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What We Do
Coffee Painting
Chinese were used to create brown background in painting using tea. Do you ever imagine using nice, warm, aromatic coffee on your dish to make your art?
Now its coffee’s turn!!
Coffee is an interesting medium to create art. Questioning people who view the work are amazed that the artwork is painted entirely in coffee. The artists work entirely in coffee - there are no additives, it's 100% pure coffee. Painting in coffee is a refreshing break from her work in oils, water colors, and other mediums.
Coffee is a fascinating medium to form art. It is quite successful experiment using Coffee to get the old-look effect in your painting. It is all about using pure coffee, water and your brush. Coffee painting produces everlasting shining. The coffee-on-canvas paintings resemble antique sepia effect. Painting with coffee helps you to get the old-look effect
Unique Medium Comparing coffee with other pigments or mediums is not wise thought. It is unique. It depends on how much water you add to it to create different tones. You have only one color, now it is upon your ability to make out of so other shades. However artist’s experiences says, “Once you start with coffee to paint, you fall in love with it and you never think of other mediums to start with.” The unique effects coffee painting can make that no other medium can.
Historical or old buildings, waterfalls, distant mountain, streets in one shade or anything which is kind of brown color can be made with coffee. Uniqueness achieved by coffee painting cannot be delivered by any other medium
Starting with
It sounds easy, all you need is just coffee mixed with water, a brush and watercolor paper
Base to apply: You can try with canvas but note that when the canvas flexes, the coat of coffee can crack. Paper, mounted on wood to keep it from flexing may also work.
Issues
Drying time is major issue. If the coffee is not completely dried, it can start to mold, particularly in the darkest areas, where the coffee paste is thickest. Using coffee with turpentine helps you to come out earliest.
If you use too much coffee, the texture will be too elastic to paint with and cause unwanted glittering flakes on the paper
A painting made with coffee may not last forever, but the same can be said for many other mediums.
Experiencing Innovation
Mira, Artist says “I was really inspired from Thai’s coffee painting. It demands mainly your control and hand over watercolor paintings. It makes me trying and success was not so far ahead. I tried with ‘Coffee’ for my exhibitions where I presented more other 9 medium arts.
No doubts, this medium’s touch is very challenging. You need patience and creative while making your art with ‘Coffee’ painting. It has more resilient than any other paint. You need to be cautious while using water to thin and proposing shades on paper or canvas.
With my painting ‘Carving’, it was just like an examination of my line control skills while using ‘Coffee’ as medium. It has more sparkling and shining. It is quite successful using on ‘Canvas’ rather simple paper as it molds easily.
However, Coffee’s mark effect on the paper and the flow of water mixed with coffee is amusing. Further it is good to see as your medium of painting what you use daily and which is near to you.”
Clay Painting
Clay painting is also known as ‘Ceramic Painting’. Ceramic Painting and Coffee Painting are leading art from Ami Fine Arts. Ceramic painting helps probability of carving out 3D on canvas itself.
Ceramic (Clay) painting is best done with knife work. First time the ceramic painting from Ami Fine Art’s ‘Lord Ganesha’ was presented in Lalit Kala Academy’s Millenium Art Exhibition.
Clay painting with use of brunt umber color helps in finding out old look & historical building. No doubt, you can create rock in canvas. Further you can touch 3D look using Clay on canvas. Clay painting gives an impression of emboss art too. Clay eschews soft greens and agricultural detail in favor of a palette of vivid color. Acid yellows, cerulean blues, rich pinks and purples are overlaid with vigorous graphic marks
Water Color Painting
Introduction Watercolor painting began with the invention of paper in China shortly after 100 AD.
In the 12th century the conquering Moors introduced papermaking to Spain and the technology spread to Italy decades later. The term watercolor most often to refers to traditional transparent watercolor or gouache (an opaque form of the same paint).
What's That?
Watercolor (WATERCOLOUR) is a pigment ground in gum, usually gum arabic, and applied with brush and water to a painting surface, usually paper; the term also denotes a work of art executed in this medium.
The pigment is ordinarily transparent but can be made opaque by mixing with a whiting and in this form is known as body colour, or gouache; it can also be mixed with casein, a phosphoprotein of milk.
Watercolor paint is made of finely-ground pigment or dye mixed with gum arabic for body, and glycerin or honey for viscosity and to bond the colorant to the painting surface. Unpigmented filler is added to gouache to lend opacity to the paint. Oil of clove is used to prevent mold.
Watercolor techniques have the reputation of being quite demanding, although they are actually no more demanding than those used with other media. Maintaining a high quality of value differences and color clarity are typically the most difficult properties to achieve and maintain.
Using Watercolor
Watercolor compares in range and variety with any other painting method.
Transparent watercolor allows for a freshness and luminosity in its washes and for a deft calligraphic brushwork that makes it a most alluring medium.
There is one basic difference between transparent watercolor and all other heavy painting mediums are: Transparency.
Approach An unpredictable medium, the character of watercolor is uniquely challenging. The accomplished watercolorist learns to take advantage of the unexpected results of the medium. As practiced by most of its greatest masters, spontaneity is everything. The artist learns to improvise, which can be done effectively only with experience. The intimacy of the medium springs from the way it encourages improvisation and seems to record the artist's fleeting thought on paper.
The oil painter can paint one opaque color over another until he has achieved his desired result. The whites are created with opaque white.
The watercolorist's approach is the opposite. In essence, instead of building up he leaves out. The white paper creates the whites. The darkest accents may be placed on the paper with the pigment as it comes out of the tube or with very little water mixed with it. Otherwise the colors are diluted with water. The more water in the wash, the more the paper affects the colors; for example, vermilion, a warm red, will gradually turn into a cool pink as it is thinned with more water.
The dry-brush technique--the use of the brush containing pigment but little water, dragged over the rough surface of the paper--creates various granular effects similar to those of crayon drawing. Whole compositions can be made in this way. This technique also may be used over dull washes to enliven them.
Till Date
Watercolor is a tradition that spans the chronicles of history. Primitive man used pigments mixed with water to create cave paintings by applying the paint with fingers, sticks and bones. Ancient Egyptians used water-based paints to decorate the walls of temples and tombs and created some of the first works on paper, made of papyrus. But it was in the Far and Middle East that the first watercolor schools or predominant styles emerged in the modern sense.
Chinese and Japanese masters painted on silk as well as exquisite handmade paper. Their art was filled with literary allusion and calligraphy, but the primary image was typically a contemplative landscape. This characteristic anticipated what was to be a central aspect of Western watercolor traditions in later centuries. In India and Persia, the opaque gouache paintings created by the Moslems depicted religious incidents derived from Byzantine art.
During the Middle Ages, monks of Europe used tempera to create illuminated manuscripts. These books were considered a major form of art, equivalent to easel painting in later years. Taking many years of service to complete, the monks copied the scriptures by hand onto sheets of parchment made from sheepskin, or vellum made from calfskin. Sometimes, entire pages were decorated with elaborate scrollwork and symbolic images.
Medieval artists also worked in fresco which continued throughout the Renaissance. Fresco is a method by which pigments are mixed with water and applied to wet plaster. This method was used primarily to create large wall paintings and murals by such artists as Michelangelo (Italian, 1475-1564) and Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). The most famous fresco is Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel of the Vatican painted from 1508 to 1512.
America's contribution to the international watercolor tradition is second to none. Although the British dominated that tradition in the past, American artists have produced a substantial and varied body of work in watercolor that is unmatched elsewhere in the world since the late eighteenth century.
Watercolor, also known in French as aquarelle, is generally described as painting with water-soluble pigments on paper. Most commonly the pigments are suspended in a vehicle or binder of gum arabic. The classic painting technique was perfected in England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The pigment was applied in a series of transparent washes that allowed light to be reflected from the surface of the paper through layers of color. This technique gives watercolor its unique glow. Washes are layered to increase density and transform color already laid down. With this method, the colors are mixed by the viewer's eye and create a unique visual characteristic.
On the other hand, gouache, or body color, is another form of watercolor. The pigments are mixed with zinc white and are opaque when applied to a surface. Alternatively, tempera involves combining the color with casein , a milk derivative, or with egg yolk as its binder. Another form of water-soluble pigment is the synthetic-polymer paint, widely known as acrylic. Even though acrylic can typically be used like oil paint, many artists have used it in a manner that echoes the watercolor tradition.
Paper has also played an important role in the development of watercolor. China has been manufacturing paper since ancient times. The Arabs learned their secrets during the eighth century. Paper was imported to Europe until the first papermaking mills were finally established in Italy in 1276. A few other mills developed later in other parts of Europe, while England developed its first mills by 1495. However, high-quality paper was not produced in Britain until much later during the eighteenth century.
Since paper was considered a luxury item in these early ages, traditional Western watercolor painting was slow in evolving. The increased availability of paper by the fourteenth century finally allowed for the possibility of drawing as an artistic activity. So artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo began to develop drawings as a tool for practice and for recording information. Albrecht Durer (German, 1471-1528) is traditionally considered the first master of watercolor because his works were full renderings used as preliminary studies for other works. Over the next 250, years many other artists like Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640), Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599-1641) and Jean Honore Fragonard (French, 1732-1806) continued to use watercolor as a means of drawing and developing compositions.
With the production of higher quality papers in the late eighteenth century, the first national school of watercolorists emerged in Britain. This watercolor tradition began with topographical drawings that proliferated in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries as Britain began to grow as a world power. These map-like renderings encompassed visual identity of ports of sea, as well as the surrounding landscape. In 1768, influential topographers founded the Royal Academy which encouraged watercolorists to carry the medium beyond their own technical achievements. The most talented watercolorist from this period was Joseph M.W. Turner (English, 1775-1851) who went on to become one of the greatest painters of the nineteenth century. His contemplative landscapes were tremendously influential on dozens of artists during later decades.
The technology of watercolor developments corresponded with the evolution and advancement of the British school of watercolorists. In the 1780's, a British company began producing paper made especially for watercolorists which was treated with sizing, or glazing, to prevent washes from sinking into the fibers of the paper. Early watercolorists ground their own pigments, but by the late eighteenth century the Englishman, William Reeves, was selling them in portable cakes. In 1846, Winsor & Newton introduced colors packaged in metal tubes. This growing technology encouraged many European artists to experiment with watercolors until eventually the tradition spread to America.
Great Artists
The earliest known use of European watercolor painting is by Italian Renaissance painter Raffaello Santi (1483-1520), who painted full-scale cartoons as precursors for tapestry designs.
In Germany, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) painted watercolors in the 15th century. The first school of watercolor painting in Europe was led by Hans Bol (1534-1593) and was much influenced by Dürer's creations.
Albrecht Dürer, A Young Hare, 1502, WatercolorThe forerunner of watercolor painting in Europe was buon fresco painting — wall-painting using pigments in a water medium on wet plaster. One well-known example of buon fresco is the Sistine Chapel, begun in 1508 and completed in 1514.
In early 1560's, European explorers carried this visual information back to the "old world". The first of these important artists was Mark Catesby (English, 1679-1749). He came to Virginia in 1712 and documented hundreds of species of American birds and plant life with hand-colored engravings.
Other famous artists have used watercolor painting to supplement their work with oil paint, including van Dyck (1599-1641), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), and John Constable (1776-1837).
In 18th century Britain, Paul Sandby (1725–1809) was called the father of British watercolor.
Catesby's prints foreshadow the ever-popular romantic and analytical depictions of American wildlife by John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851). Audubon did his first study in 1805. He eventually devoted himself to recording this aspect of the North American continent in a manner seldom equaled in any other medium.
American artists worked in the shadow of European masters until the late nineteenth century. Gradually, skilled and talented artists like Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), Winslow Homer (1836-1910) and James A. M. Whistler (1834-1903) began to develop artworks which challenged European artists.
The rise of American watercolor coincides with international rise and recognition of American painting. American artists embraced watercolor as a primary medium equal to oil painting. This was not common in nineteenth century Europe except in England. Both American and English artists utilized watercolor for important paintings.
By 1866, the interest in the medium was so pronounced that the American Society of Painters in Water Color was founded and for the first time watercolors were shown in galleries among oil paintings.
Although Americans inherited a technique developed by the British, they were more interested in experimenting with watercolor in their own way.
American artists, therefore, created works which were uniquely individual in comparison. They were free of rigid English traditions and the slow evolution of the British school.
In this way the American school was able to explode with an abundance of important figures between the 1870's and the revolutionary Armory Show in New York in 1913 which included John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), John Marin (1870-1953) and Maurice Prendergast (1859-1924). Each artist represented an individual and unique approach to the medium. Since there was no particular American school or style of watercolor, the entire group represented "individualism" as a key factor in American art.
During the 1940's, artistic experimentation became a major focus in the New York art scene resulting in the development of Abstract Expressionism. Watercolor began to lose a certain amount of its popularity. It was not a medium which played a role in the evolution of the new movement in abstraction. Watercolors were small and intimate in scale and were subordinate to the huge canvases of the Abstract Expressionists.
However, one such artist, Mark Rothko (1903-1970) utilized large areas of transparent washes and color staining on his canvases to create large scale works which were atmospheric, contemplative and reminiscent of the watercolor tradition. Later, a second generation of Abstract Expressionist including Sam Francis (1923-1994) and Paul Jenkins (b. 1923) also employed similar wash methods to produce transparent color fields on large canvases.
Francis Picabia, Ridens, (c. 1929), gouache and watercolor on cardboard, 104 x 74 cm, private collection. The broader term for water-based painting media is watermedia.
Learning Traditionally, watercolor paint is applied with brushes, but it may be applied with other implements in experimental approaches or mixed with other materials (usually acrylic or collage). The paint is thinned before application to allow for lighter areas within the painting. This transparency provides watercolor its characteristics of brightness, sparkle, freshness, and clarity of color since light has passed through the film of paint and is reflected back to the viewer through the film. Watercolor proponents prize it as a studio medium for its lack of odor and ease of cleanup, and also as a plain air medium for its portability and quick drying.
Effectiveness
The medium is effective in portraiture, figurative art, photorealism, and abstract work, both objective and non-objective.
Techniques Washes The most basic watercolor technique is the flat wash. It is produced by first wetting the area of paper to be covered by the wash, then mixing sufficient pigment to easily fill the entire area. The pigment is applied to a sloping surface in slightly overlapping horizontal bands from the top down. Once complete the wash should be left to dry and even itself out - don't be tempted to work back into a drying wash, the results are usually disastrous! A variation on the basic wash is the graded wash. This technique requires the pigment to be diluted slightly with more water for each horizontal stroke. The result is a wash that fades out gradually and evenly
Glazing Glazing is a similar watercolor technique to a wash, but uses a thin, transparent pigment applied over dry existing washes. Its purpose is to adjust the color and tone of the underlying wash. Non staining, transparent pigments such as Rose Madder (or Permanent Rose), Cobalt Blue and Auroline are ideal for glazing as they can be applied layer after layer to achieve the desired effect. Be sure each layer is thoroughly dry before applying the next. A cool Gray glaze pushes back the end of the buildings
Wet in Wet Wet in wet is simply the process of applying pigment to wet paper. The results vary from soft undefined shapes to slightly blurred marks, depending on how wet the paper is. The wet in wet technique can be applied over existing washes provided the are thoroughly dry. Simply wet the paper with a large brush and paint into the dampness. The soft marks made by painting wet in wet are great for subtle background regions of your painting. Wet in wet push the bushes into the distance.
Dry Brush Dry brush is the almost the opposite watercolor technique to wet in wet. Here a brush loaded with pigment (and not too much water) is dragged over completely dry paper. The marks produced by this technique are very crisp and hard edged. They will tend to come forward in your painting and so are best applied around the centre of interest Dry brush gives crisp, sharp details
Lifting Off Most watercolor pigment can be dissolved and lifted off after it has dried. Staining colors such as Phthalo or Prussian Blue, Alizarin, Windsor Red, Yellow or Blue are difficult to remove and are best avoided for this technique. The process for lifting off is simple - wet the area to be removed with a brush and clean water then blot the pigment away with a tissue. Using strips of paper to mask areas of pigment will produce interesting hard edged lines and shapes The foreground shadow was lifted off so as not to draw too much attention
Dropping in Color This technique is simply the process of introducing a color to a wet region of the painting and allowing it to blend bleed and feather without interruption. The result is sometimes unpredictable but yields interesting and vibrant color gradations that can’t be achieved by mixing the pigment on the palette.
Oil Painting
History
The oldest Mediterranean civilization, Greek, Roman or Egyptian have extensively used painting techniques based on mixtures of encaustic (probably rich in bee wax), mineral pigments (iron, copper, manganese oxides) and tempera. Vegetal oils, such as flax, walnut or poppyseed oil were known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks or Romans, but no precise indication of their use in painting may be found. Tempera is a fluid mixture of binder (organic medium), water and volatile additives (vegetal essential oils). Organic binders used by Italian artists were proteinaceous materials available from animal sources (whole egg, animal glues or milk).
At the end of the roman empire and up to the Renaissance period (15th century), this ancient technique was lost and replaced by oil paint and/or tempera. In Italy and Greece, olive oil was used to prepare pigment mixtures but the drying time was excessively long and tedious in the case of figures. This drawback led a German monk, Theophilus, in the 12th century to warn against paint recipes including olive oil (Schoedula Diversarum Artium). It was reported that Aetius Amidenus, a medical writer in the 5th century, mentioned the use of a drying oil as a varnish on paintings. Similarly, it seems that perilla oil was used in Japan in painting after addition of lead in the 8th century. In the 14th century, Cennino Cennini presented a painting procedure integrating tempera painting covered by light oily layers.
According to Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) in his "Lives of the Artists" (Le vite de piu eccelenti pittori, scultori e architetori, Firenze, 1550), the technique of oil painting, as used till now with few technical modifications, was invented or re-invented in Europe around 1410 by Jan van Eyck (1390 -1441). In fact, as said before, this Flemish painter was not the first to use oil paint, his real achievement was the development of a stable varnish based on a siccative oil (mainly linseed oil) as the binder of mineral pigments. It could be established that the Van Eyck secret was a mixture of piled glass, calcined bones and mineral pigments in linseed oil maintained a long time up to a viscous state at boiling temperature. Besides linseed oil, walnut oil and poppy-seed oil were also used while not so quick-drying. It is probable that painters have already observed that these oils led to accelerated drying time of canvas under the sun. It seems that Van Eyck kept his secret up to about 1440, a few time before his death.
Historians agree that the masterpiece of Van Eyck, the wedding portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife (National Gallery, London) painted in 1434, is one of the first and the best example of the new technique. If the pigments were the same as those used by Italian painters, the siccative oil has increased brilliance, translucence and intensity of color as the pigments were suspended in a layer of oil that also trapped light. The resulting optical effect obtained with pigment-oil mixtures and stacked layers explain the enameled aspect of Van Eyck works. These innovations in the oil medium produced an art that set the standard for a long time and which has never been surpassed.
After Van Eyck, Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) introduced a new technical improvement. He added a lead oxide (litharge) in the pigment-oil mixtures to increase their siccative property.
The resulting recipe was described by JLF Mérimé (De la peinture à l'huile, Paris, 1830) : "La préparation ressemble à du miel ou de la graisse à demi figée et porte le nom d'oglio cotto (huile cuite). C'est en effet de l'huile de noix cuite à feu doux et contenant en dissolution la plus grande proportion de litharge avec laquelle elle puisse se combiner".
It was probably developed for decorative or functional purposes in the High Middle Ages. Surfaces like shields — both those used in tournaments and those hung as decorations — were more durable when painted in oil-based media than when painted in the traditional tempera paints. Many Renaissance sources credit northern European painters of the 15th century with the "invention" of painting with oil media on wood panel — Jan van Eyck often mentioned as the "inventor". The popularity of oil grew in 16th century Venice, where a water-durable medium was essential.
Later, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) improved the preparation in cooking the oily mixtures at low temperature (boiling water) after the addition of 5 to 10% of bee wax, thus preventing a too dark color. While Giorgione (1477-1510), Titian (1488-1576) and Tintoreto (1518-1594) have slightly altered the original recipe, this technique was kept secretly in Italian ateliers nearly during three centuries, thus warranting their supremacy and radiance in whole Europe.
From 1600 and during his 9 year stay in Italy, Rubens has studied the Italian medium and made his own improvements. It was reported by De Mayerne (Pictoria, Sculptoria et quae subalternarum Artium, London, 1620) that Rubens used walnut oil warmed with lead oxide and some mastic dissolved in turpentine to grind mineral pigments.
As said Maroger (The secret formules and techniques of the masters, Edition London and New York, 1948), "Painting had received a rapid and strong impulsion which finally led to the great painting of the Renaissance. But the technique is not enough alone to create a near perfect art, and many improvements would be yet achieved. Each following generation will bring his brick to the building"
An oil is able to dry or to polymerize to a semi-fluid state if it content enough unsaturated fatty acids, preferably di- or tri-unsaturated. The participation of mono-unsaturated (oleic) acid is not well known but rather limited.
Since several years a variety of vegetal and non-edible oils are used in the industry of paints as they are able to dry quickly, sometimes more quickly than linseed oil. Among them, tung oil, oiticica oil, perilla oil, poppyseed oil and even soyabean oil are used to make siccative mixtures (Lavers B, Oils and Fats Int 2003, 19, 19). The drying process itself results in a polymerization upon uptake of oxygen. That complex mechanism includes mainly the oxidative degradation of unsaturated fatty acids leading to the formation of aldehyde groups later transformed into carboxylic groups. Thus, dicarboxylic acids are progressively formed with ageing of the mixture, pimelic, suberic, azelaic, and sebacic acids being mainly found in of old paints (Surowiec I et al., J Chromatogr A 2004, 1024, 245).
European painters mostly used linseed, walnut, and poppyseed oil. Hempseed and pinenut oil have been also mentioned in the early literature.
Recent advances Recent advances in chemistry have produced modern water miscible oil paints that can be used with, and cleaned up in, water. These are still "real" oil-paints in every sense of the meaning. Small alterations in the molecular structure of the oil creates this water miscible property.
Since the paint never dries otherwise, cleanup is not needed (except when one wants to use a different color and the same brush). Although not technically true oils (the medium is an unidentified "non-drying synthetic oily liquid, imbedded with a heat sensitive curing agent, the paintings resemble oil paintings and are usually shown as oil paintings.
Techniques Powdered colors are mixed with a fine oil, usually linseed oil. A solvent, traditionally turpentine, is also used to thin the colors as desired, so that the paint can be applied thickly and opaquely, or thinly and transparently.
The oil paint is applied to a prepared ground, usually a stretched canvas with a coating of neutral pigment. The earliest technique of oil painting involved building up layers of colors, moving from darker to lighter values.
Fine brushes were used, and a glossy, smooth finish was achieved. When applied in this way, the colors are somewhat translucent, so that the darker layers of color below added depth and luminosity to the surface, and permitted a remarkable degree of realism.
Jan van Eyck (15th c.), Hans Holbein the younger (16th c., above), Bouguereau (19th c.) , and Salvador Dali (20th c.) are among the artists who worked in this manner.
Other artists came to discover that because of its slow drying, oil paints could actually be re-worked on the surface to blend colors, and when applied thickly, with a larger brush or palette knife, could also add real surface texture to the image. This technique of applying oils lent itself to more expressive, dramatic effects in which fine detail was less important than total effect.
Starting with Oil Painting
What type of brushes shall I use?
When it comes to brushes, you can never really have enough. Although, technically, you need only a handful, many artists usually cannot resist buying a brush that has a new shape, size or bristle. With time, you’ll most likely have cans stuffed with a well used selection of brushes (ALWAYS stored bristles up). Buy only quality brushes because the bargain ones tend to loose their shape quickly, shedding hair as they do. With proper care and cleaning, a good brush will serve you for many years.
Hog hair, sable or synthetic sable are the best types of brushes to use for oil paints. Hog hair brushes have stiffer bristles and are used the most when painting. They are available in five basic shapes: flat, round, filbert, bright and fan shaped blender. You should have each of these types of brushes in multiple sizes. Sable brushes have a softer bristle and are used to apply glazing and fine detail work. They also come in different shapes and sizes, and you should have a selection of these, as well.
Recommended basic brush set: #2, #3, and #6 flat hog bristle, #3 hog bristle fan blender, small round sable brushes for detailed work (various sizes) and a 1" flat sable brush.
What type of paints shall I select?
There are many excellent brands of oil paints to choose from, and most are usually available in two varieties: Student grade or Professional artist’s grade. Student grades are less expensive and tend to be mixed with more extender, which limits only the tinting intensity, while artist’s grades are stronger in pigment intensity. These paints are available in either a tube or a jar. Tubes are more convenient to use, and you should start with the studio size (1.25 oz.). Always buy the larger tubes (6.75 oz.) for white or black paint, since you’ll be using these the most. Paints are available in sets of different sizes and colors, or you can select just those colors that you want.
Recommended basic paint colors: Ivory Black, Titanium White, Payne’s Gray, Cadmium Red Medium, Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Green, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Orange, Cadium Yellow Medium, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Yellow Ochre.
What type of mediums shall I prefer?
Most artists rarely use oil pigment straight from the tube, since there are many mediums and oils that are used to extend or modify oil paint. Gum turpentine is often mixed with pigment as an extender and also acts as a drying medium. Linseed oil is also good for this purpose. There are many extenders, drying mediums and retarder mediums available to help you control the flow and drying time of oil paints. You should inquire as to which ones will best suit your purposes. SUPPORT: This is the surface to which paint is applied and is usually a canvas or a panel of wood. A canvas material of either cotton or linen is traditionally stretched over a wooden frame or mounted to wood or heavy cardboard. Prestretched and primed canvases are abundantly available, as are canvas boards. For those so inclined, the component materials are also available so that you can build and prime your own supports from scratch. EASEL: It is best if you use a free standing easel to support your canvas while you work. There are many models available, and it is recommended that you get the folding or portable type so that it can be easily carried to different locations. You will also need a few small tables to hold your paints, mediums and brushes. Folding TV trays are good for this purpose.
What about my palette?
A palette is a flat, non porous surface where paints are stored and mixed before they are applied to canvas. When selecting a palette, it is important that you choose one that has a light surface color, so that you can accurately determine color and mixture values. PALETTE KNIVES: These small metal blades have handles and are used to apply and mix paint on the palette. They also serve as a mini trowel for applying paint to a canvas with techniques such as impasto. These come in many shapes and sizes, and you should select the ones that will best serve your needs and aid your style. As you progress, you will find more and more uses for these knives. DRAWING MATERIALS: In order to keep perspective, before you paint you should apply a sketch or outline to the canvas surface. Use vine charcoal or drawing pencils to render this initial sketch. If using vine charcoal, it can later be blown from the surface, leaving only a faint trace as a guide. If using drawing pencils, get soft lead grades (2B, 4B or 6B). These can also be used for your sketchbook as you create preliminary drafts of your painting.
More Tips Always lay your oil paints out on your palette in the same order so that, with time, you'll be able to pick up a bit of a colour instinctively.
The proportion of oil (medium) should be increased for each subsequent layer in an oil painting – known as painting 'fat over lean' – because the lower layers absorb oil from the layers on top of them. If the upper layers dry faster than the lower ones, they can crack.
Avoid using Ivory Black for an underpainting or sketching as it dries much slower than other oil paints.
Pigments containing lead, cobalt, and manganese accelerate drying. They can be mixed with other colours to speed up drying and are ideal for under layers. (Student-quality paints usually contain cheaper alternatives to these pigments, generally labelled hues.)
Use linseed oil for an underpainting or in the bottom layers of any oil painting done wet-on-dry as it dries the most thoroughly of all the oils used as mediums.
Avoid using linseed oil as a medium in whites and blues as it has a marked tendency to yellow, which is most notable with light colours. Poppy oil is recommended for light colours as it has the least tendency to yellow (although it does dry slower).
Don't dry your oil paintings in the dark. This may cause a thin film of oil to rise to the surface, yellowing it. (This can be removed by exposure to bright daylight.)
If, as the paint on your palette dries it forms a lot of wrinkles, too much oil (medium) has been added.
If you're not sure whether a bottle of mineral or white spirits is suitable for oil painting, put a tiny quantity on a piece of paper and let it evaporate. If it evaporates without leaving any residue, stain, or smell, it should be fine.
If you want to clean away a layer of oil paint or oil varnish, use alcohol, which is a powerful solvent.
Oil pastel
Oil pastel is a painting and drawing medium with characteristics similar to pastel and wax crayon.
Unlike "soft" or "French" pastel sticks, which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. The surface of an oil pastel painting is therefore less powdery, but more difficult to protect with a fixative. After application to a support, the oil pastel pigment can be manipulated with a brush moistened in turpentine or linseed oil.
Oil pastels were invented in 1924 by the Japanese teachers Rinzo Satake and Shuku Sasaki to give pupils greater freedom to express themselves by means of a cheap, colorful and easily appliable medium. They are the founders of the Sakura Cray-Pas Company..
Ink painting
Ink painting has long been a representative visual embodiment of the philosophy and aesthetics in East Asian countries where Chinese characters are widely used.
History
The art of any society reflects the national mood and needs of that society. Japan was no different, and from their love of nature and mood of poignant despair came a variety of arts that was among the finest in the world. Their skill with painting and drawing, and ability to distribute it to the populace, put them far above their western counterparts.
Ink paintings started, as many other arts in Japan, with the court culture of the 9th century. Paintings recorded the events and people of these times. The whole style of writing, taken from the Chinese, was brushwork with a heavy emphasis on style and form. Engagements were made or broken on the strength of the other person's handwriting. Children learned from an early age how to wield the brush and to use it well.
When Zen began its introduction in the 11th and 12th centuries, ink paintings seemed a perfect match. Monks who lived an austere life in tune with nature found the elegant brushstrokes, sparse yet very meaningful, a way to record their thoughts and ideas. The works were simple, yet true; they captured the essence of the subject matter. Lines were angular and crisp, drawn with feeling and purpose.
By the 16th century, a torn country came under the unified rule of Oda Nobunaga, who commissioned a huge building - the Azuchi Castle. He ordered paintings of all sizes and shapes put on its walls, to commemerate his actions and to show his culture. From this point forward, leaders were expected to be culturally knowledgeable, and often were great artists themselves.
As peace continued, other styles of painting came into fashion - the woodblock prints with their variety of colors propagated quickly and found their way into many homes. The Japanese had a penchant for the simple; though. They were not ones for multi-layer, multi-color Rembrandt-style paintings, with pre-scetches and middle-drawings. Ink drawings were spontaneous, like their haiku; to the point, clear and direct.
Using Ink Painting Ink painting is widely used to carve out object in a painting. Black and white scenes are mostly created using Ink painting style. Chinese and Japanese paintings are found of using ink painting as one of ingredient style to complete art work. Streets, Animals, Human faces, Anatomy, Designs and such others objects are carved out beautifully by Ink painting.
Acrylic Paintings
Acrylic paint is fast-drying paint containing pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion.
Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water), the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting.
History
Acrylics were first available commercially in the 1940s, although experimental forms of acrylic resin paints had been developed as early as the 1920s in the U.S. and earlier in Germany. The first commercially available acrylic paints were actually oil compatible.
In a 1901 Germany laboratory, the noted chemist Dr. OTTO RÖHM first made synthetic acrylic resin. His ideas were brought into American commercial production in the 1930s through the efforts of Röhm & Haas and by E. I. DuPont de Nemours (Dupont).
This particularly useful resin is used in durable forms of fiber, cast plastic sheeting such as plexiglas and Lucite as well as polymerized emulsions for making paint.
In 1931 the first acrylic product to be used in any volume was perspex in the U.K. and plexiglas in America which was used as a replacement in the aircraft of World War II.
In 1949 Leonard Bocour, founder of Bocour Artists Colors, Inc. (now GOLDEN Artist Colors) In America, offered a limited range of acrylic paints marketed under the name Magna. They were sold in solution form dissolved with turpentine and could be mixed with oil paints.
Starting in the late 1940s and through the 1950s famous artists such as Moris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman and Roy Lichtenstien were associated with using these "new" paints developed by Bocour.
By 1953 the first true acrylic paints were introduced by Röhm and Haas as interior wall paints.
In 1955 Permanent Pigments developed the first commercially available water-based acrylic paint. The paint is called Liquitex, for "liquid texture". The first water-based acrylic mediums and varnish are developed: Gloss Medium & Varnish, and Matte Medium. In 1962 M. Grumbacher (Schmincke, American) introduced new Hyplar Acrylic colors and had perfected their formula by 1966.
In 1963 Daler Rowney released their Cryla acrylic artists' color line and have been pioneers in developing the acrylic market in Europe.
By 1963 the wide-availability of thicker consistency Liquitex tube colors enticed many prominent artists to experiment. Helen Frankenthaler, Andy Warhol, and Robert Motherwell in the U.S. continued to develop their own signature styles using the new medium and very soon U.K. Artists like Bridget Riley (link 2) and David Hockney brought their ideas home using acrylics.
By 1971 Winsor & Newton was the last major art supply manufacturer to develop their own line, although new brands have surfaced in the decades since.
Why Acrylic?
Acrylic is a water based paint which dries in minutes or even seconds, depending on conditions. Unlike many other water based paints, it is not water soluble once it has dried.
Acrylics can also be used in place of watercolors because acrylics dry closer to the desired color (slightly darker, usually) while watercolors dry lighter (and often unpredictably, especially for beginning artists).
Acrylics are often used as an alternative to oil paints because acrylics dry much faster (usually within an hour or even as little as less than a minute, depending on brand and thickness of application).
Oil paints, which consist of pigment suspended in an oil (usually linseed, or other natural oil) base, can take a very long time to dry: a few weeks or as long as several months. Acrylic paints can achieve an oil-paint-like effect, and do so in much less time. Though applied to look like oil paints, acrylics are somewhat limited due to the superior color range of oil paints and the fact that acrylic paints dry to a shiny, smooth (some say 'cartoonish') effect—not surprising since acrylic paints are, basically, plastic. Accordingly, acrylic paint can be removed with turpentine, mineral spirits (also known as white spirits), ammonia, or rubbing alcohol.
Acrylic painters modify the appearance, hardness, flexibility, texture, and other characteristics of the paint surface using acrylic mediums. Watercolor and oil painters also use mediums, but the range of acrylic mediums is much greater. Acrylics have the ability to bond to many different surfaces, and mediums can be used to adjust their binding characteristics. Mediums can change the sheen from gloss to matte, or can add iridescence or texture to the surface. They can also be used to build thick layers of paint: gel and molding paste mediums are sometimes used to create paintings with relief features that are literally sculptural.
Acrylic paintings, ideally, should be treated as if they're as different from oil paintings as are watercolors: they are their own art form. There are techniques which are available only to acrylic painters, as well as restrictions unique to acrylic painting. Therefore, judging an acrylic painting as though it were an oil painting (or a watercolor) is not always appropriate.
Although the permanency of acrylics is sometimes debated by conservators, they appear more stable than oil paints. Whereas oil paints normally turn yellow as they age/dry, acrylic paints, at least in the 50 years since invention, do not yellow, crack, or change.
Egg tempera
Egg tempera is a painting process that uses egg yolk to bind pigments which acts as a binding medium. It is made fresh, a little at a time by the artist as it doesn't keep.
History
Tempera (or egg tempera) is the primary type of artist's paint and associated art techniques that were prevalent in Europe's Middle Ages. It is recognized as the second oldest medium after encaustic. It was used by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks and perfected by the icon painters during the last 100 years of the old Byzantine Empire (400 AD-1202 AD).
It is the method of painting which was largely popular in the early Renaissance.
Egg Tempera is the most powerful and reliable traditional painting medium that nothing can replace. Done with pigments and a medium based on chicken eggs, Egg Tempera painting was of current use until the end of the 15th century when it was displaced by Oil painting. After this oversight time, it expanded since its revival in the 19th century.
Tempera was typically created by hand-grinding dry powdered pigments into egg yolk (which was the primary binding agent or "medium"), sometimes along with other materials such as honey, water, milk (in the form of casein) and a variety of plant gums.
When oil paint was invented in the late Middle Ages, tempera continued to be used for a while as the underpainting (base layer) with translucent or transparent oil glazes on top.
This transitional, mixed technique was followed by a pure oil painting technique, which mostly replaced tempera in the 16th century.
Botticelli's Birth of Venus (Otherwise known as the Venus on the half-shell) and other, much less famous-paintings were done in the medium.
Why Egg Tempera?
Egg Yolk is a simple and soft medium. Colors keep true and fresh. Through time the paint hardens and improves. As water evaporates, little excess of binder is left in the finished painting, getting so an optical effect of intensity and depth. At execution level, it is a fast drying paint to be diluted with water.
Egg tempera is a fast drying medium that is fluid by nature and must be applied thinly in semi-opaque and transparent layers. The binding qualities of the egg does not allow for impasto painting.
Because of its emulsifying potential, Egg medium can be adjusted or reinforced by the adjunction of oils and varnishes. It can be worked according to any personal style or approach. Usually done on wood panels, it can also be used on dry plaster wall to do Fresco Secco.
Tempera paint dries rapidly. The techniques of tempera painting can be exacting when used with traditional techniques that require the application of numerous small brushstrokes applied in a cross-hatching technique. The colors, which are painted over each other, resemble a pastel when unvarnished, or the deeper colors when varnished.
True tempera paintings are quite permanent. However, the term "tempera" in modern times has also been used by some manufacturers to refer to ordinary poster paint, which is a cheap form of gouache (opaque watercolor) that has nothing to do with real egg tempera.
The downside to this composition is that you have to make your own paint fresh every time you want to paint. The up side is that you get complete control over your paint
What do I need?
Support : A smooth piece of wood for your support. Birch is nice. Pine is not very nice, but might be ok to make mistakes. The acid in pine doesn't make for long-lasting paintings, though.
Brushes: Watercolor brushes are good for this, as are some craft brushes. Oil brushes are too stiff, as they are mostly used for pushing the paint around. These should mostly be small, but you'll need one nice big house-painting brush for gessoing
An egg : It's best if this is a fresh egg. Free range eggs are even nicer, as the proteins are stronger, but they're no neccessary. Generally, if you'd eat it, it will work.
Pigment: It doesn't matter what color, really, and if you're new to this, you might want to start out with the same chalk you make the gesso out of and some ground charcoal for a black and white painting.
These pigments are the same as those in your normal paint, but they are more dangerous in their powder form.
Chalk or other whiting (ground chalk, gypsum, marble dust or titanium oxide if you're feeling spendy). This is what you're going to use to make your gesso. Egg tempera absolutely will not stick to premade acrylic gesso.
Acrylic is a plastic, and thus slippery and non porous, whereas the stuff made out of chalk is very porous.
Animal glue or strong gelatin: Rabbit-skin glue or gelatin
Starting with Egg Tempera
The artist must manufacture the paints him or herself by the simple process of mixing finely ground pigment, water and dilute egg yolk. The paint is then applied in a method where the optical laws of egg tempera are obeyed thus the unique surface of egg tempera will be achieved. In addition to making the paint the artist has also to prepare the ground on which to paint. Let’s go through the steps one by one.
After breaking the egg, pour the contents from one half shell to the other allowing the the egg white to fall away (an egg separator can be used here).
After most of the egg white has been removed, gently pour egg yolk, which should still be intact, into the palm of your hand.
Carefully roll the yolk from one hand to the other wiping away the excess egg white from the free hand. Have a towel handy for this part of the procedure.
Use a cloth (or paper towel) to lightly dry the exterior of the yolk. Pinch the yolk so that you can hold it up, like a mother cat picks up a kitten, and puncture the egg yolk over a recloseable container. It is essential that no egg white or pieces of the egg sac are left in the solution.
Add dry pigment powder which has been slightly wetted and mix into the solution until it reaches the consistency of thin gravy. The reason the pigment should be slightly wet is to keep the powdered pigment from being breathed. Never handle dry pigment without the use of a dust mask or respirator. Dry pigment can be toxic if breathed.
If need be add a small amount of water to make the paint more fluid. Try not to add too much because a solution that is either too thin or too thick will result in cracking.
Close up container and repeat procedure for all colors to be used.
Features
Tempera is normally applied in thin semi-opaque or transparent layers. When dry, it will produce a smooth matte finish. Because it cannot be applied in thick layers as oil paints can, tempera paintings rarely have the deep color saturation that oil paintings can achieve.
As it is fluid and fast drying, it is best suited for a more linear style rather than the thick, brushy and painterly technique of oil painting.
Egg tempera has a clean, matte finish and a higher color key than oil. The subtle color variations so characteristic of egg tempera painting are unlike the deep saturated colors typical in oil paints. Therefore, the palette used in tempera only includes the colors which work best in tempera.
The yellow of the egg has very little effect on a tempered color. Any initial discoloring will actually bleach out to a clear tone in time as opposed to oil's tendency to yellow with time.
Underpainting is important. Egg tempera paint is applied thinly and each subsequent layer is affected by the former. While all colors may be thinned to a glaze-like consistency, certain colors, by nature, are more transparent.
One proven method of painting is to alternate layers of warm and cool colors along with opaque and transparent layers.
The layers may be applied quickly and safely over one another because egg tempera sets up fast enough to allow almost immediate overpainting.
Egg tempera does not blend easily like oil because it dries so quickly. This can advantageous because tempera does not become 'muddy' when lighter colors are applied over darker ones.
One can easily renew a color by working light over dark. In fact, a tempera painting becomes richer when more layers are applied, unlike oil's tendency to grow darker with each layer.
Graduated tones are achieved by applying a progressively lighter, more opaque color to the base color, thereby gradually reducing the transparent nature of the paint while lightening the color with the introduction of white.
Whites and highlights may be added at any time, followed by glazes to create rich and resonant tones.
The richest colors are generally added towards the end of the painting process over the body color or an established underpainting.
Pure color may be used for details or rich glazes. Glazing is an appropriate tool to modify colors and unify areas.
Customarily, paint is applied through linear hatching, loose washes/floating with transparent glazes or solid color in-fills.
To in-fill a large area with solid color, make a half paste color mixture. (A paint mixed with enough white to make the color semi-opaque)
A semi-opaque color will help overcome some of tempera's tendencies to show brush strokes and to blend unevenly.
Once a solid color has been laid down, several previously mentioned techniques may be applied to modify the color.
Tempera painters use cross hatching brush strokes to enhance the feeling of volume by following the contours of the forms, instead of applying strokes as if the form were flat.
While tempera may be varnished, historically, varnishes do not dry evenly. They tend to crack and modify the color harmony of the painting.
Instead of varnishing, the surface may be polished to an even sheen with a piece of soft cloth after the painting has dried a few days. This does not have the same effect as the protective qualities of varnish.
Although tempera dries to the touch in a few seconds, the paint does not fully cure for up to nearly a year. To protect the fragile surface from scratching or water damage, frame the piece under glass for the first year. Ensure that the glass does not come into contact the painting.
Mixed Media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.
When creating a work of art using Mixed Media it is important to choose the layers carefully and allow enough drying time between the layers to insure the final work will have integrity.
If many different media are used it is equally important to choose a sturdy foundation upon which the different layers are imposed. An old rule good to remember is "Fat over lean." In other words, don't start with oil paints. Plan to make them the final layer.
Knife Painting
Painting with a knife is a bit like putting butter on bread and produces quite a different result to a brush. Painting knives are excellent for producing textured, impasto work and sweeping areas of flat color.
Introduction to Knives A painting knife has a large crank in the handle, which takes your hand away from the painting surface. They come in numerous shapes (for example pear-, diamond-, or trowel-shaped) and are used for painting instead of a brush. The edge of the knife is blunt, so that it doesn't cut the canvas. Painting knives just have the advantage of coming in more angular shapes and with sharper points
A palette knife is a long, straight spatula that is used for mixing paints and scraping a palette clean. They're made from metal, plastic, or wood and will either be completely straight or have a slightly cranked (bent) handle.
Different shaped painting knives produce different effects. Thus an artist needs to use different kind of knives to complete painting with different effects
Using Knife and Color Grip the handle with good control. Make a choice of paint from your palette using the tip. Use the side of the blade to apply paint across your canvas, or press it onto the canvas. First time you may find it quite different then using a brush. Using just the tip of the blade will turn out dots. Pressing the edge of the knife down will produce fine lines. Pressing the blade flat down into the paint will produce ridges. Use an acrylic or oil paint that's got a relatively rigid uniformity to it, otherwise it won't retain its form. If you're using acrylics, you can add texture paste to thicken up the paint.
Glass painting
Stained glass painting techniques have not changed dramatically since the earliest known examples of the craft back in 9th century Germany. Today, as then, the first stage is the production of a full size working drawing. Using this drawing as a template, the glass is selected and cut, and each piece of glass is individually painted using glass paint. The paint is then fired into the surface by heating the glass to approximately 650° centigrade in a furnace. When all of the glass has been painted it is assembled into panels by bending 'H' section strips of lead around the pieces of glass and soldering the strips together where they meet.
Broadly speaking this has been the process over the past ten centuries. There have however, been several innovations, particularly in techniques of glass painting, which have both enriched and added to the variety of stained glass that can be appreciated today.
Some of the techniques available in the medieval period were recorded by Theophilus, a 12th century German monk who was also a glass painter. He talked of the various metal oxides used in the production of different coloured glasses. He also detailed the production of 'flash' glass, a thin layer of coloured glass on top of a clear glass substrate, and described the process of removing areas of the thin coloured 'flash' using an abrasive wheel, which has the effect of achieving both a colour and white on a single piece of glass. These basic methods of production are still used today, although the flash is seldom abraded in the same way: modern techniques include etching with hydrofluoric acid and sand blasting. With parchment then a rare and valuable commodity, Theophilus and his contemporaries drew up their designs on whitewashed tables. As paper and parchment became more accessible this procedure was abandoned.
In medieval stained glass manufacture, the design was painted directly onto the coloured glass panes, adding monochrome detail to a coloured base. The colour of the paint itself was dependent on the amount and type of oxide used in its production, but was usually black or brown. Until the 14th century the paintwork seen on glass was predominantly applied by brush, with some further working with sticks, quills and stiff coarse brushes once the paint had dried. This is sometimes referred to as the smear technique, and it produced quite coarse results.
A 14th century development in glass painting technique was the use of the badger hair brush. This is a broad brush (some modern badger hair brushes are 5'' wide) which is used as a dry brush on wet paint to soften the paint effect and remove application brush marks. Frequently the badger brush was also used to achieve a 'stippled' paint effect by pouncing the wet paint. This allowed the painter to achieve a more refined appearance. Another addition to the glass painter's repertoire was 'silver stain'. In the early 14th century it was discovered that applying a compound of silver onto the glass and then firing it would stain the glass anything from a pale lemon colour to a deep orange colour. This discovery revolutionised stained glass. Suddenly there were lots of new possibilities: for the first time colour could be applied to the glass and controlled depending on the firing temperature and thickness of the application. While the paintwork was confined to the side of the glass that faced inwards, the silver stain was applied to the outside face of the glass.
By the 16th century, enamels - coloured paints made from coloured metal oxides, ground glass and a flux (usually lead oxide or borax), mixed with water and gum arabic or lavender oil, and fired onto the surface of the glass - were available to the glass painter. With such a large number of colours now possible on a single piece of glass, a trend developed to produce large windows using rectangular pieces of glass that had been painted, stained and enamelled (Figure 1). No longer was the designer bound by the strict constraints of leading off each and every piece of glass of a different colour. This trend endured until the early 19th century. Two artists who grew to prominence in this period were the van Linge brothers, Abraham and Bernard. Abraham tended to work the paint quite vigorously for dramatic effect, whereas Bernard had a slightly softer approach to glass painting.
As the 19th century progressed there was a revival of interest in the gothic arts and the majority of designers reverted to the medieval techniques of producing mosaic stained glass, leading off separate colours. Different paint techniques and effects were employed within these various design styles, and were generally reliant on the media with which the paint was mixed. Historically the liquids that hold the glass paint in suspension cannot always be accurately determined, but from the styles of painting some educated guesses can be made about the carrying liquids used.
Traditionally, the first stage in the painting process is to paint on the line work. This is done using a thick paint mixture. The painter will lay the glass over the working drawing and trace the line work onto the glass. Very often the traced paintwork will be left to dry thoroughly for a day or so and then other layers of paint will be laid over this line work and so the painting is built up. In this procedure, it is necessary to add a fixative to the paint to prevent it from lifting or smudging when the successive layers of paint are applied. Common additions for this purpose are gum arabic, vinegar and sugar. Vinegar is particularly effective and holds the trace line very well and it also aids the flow of paint from the brush to the glass, allowing for some delicate tracing. If the glass painter was reluctant to risk the trace line being adversely affected by paint laid on top of it, he could kiln fire the trace line before any further painting.
The successive layers of paint (known as matting paint) are usually mixed in a water and gum arabic medium. Varying the amount of gum allows differing effects to be achieved. Kempe, for example, would apply quite a dense layer of matting paint over all of the glass, then use the badger brush to give the paint a heavy stipple. This would then be worked using hog's hair brushes and needles to remove paint from the highlighted areas. Frequently the needles would not only remove the matting paint but also scratch into the trace paint, giving a lot of contrast to the artwork and producing a crisp effect. In contrast, John Hall & Sons would use a slightly tighter stipple and their glass painters employed minimal use of hog's hair brushes when painting heads, hands and feet. Instead they would predominantly use needles to laboriously remove the paint where it wasn't wanted. This gave very precise effects on the flesh tones. When they came to paint the drapery, however, they would almost exclusively use the hog's hair brushes.
In several of the Victorian studios, glass painters used their hands to rub the stippled paint after it had dried so that the paint began to loosen and pores opened up on the paint surface. This loosened paint was then worked with hog's hair brushes. Varying the weight of paint, the gum content and the coarseness of the stipple would all have varying effects on the size of the pores that developed under the pressure of the hand rub. Many Clayton & Bell windows were characterised by a delicate, controlled opening up of the paint under hand pressure, an effect achieved by using a wet loose stipple, medium weight of paint and medium/heavy gum composition. To increase and deepen the soft dappled effect the same matting process was done on the back of the glass. In contrast, many painters of the Arts and Crafts movement such as Christopher Whall and Carl
Parsons would use a denser matting paint with a heavier gum content. This was then rubbed vigorously to create pronounced textures in the paint, which were then further worked using hog's hair brushes, quills and needles. This paint style, combined with the rich antique glasses used in the Arts and Crafts period, resulted in some very free, expressive and at times dramatic stained glass. To convey the desired effect to the glass painter these designers tended to draw up their full sized cartoons (working drawings) on textured cartridge paper using charcoal which gave some similar effects to the paint style.
Many of the Victorian studios would not restrict themselves to just one trace paint and one layer of matting paint. Sometimes they used a vinegar trace overlaid with two water and gum arabic matts (the second matt just starting to lift and blend with the first matt) and then a lavender oil matt laid over the top of the two water matts. Few glass painters employ such a bold and confident attitude to glass painting these days, and with modern kiln technology and relatively rapid firing times consider it safer and more expedient to fire the glass at the various in-between stages.
Types of Glass Painting Stained glass painting : Traditionally, glass painting referred to painting on the surface of a sheet of glass to be included in a stained glass work. This kind of painting, which is actually closer to drawing than painting, was done to add details such as faces and folds of clothing that couldn't be added with traditional lead lines. It was also used to cover up portions of stained glass works so that light was kept from shining through.
In most cases, the glass paints used for stained glass painting are predominately browns and gray-blacks. The colors tend to be water or gum arabic based, and can be applied with a brush in a method similar to the way watercolors are applied. In most cases, these paints are fired onto the glass using a kiln. The heat of the kiln causes them to bond permanently with the glass. There are several major types of traditional stained glass paints, including vinegar trace paint, matt paint, silver stain, and oil based paints.
Vinegar trace paint This paint, which is dark and completely blocks out the light in the areas where it is applied, is most often used for figure or design lines. It is fairly thick and must be mixed with water, vinegar, and gum arabic to use. Gum arabic, which helps the paint stick to the glass, is usually purchased in powder form and must be mixed with water or alcohol before using.
Vinegar trace paint must be applied "wet on wet"; that is, both the brush and the glass surface must be wet. You can't apply more paint to a particular place once it dries; if you do, the paint is likely to flake when fired in the kiln. Painting with vinegar trace paint requires practice. The hardest part is learning to apply just the right amount of paint. Too much on the brush and it will blot, too little and it will dry before the stroke is complete.
When dry, vinegar trace paint is often scraped or scratched with a small stick or quill. This gives the paint a texture and depth that can't be gotten from the paint alone. Once prepared, the paint is fired to around 1100 degrees F. It becomes shiny after firing.
Matt paint Matt paint, which uses a base of either water and gum arabic or water and vinegar, is easier to apply than vinegar trace paint. It can be applied thickly or thinly and can even be "blended" and stippled or worked with a second brush to give it an interesting texture. Some artists even rub it with their fingers to achieve more unusual effects. Because it is more transparent than vinegar trace paint, matte paint is generally applied over tracing paint. Often, two firings are required, one for the tracing paint and a second for the matt paint.Matt paint is most frequently used for filling in backgrounds and adding shadows. As with vinegar trace paints, the color selection is somewhat limited, consisting primarily of blacks, brown, blues, and greens.
Silver stain Silver stain, which is available in shades of red, yellow, and orange, gets its name from the presence of silver nitrate in the stain. After firing, it turns golden, not silver-colored. It is unlike paint in that it actually changes the color of the glass, rather than simply covering it up with a dark line or wash. Silver stains do not flow well from the brush, but since they are generally used to add accent colors (rather than detailed lines) this is not a major issue. They are often applied to the opposite side of the glass from vinegar trace and matt paints, and may be fired face down, with the silver stain resting on the kiln shelf. Since silver stains are fired to around 1000 to 1100 F, they may be fired at the same time as stained glass paints. Unlike glass paints, silver stains darken and grow deeper with each firing.
Oil-based stained glass p |
