, picking up paint from the brush brush and causing it to drag in a desired manner. Each technique of painting has its own special requirements as to the degree of tooth and absorbency that will best enhance facility of manipulation as well as permanence of adhesion.
If one draws a loaded brush of oil color across a clean sheet of glass, a highly unsatisfactory effect is produced; normal, direct painting is not possible, and adhesion is imperfect.
If ground glass is used, a great improvement is immediately noticed; the tooth of this glass surface takes the color much more satisfactorily. If the same paint is applied to a panel coated with a smooth, polished ground which has been coated with varnish in order to make it non-absorbent, exactly the same difficulty is encountered.
If the ground is completely absorbent, the paint will be taken from the brush and drawn into the absorbent surface so rapidly that another impediment to manipulation is presented: satisfactory painting is hampered by too much drag. If such a ground is treated with a thin coat of size so that its absorbency is just the right degree, neither too much nor too little, the paint can be applied successfully.
If pumice, a coarse, tooth-imparting, inert pigment, has been added to the ground, or if the ground has been scored or imprinted with a texture, oil paint is well taken from the brush, even if the ground is otherwise too non-absorbent to take it by absorption alone. Water color and tempura paints require a full degree of absorbency for their proper functioning, but the surfaces of their grounds do not have to be particularly rough.
The coarseness of very rough watercolor paper is for the purpose of imparting the desirable grandular appearance to sparkle and has not much to do with the brushing of adherence; smooth watercolor paper will hold the color particles as well.
Occasionally painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface, such as glass or a metal sheet, is required, but the processes are not in general use, and the resultant coating is seldom expected to last very long.
Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer, (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).
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