Preamble
This is the sixteenth 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 another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have 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) Nainkage, durable press and wash-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.
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 (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or 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 and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!
Historical Notes on Art - Part V [1]
The Renaissance
The painting methods and materials of the Italian Renaissance are well documented and the technology of its various schools and individuals fairly well established: fresco, egg tempera, and oils.
A detail of 'A Crowned Virgin Martyr (St. Catherine of Alexandria)' by Bernardo Daddi.
The Northern painters are somewhat less well established; their early records are less often as a complete or treatise-like form; the members of their guilds were less restricted by a single, established mode of procedure, and they seem to have done more toward the development of new materials and processes.
'Danae' by Jan Mabuse. He was one of the most well-known romanticists. The influence of Michelangelo and Raphael is showcased in the use of mythology and nudity in this particular piece.
As Renaissance art styles moved through northern Europe, they were adapted to local customs. For example, in England and the northern Netherlands, the Reformation nearly ended the tradition of religious painting. In France, the School of Fontainebleau, which was originally founded by Italians such as Rosso Fiorentino, succeeded in establishing a durable national style. Finally, by the end of the 16th century, artists such as Karel van Mander and Hendrick Goltzius gathered in Haarlem in a brief but intense phase of Northern Mannerism that also spread to Flanders.
Öl auf Holz by Karel van Mander.
Size: 50 x 122 cm.
Another example of the proper interpretation and study of old writings has become a classic. Among the statements in Vasari's book, 'Lives of Painters', are to be found several statements which other evidence has since contradicted, inlcuding the credit he gives to Jan van Eyck for the invention of oil painting. As early as 1781 this was disproved, since the use of oil painting has long since been traced to a gradual development with far earlier beginnings. Yet so strongly did this legend impresss people's minds, strengthened by the writings of Flemish and Dutch historians after Vasari's first edition, that it still passes for truth in some quarters today.
Portrait of Margaretha by Jan van Eyck.
In fact the oldest known oil paintings were created by Buddhist artists in Afghanistan and date back to the 7th century AD. Oil paint was used by Europeans for painting statues and woodwork from at least the 12th century, but its common use for painted images began with Early Netherlandish painting in Northern Europe, and by the height of the Renaissance, oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced the use of egg tempera paints for panel paintings in most of Europe, though not for Orthodox icons or wall paintings, where tempera and fresco, respectively, remained the usual choice.
A detail from the oldest oil painting in the world (~ 650 AD) a series of Buddhist murals created in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. The choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. The paint could be thinned with turpentine. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are also visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use several different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium. The oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. The paint itself can be molded into different textures depending on its plasticity.
Flax seed is the source of linseed oil.
Oils Commonly Used in Renaissance Art
(a) Drying Oils: any of a group of oily, organic liquids that, when applied as a thin coating, absorb atmospheric oxygen and polymerize, forming a tough, elastic layer.
(b) Linseed Oil: the yellow oil obtained by pressing the seed of flax. It is known to dry from the top down after forming a skin, and therefore takes many months to dry through completely after becoming dry to the touch. This oil contains Linoleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid occurring as a glyceride (an ester). Early painters neutralized this acid by the addition of lime or other siccative additives so that it would not deteriorate the painting surface. Linseed also contains Linolenic acid which attributes to its yellowing but also to its desirable flexibility. Linseed oil was one of the very first drying oils to be used in varnishing and has become the predominant oil for paint vehicles and mediums through the ages due to its superior balance of qualities. The mass production of alkili refined linseed oil for industrial use has also made it the cost effective favorite for artistic use as well. However, the best form of the oil for the artist is cold-pressed. (Old Holland oil paints use cold-pressed linseed oil).
Linseed Oil.
(c) Walnut Oil: an oil early favored by oil painters for its drying properties, since it dries quickly and evenly throughout. Slightly aged nuts produce higher quality (purer) oil. Nut oil can become rancid in storage, impairing its usefulness as a medium and thereby making it less popular than linseed oil in earlier centuries. Its primary use has been as a vehicle for grinding paints; its tendency to yellow less with age made it a preferred oil for mixing whites and blues which were corrupted by yellowing oil such as linseed oil. Modern technology has made this oil easier to obtain and to preserve, thus making it more affordable for use in all colors.
Walnut Oil.
(d) Poppy Oil: derived from the seed of the poppy flower (Papaver somniferum), it is a fine drying oil when treated. Its light color makes it ideal for grinding whites and blues and many paint manufacturers use it so. However, poppyseed oil will yellow some, so that its superiority over linseed oil in this respect is not so great when compared with its weaknesses. The absence of linolenic acid in poppy oil is what adds to its lighter color, but also to its brittleness. It dries very slowly and forms films that are soft and spongy and have a greater tendency to crack when compared to those formed by linseed oil. It is therefore not to be used in complex or layered painting techniques and is best used for alla prima, or direct (one coat) painting. The reduced flexibility of the paint film means that a white ground in pure poppyseed should never be used in underpainting and, following the rule of more flexible over less flexible, cannot be painted over linseed ground whites in top layers. Although, added in small percentage (15 - 25%) to linseed-oil-ground paint, it can reduce stringing and add a buttery consistency to some pigments (such as ultramarine). One author states that, used in this manner, "...poppyseed oil might preferably be substituted for the essential oils (clove or spike lavender) when a slow-drying oil color is desired."
Poppy Oil.
(e) Other oils listed by early painters were Sesamine oil and the Egyptian oil Cicinum. Painters have also worked with the oil expressed from the seed of the Safflower plant, a thistle like composite herb, Carthamus tinctorius, native to the Old World, having large, orange-red flower heads. It is said to be unsound when layered with linseed oil, though some modern manufacturers use it to grind their whites. It generally has the same properties and problems as Poppyseed oil.
Sesamine oil.
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 sixteenth 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 another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have 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) Nainkage, durable press and wash-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.
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 (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or 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 and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!
Historical Notes on Art - Part V [1]
The Renaissance
The painting methods and materials of the Italian Renaissance are well documented and the technology of its various schools and individuals fairly well established: fresco, egg tempera, and oils.
The Northern painters are somewhat less well established; their early records are less often as a complete or treatise-like form; the members of their guilds were less restricted by a single, established mode of procedure, and they seem to have done more toward the development of new materials and processes.
As Renaissance art styles moved through northern Europe, they were adapted to local customs. For example, in England and the northern Netherlands, the Reformation nearly ended the tradition of religious painting. In France, the School of Fontainebleau, which was originally founded by Italians such as Rosso Fiorentino, succeeded in establishing a durable national style. Finally, by the end of the 16th century, artists such as Karel van Mander and Hendrick Goltzius gathered in Haarlem in a brief but intense phase of Northern Mannerism that also spread to Flanders.
Size: 50 x 122 cm.
Another example of the proper interpretation and study of old writings has become a classic. Among the statements in Vasari's book, 'Lives of Painters', are to be found several statements which other evidence has since contradicted, inlcuding the credit he gives to Jan van Eyck for the invention of oil painting. As early as 1781 this was disproved, since the use of oil painting has long since been traced to a gradual development with far earlier beginnings. Yet so strongly did this legend impresss people's minds, strengthened by the writings of Flemish and Dutch historians after Vasari's first edition, that it still passes for truth in some quarters today.
In fact the oldest known oil paintings were created by Buddhist artists in Afghanistan and date back to the 7th century AD. Oil paint was used by Europeans for painting statues and woodwork from at least the 12th century, but its common use for painted images began with Early Netherlandish painting in Northern Europe, and by the height of the Renaissance, oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced the use of egg tempera paints for panel paintings in most of Europe, though not for Orthodox icons or wall paintings, where tempera and fresco, respectively, remained the usual choice.
Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. The choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. The paint could be thinned with turpentine. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are also visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use several different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium. The oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. The paint itself can be molded into different textures depending on its plasticity.
Oils Commonly Used in Renaissance Art
(a) Drying Oils: any of a group of oily, organic liquids that, when applied as a thin coating, absorb atmospheric oxygen and polymerize, forming a tough, elastic layer.
(b) Linseed Oil: the yellow oil obtained by pressing the seed of flax. It is known to dry from the top down after forming a skin, and therefore takes many months to dry through completely after becoming dry to the touch. This oil contains Linoleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid occurring as a glyceride (an ester). Early painters neutralized this acid by the addition of lime or other siccative additives so that it would not deteriorate the painting surface. Linseed also contains Linolenic acid which attributes to its yellowing but also to its desirable flexibility. Linseed oil was one of the very first drying oils to be used in varnishing and has become the predominant oil for paint vehicles and mediums through the ages due to its superior balance of qualities. The mass production of alkili refined linseed oil for industrial use has also made it the cost effective favorite for artistic use as well. However, the best form of the oil for the artist is cold-pressed. (Old Holland oil paints use cold-pressed linseed oil).
(c) Walnut Oil: an oil early favored by oil painters for its drying properties, since it dries quickly and evenly throughout. Slightly aged nuts produce higher quality (purer) oil. Nut oil can become rancid in storage, impairing its usefulness as a medium and thereby making it less popular than linseed oil in earlier centuries. Its primary use has been as a vehicle for grinding paints; its tendency to yellow less with age made it a preferred oil for mixing whites and blues which were corrupted by yellowing oil such as linseed oil. Modern technology has made this oil easier to obtain and to preserve, thus making it more affordable for use in all colors.
(d) Poppy Oil: derived from the seed of the poppy flower (Papaver somniferum), it is a fine drying oil when treated. Its light color makes it ideal for grinding whites and blues and many paint manufacturers use it so. However, poppyseed oil will yellow some, so that its superiority over linseed oil in this respect is not so great when compared with its weaknesses. The absence of linolenic acid in poppy oil is what adds to its lighter color, but also to its brittleness. It dries very slowly and forms films that are soft and spongy and have a greater tendency to crack when compared to those formed by linseed oil. It is therefore not to be used in complex or layered painting techniques and is best used for alla prima, or direct (one coat) painting. The reduced flexibility of the paint film means that a white ground in pure poppyseed should never be used in underpainting and, following the rule of more flexible over less flexible, cannot be painted over linseed ground whites in top layers. Although, added in small percentage (15 - 25%) to linseed-oil-ground paint, it can reduce stringing and add a buttery consistency to some pigments (such as ultramarine). One author states that, used in this manner, "...poppyseed oil might preferably be substituted for the essential oils (clove or spike lavender) when a slow-drying oil color is desired."
(e) Other oils listed by early painters were Sesamine oil and the Egyptian oil Cicinum. Painters have also worked with the oil expressed from the seed of the Safflower plant, a thistle like composite herb, Carthamus tinctorius, native to the Old World, having large, orange-red flower heads. It is said to be unsound when layered with linseed oil, though some modern manufacturers use it to grind their whites. It generally has the same properties and problems as Poppyseed oil.
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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