Secrets of the Old Masters
old oil painting techniques
Flemish method of painting with oil paints
The Flemish method of writing with oil paints basically boiled down to the following: a drawing from the so-called cardboard (a separately executed drawing on paper) was transferred onto a white, smoothly polished ground. Then the drawing was outlined and shaded with transparent brown paint (tempera or oil). According to Cennino Cennini, already in this form, the paintings looked like perfect works. This technique has evolved over time. The surface prepared for painting was covered with a layer of oil varnish with an admixture of brown paint, through which the shaded drawing shone through. Picturesque work ended with transparent or translucent glazing or semi-hull (semi-covering), in one go, letter. In the shadows, the brown preparation was left to show through. Sometimes, in preparation for brown, they wrote with the so-called dead colors (gray-blue, gray-greenish), finishing with glazing. The Flemish method of painting can be easily traced in many of Rubens' works, especially in his studies and sketches, for example, in the sketch of the triumphal arch "Apotheosis of the Duchess Isabella"
In order to preserve the beauty of the color of blue paints in oil painting (blue pigments rubbed in oil change their tone), the places written with blue paints were sprinkled (over a not completely dried layer) with ultramarine or smalt powder, and then these places were covered with a layer of glue and varnish. Oil paintings were sometimes glazed with watercolors; To do this, their surface was previously rubbed with garlic juice.
Italian method of painting with oil paints
The Italians changed the Flemish method, creating a peculiar Italian way of writing. Instead of white soil, the Italians made colored; or white ground was completely covered with some kind of transparent paint. On gray ground1 they drew with chalk or charcoal (without resorting to cardboard). The drawing was outlined with brown glue paint, shadows were laid with it and dark draperies were prescribed. Then they covered the entire surface with layers of glue and varnish, after which they painted with oil paints, starting with laying lights with whitewash. After that, they wrote corpus in local colors on dried bleach preparation; gray soil was left in the penumbra. Finished painting with glazing.
Later, they began to use dark gray primers, performing underpainting with two colors - white and black. Even later, brown, red-brown and even red soils were used. The Italian way of painting was then adopted by some Flemish and Dutch masters (Terborch, 1617-1681; Metsu, 1629-1667 and others).
Examples of the application of the Italian and Flemish methods.
Titian initially painted on white grounds, then switched to colored ones (browns, reds, and finally neutrals), using impasto underpaintings, which were done by grisaille2. In Titian's method, writing acquired a significant share at one time, at one time without subsequent glazes (the Italian name for this method is alia prima). Rubens mainly worked according to the Flemish method, greatly simplifying the brown shading. He completely covered the white canvas with light brown paint and laid shadows with the same paint, painted grisaille on top, then in local tones or, bypassing grisaille, wrote alia prima. Sometimes, however, Rubens painted in local lighter colors after brown preparation and completed his painting work with glazing. Rubens is credited with the following, very fair and instructive statement: “Start to paint your shadows easily, avoiding introducing even an insignificant amount of white into them: white is the poison of painting and can only be introduced in highlights. Once white breaks the transparency, golden tone and warmth of your shadows, your painting will no longer be light, but will become heavy and gray. The situation is quite different with respect to lights. Here paints can be applied in body as needed, but it is necessary, however, to keep the tones clean. This is achieved by applying each tone in its place, one next to the other, so that with a slight movement of the brush it is possible to blur them without disturbing, however, the colors themselves. You can then go through such a painting with decisive final blows, which are so characteristic of great masters.
The Flemish master Van Dyck (1599-1641) preferred body painting. Rembrandt most often painted on gray ground, working through the forms with transparent brown paint very actively (darkly), he also used glazing. Strokes of various colors Rubens imposed one next to the other, and Rembrandt overlapped some strokes with others.
A technique similar to the Flemish or Italian - on white or colored soils using pasty masonry and glazing - was widely used until the middle of the 19th century. Russian artist F. M. Matveev (1758-1826) painted on brown ground with underpaintings made in grayish tones. V. L. Borovikovsky (1757-1825) painted grisaille on gray ground. K. P. Bryullov also often used gray and other colored primers, painted over with grisaille. In the second half of the 19th century, this technique was abandoned and forgotten. Artists began to paint without the strict system of the old masters, thereby narrowing their technical capabilities.
Professor D. I. Kiplik, speaking about the meaning of the color of the ground, notes: Painting with a wide flat light and intense colors (such as the works of Roger van der Weyden, Rubens, etc.) requires a white ground; the painting, in which deep shadows predominate, is of dark ground (Caravaggio, Velasquez, etc.). “Light ground imparts warmth to the colors applied to it in a thin layer, but deprives them of depth; dark ground gives depth to paints; dark soil with a cold tint - cold (Terborch, Metsu)”.
“In order to evoke the depth of shadows on a light ground, the effect of the white ground on the paints is destroyed by laying the shadows with dark brown paint (Rembrandt); strong lights on dark ground are obtained only when the effect of dark ground on paints is eliminated by applying a sufficient layer of white in the highlights.
“Intense cold tones on an intense red ground (for example, blue) are obtained only if the effect of the red ground is paralyzed by preparation in a cold tone or the cold color paint is applied in a thick layer.”
“The most versatile primer in terms of color is a light gray primer in a neutral tone, as it is equally good for all paints and does not require too impasto painting”1.
Primers of chromatic colors affect both the lightness of the paintings and their overall color. The influence of the color of the soil in case of corpus and glazing writing affects differently. So, green paint, laid with a non-translucent body layer on a red ground, looks especially saturated in its environment, but applied with a transparent layer (for example, in watercolor) loses its saturation or becomes completely achromatic, since the green light reflected and transmitted by it is absorbed by the red ground.
Secrets of making materials for oil painting
OIL PROCESSING AND REFINING
Oils from the seeds of flax, hemp, sunflower, as well as walnut kernels are obtained by squeezing with a press. There are two ways to squeeze: hot and cold. Hot when crushed seeds are heated and a highly colored oil is obtained, which is not very suitable for painting. Much better is the oil squeezed from the seeds in the cold way, it turns out less than with the hot method, but it is not contaminated with various impurities and does not have a dark brown color, but only a faint yellow color. Freshly obtained oil contains a number of impurities harmful to painting: water, protein substances and mucus, which greatly affect its ability to dry out and form durable films. That's why; the oil should be processed or, as they say, "ennobled", removing water, protein mucus and all sorts of impurities from it. At the same time, it will also fade and discolor. The best way to improve the oil is to seal it, that is, oxidation. To do this, freshly obtained oil is poured into wide-mouthed glass jars, covered with gauze and exposed in spring and summer to the sun and air. To clean the oil from impurities and protein mucus, well-dried black bread crackers are placed on the bottom of the jar, about as much as to occupy x / 5 jars. Then the jars of oil are placed in the sun and air for 1.5-2 months. Oil, absorbing atmospheric oxygen, oxidizes and thickens; under the action of sunlight, it bleaches, thickens and becomes almost colorless. Rusks, on the other hand, retain protein mucus and various contaminants contained in the oil. The oil obtained in this way is the best painting material and can be successfully used both for erasing with paints and for diluting ready-made paints. When it dries, it forms strong and resistant films that are incapable of cracking and retain their glossiness and brilliance when dried. This oil dries in a thin layer slowly, but immediately in its entire thickness and gives very durable shiny films. Raw oil dries only from the surface. First, its layer is covered with a film, and completely crude oil remains under it.
OLIFA AND ITS PREPARATION
Drying oil is boiled drying vegetable oil (linseed, poppy, walnut, etc.). Depending on the cooking conditions of the oil, the cooking temperature, the quality and pre-treatment of the oil, drying oils of completely different quality and properties are obtained. drying oils: rapid heating of oil to 280-300 ° - a hot method in which the oil boils; slow heating of the oil to 120-150 °, excluding boiling of the oil during its cooking, - the cold method and, finally, the third method - languishing the oil in a warm oven for 6-12 days. The best drying oils suitable for painting purposes1 can only be obtained by the cold method and oil languishing. boil. The boiled oil is poured into a glass vessel and placed open in the air and the sun for 2-3 months to brighten and compact. After that, the oil is carefully drained, trying not to touch the sediment that remains at the bottom of the vessel, and filtered. Oil languishing consists in pouring raw oil into a glazed clay pot and putting it in a warm oven for 12-14 days. When foam appears on the oil, it is considered ready. The foam is removed, the oil is allowed to stand for 2-3 months in air and the sun in a glass jar, then it is carefully drained without touching the sediment, and filtered through gauze. durable and shiny films. These oils do not contain protein substances, mucus and water, since water evaporates during the cooking process, and protein substances and mucus coagulate and remain in the sediment. For a better precipitation of protein substances and other impurities during the settling of the oil, it is useful to put a small amount of well-dried crackers from brown bread into it. While cooking the oil, put 2-3 heads of finely chopped garlic into it. part of oil and emulsion soils.
| Created Jan 13, 2010 | |||||||||
N. IGNATOVA, Senior Researcher, Department of Research of Artistic Works, All-Russian Scientific and Restoration Center named after I. E. Grabar
Historically, this is the first method of working with oil paints, and legend attributes its invention, as well as the invention of the paints themselves, to the van Eyck brothers. The Flemish method was popular not only in Northern Europe. It was brought to Italy, where all the greatest artists of the Renaissance up to Titian and Giorgione resorted to it. There is an opinion that Italian artists painted their works in this way long before the van Eyck brothers. We will not delve into history and clarify who was the first to apply it, but we will try to talk about the method itself.
Modern studies of works of art allow us to conclude that the painting of the old Flemish masters was always done on white adhesive ground. The paints were applied in a thin glazing layer, and in such a way that not only all layers of painting, but also the white color of the ground, which, translucent through the paint, illuminates the picture from the inside, took part in creating the overall pictorial effect. Also noteworthy is the lack of
in painting he whitewashed, with the exception of those cases when white clothes or draperies were painted. Sometimes they are still found in the strongest lights, but even then only in the form of the thinnest glazes.
All work on the picture was carried out in strict sequence. It began with a drawing on thick paper in the size of the future picture. It turned out the so-called "cardboard". An example of such cardboard is Leonardo da Vinci's drawing for the portrait of Isabella d'Este,
The next stage of work is transferring the pattern to the ground. To do this, it was pricked with a needle along the entire contour and borders of the shadows. Then the cardboard was placed on a white polished primer applied to the board, and the drawing was transferred with charcoal powder. Getting into the holes made in the cardboard, the charcoal left a light outline of the pattern on the basis of the picture. To fix it, a trace of coal was outlined with a pencil, pen, or the sharp tip of a brush. In this case, either ink or some kind of transparent paint was used. Artists never painted directly on the ground, as they were afraid to disturb its whiteness, which, as already mentioned, played the role of the lightest tone in painting.
After transferring the drawing, they started shading with transparent brown paint, making sure that the ground everywhere shone through its layer. Shading was done with tempera or oil. In the second case, in order for the binder of paints not to be absorbed into the soil, it was covered with an additional layer of glue. At this stage of work, the artist solved almost all the tasks of the future picture, with the exception of color. In the future, no changes were made to the drawing and composition, and already in this form the work was a work of art.
Sometimes, before finishing a picture in color, the whole painting was prepared in the so-called "dead colors", that is, cold, light, low-intensity tones. This preparation took over the final glazing layer of colors, with the help of which they gave life to the whole work.
Of course, we have drawn a general outline of the Flemish method of painting. Naturally, every artist who used it brought something of his own to it. For example, we know from the biography of the artist Hieronymus Bosch that he painted in one go, using the simplified Flemish method. At the same time, his paintings are very beautiful, and the colors have not changed color over time. Like all his contemporaries, he prepared a white, not thick ground, on which he transferred the most detailed drawing. He shaded it with brown tempera paint, after which he covered the picture with a layer of transparent flesh-colored varnish, which isolates the primer from the penetration of oil from subsequent paint layers. After drying the picture, it remained to register the background with glazes of pre-composed tones, and the work was completed. Only sometimes some places were additionally prescribed with a second layer to enhance the color. Peter Brueghel wrote his works in a similar or very close way.
Another variation of the Flemish method can be seen in the work of Leonardo da Vinci. If you look at his unfinished work, The Adoration of the Magi, you can see that it was started on white ground. The drawing translated from cardboard was outlined with transparent paint like green earth. The drawing is shaded in one brown tone, close to sepia, composed of three colors: black, crayon and red ocher. The whole work is shaded, the white ground is nowhere left unwritten, even the sky is prepared in the same brown tone.
In the finished works of Leonardo da Vinci, the lights are obtained thanks to the white ground. He painted the background of works and clothes with the thinnest overlapping transparent layers of paint.
Using the Flemish method, Leonardo da Vinci was able to achieve an extraordinary rendering of chiaroscuro. At the same time, the paint layer is uniform and very thin.
The Flemish method was briefly used by artists. It existed in its pure form for no more than two centuries, but many great works were created in this way. In addition to the already mentioned masters, Holbein, Dürer, Perugino, Rogier van der Weyden, Clouet and other artists used it.
Paintings made by the Flemish method are excellently preserved. Made on seasoned boards, solid soils, they resist damage well. The virtual absence of white in the pictorial layer, which from time to time lose their hiding power and thereby change the overall color of the work, ensured that we see the paintings almost the same as they came out of the workshops of their creators.
The main conditions that should be observed when using this method are a scrupulous drawing, the finest calculation, the correct sequence of work and great patience.
"The Flemish method of working with oil paints".
A. Arzamastsev.
"Young Artist" No. 3 1983.
Here are the works of Renaissance artists: Jan van Eyck, Petrus Christus, Pieter Brueghel and Leonardo da Vinci. These works of different authors and different in plot are united by one method of writing - the Flemish method of painting.
Historically, this is the first method of working with oil paints, and legend attributes its invention, as well as the invention of the paints themselves, to the van Eyck brothers. The Flemish method was popular not only in Northern Europe.
It was brought to Italy, where all the greatest artists of the Renaissance up to Titian and Giorgione resorted to it. There is an opinion that Italian artists painted their works in this way long before the van Eyck brothers.
We will not delve into history and clarify who was the first to apply it, but we will try to talk about the method itself.
The Van Eyck brothers.
Ghent altar. Adam. Fragment.
1432.
Oil, wood.
The Van Eyck brothers.
Ghent altar. Fragment.
1432.
Oil, wood.
Modern studies of works of art allow us to conclude that the painting of the old Flemish masters was always done on white adhesive ground.
The paints were applied with a thin glazing layer, and in such a way that not only all layers of painting, but also the white color of the ground, which, translucent through the paint, illuminates the picture from the inside, took part in creating the overall pictorial effect.
Also noteworthy is the practical absence of white in painting, with the exception of those cases when white clothes or draperies were painted. Sometimes they are still found in the strongest lights, but even then only in the form of the thinnest glazes.
Petrus Christus.
Portrait of a young girl.
XV century.
Oil, wood.
All work on the picture was carried out in strict sequence. It began with a drawing on thick paper in the size of the future picture. It turned out the so-called "cardboard". An example of such cardboard is Leonardo da Vinci's drawing for the portrait of Isabella d'Este.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Cardboard for the portrait of Isabella d "Este. Fragment.
1499.
Coal, sanguine, pastel.
The next stage of work is the transfer of the pattern to the ground. To do this, it was pricked with a needle along the entire contour and borders of the shadows. Then the cardboard was placed on a white polished primer applied to the board, and the drawing was transferred with charcoal powder. Getting into the holes made in the cardboard, the charcoal left a light outline of the pattern on the basis of the picture.
To fix it, a trace of coal was outlined with a pencil, pen, or the sharp tip of a brush. In this case, either ink or some kind of transparent paint was used. Artists never painted directly on the ground, as they were afraid to disturb its whiteness, which, as already mentioned, played the role of the lightest tone in painting.
After transferring the drawing, they started shading with transparent brown paint, making sure that the ground everywhere shone through its layer. Shading was done with tempera or oil. In the second case, in order for the binder of paints not to be absorbed into the soil, it was covered with an additional layer of glue.
At this stage of work, the artist solved almost all the tasks of the future picture, with the exception of color. In the future, no changes were made to the drawing and composition, and already in this form the work was a work of art.
Sometimes, before finishing a picture in color, the whole painting was prepared in the so-called "dead colors", that is, cold, light, low-intensity tones. This preparation took over the final glazing layer of colors, with the help of which they gave life to the whole work.
Of course, we have drawn a general outline of the Flemish method of painting. Naturally, every artist who used it brought something of his own to it. For example, we know from the biography of the artist Hieronymus Bosch that he painted in one go, using the simplified Flemish method.
At the same time, his paintings are very beautiful, and the colors have not changed color over time. Like all his contemporaries, he prepared a thin white ground, on which he transferred the most detailed drawing. He shaded it with brown tempera paint, after which he covered the picture with a layer of transparent flesh-colored varnish, which isolates the primer from the penetration of oil from subsequent paint layers.
After drying the picture, it remained to register the background with glazes of pre-composed tones, and the work was completed. Only sometimes some places were additionally prescribed with a second layer to enhance the color. Peter Brueghel wrote his works in a similar or very close way.
Pieter Brueghel.
Snow hunters. Fragment.
1565.
Oil, wood.
Another variation of the Flemish method can be seen in the work of Leonardo da Vinci. If you look at his unfinished work, The Adoration of the Magi, you can see that it was started on white ground. The drawing translated from cardboard was outlined with transparent paint like green earth.
The drawing is shaded in one brown tone, close to sepia, composed of three colors: black, crayon and red ocher. The whole work is shaded, the white ground is nowhere left unwritten, even the sky is prepared in the same brown tone.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Adoration of the Magi. Fragment.
1481-1482.
Oil, wood.
In the finished works of Leonardo da Vinci, the lights are obtained thanks to the white ground. He painted the background of works and clothes with the thinnest overlapping transparent layers of paint.
Using the Flemish method, Leonardo da Vinci was able to achieve an extraordinary rendering of chiaroscuro. At the same time, the paint layer is uniform and very thin.
The Flemish method was briefly used by artists. It existed in its pure form for no more than two centuries, but many great works were created in this way. In addition to the already mentioned masters, Holbein, Dürer, Perugino, Rogier van der Weyden, Clouet and other artists used it.
Paintings made by the Flemish method are distinguished by excellent preservation. Made on seasoned boards, solid soils, they resist damage well.
The virtual absence of white in the pictorial layer, which from time to time lose their hiding power and thereby change the overall color of the work, ensured that we see the paintings almost the same as they came out of the workshops of their creators.
The main conditions that should be observed when using this method are a scrupulous drawing, the finest calculation, the correct sequence of work and great patience.
In this section, I would like to introduce my guests to my attempts in the field of a very old technique of layered painting, which is often also called the technique of Flemish painting. I became interested in this technique when I saw the works of the old masters, Renaissance artists: Jan van Eyck, Peter Paul Rubens,
Petrus Christus, Pieter Brueghel and Leonardo da Vinci. Undoubtedly, these works are still a role model, especially in terms of performance technique.
The analysis of information on this topic helped me formulate for myself some principles that help, if not repeat, then at least try and somehow get closer to what is called the technique of Flemish painting.
Pieter Claesz, Still Life
Here is what is often written about her in literature and on the Internet:
For example, such a characteristic is given to this technology on the website http://www.chernorukov.ru/
"Historically, this is the first method of working with oil paints, and legend ascribes its invention, as well as the invention of the paints themselves, to the van Eyck brothers. Modern studies of works of art suggest that the painting of the old Flemish masters was always done on white glue primer. The paints were applied with a thin glazing layer, and in such a way that not only all layers of painting, but also the white color of the ground, which, translucent through the paint, illuminates the picture from the inside, took part in creating the overall pictorial effect.Also noteworthy is the practical absence of white in painting, with the exception of those cases when white clothes or draperies were painted. Sometimes they are still found in the strongest light, but even then only in the form of the thinnest glazes. All work on the picture was carried out in strict sequence. It began with a drawing on thick paper in the size of the future picture. It turned out like this called "cardboard". An example of such cardboard is Leonardo da Vinci's drawing for the portrait of Isabella d "Este. The next stage of work is the transfer of the pattern to the ground. To do this, it was pricked with a needle along the entire contour and borders of the shadows. Then the cardboard was placed on a white polished primer applied to the board, and the drawing was transferred with charcoal powder. Getting into the holes made in the cardboard, the charcoal left a light outline of the pattern on the basis of the picture. To fix it, a trace of coal was outlined with a pencil, pen, or the sharp tip of a brush. In this case, either ink or some kind of transparent paint was used. Artists never painted directly on the ground, as they were afraid to disturb its whiteness, which, as already mentioned, played the role of the lightest tone in painting. After transferring the drawing, they started shading with transparent brown paint, making sure that the ground everywhere shone through its layer. Shading was done with tempera or oil. In the second case, in order for the binder of paints not to be absorbed into the soil, it was covered with an additional layer of glue. At this stage of work, the artist solved almost all the tasks of the future picture, with the exception of color. In the future, no changes were made to the drawing and composition, and already in this form the work was a work of art. Sometimes, before finishing a picture in color, the whole painting was prepared in the so-called "dead colors", that is, cold, light, low-intensity tones. This preparation took over the final glazing layer of colors, with the help of which they gave life to the whole work.
Paintings made by the Flemish method are excellently preserved. Made on seasoned boards, solid soils, they resist damage well. The virtual absence of white in the pictorial layer, which from time to time lose their hiding power and thereby change the overall color of the work, ensured that we see the paintings almost the same as they came out of the workshops of their creators.
The main conditions that should be observed when using this method are a scrupulous drawing, the finest calculation, the correct sequence of work and great patience.
My first experience was of course a still life. I present a step-by-step demonstration of the development of work
The 1st layer of imprimatura and drawing is of no interest, so I skip it.
2nd layer is natural umber registration
The 3rd layer can be either a refinement and compaction of the previous one, or a "dead layer" made with white, black paint and adding ocher, burnt umber and ultramarine for a little warmth or coldness.
The 4th layer is the first and weak introduction of color into the picture.
The 5th layer introduces a more saturated color.
The 6th layer is the place of the final registration of details.
The 7th layer can be used for clarifying glazes, for example, to "mute" the background.
Flemish painting is considered one of the first experiences of artists in painting oil paintings. The authorship of this style, as well as the invention of the oil paints themselves, is attributed to the van Eyck brothers. The style of Flemish painting is inherent in almost all the authors of the Renaissance, in particular the notorious Leonardo da Vinci, Peter Brueghel and Petrus Christus left behind a lot of priceless works of art in this particular genre.
In order to paint a picture using this technique, you will need to first create a drawing on paper, and of course do not forget to buy an easel. The size of the paper stencil should exactly match the size of the future picture. Next, the drawing is transferred to a white adhesive primer. To do this, a lot of tiny holes are made around the perimeter of the image with needles. Having fixed the drawing in a horizontal plane, they take coal powder and sprinkle it with areas with holes. After removing the paper, separate points are connected with a sharp tip of a brush, pen or pencil. If ink is used, then it must be strictly transparent so as not to disturb the whiteness of the ground, which actually gives the completed paintings a special style.
Transferred drawings must be shaded with transparent brown paint. Care must be taken during the process to ensure that the primer remains visible through the applied layers at all times. Oil or tempera could be used as a shade. In order to prevent the absorption of oil shading into the soil, it was pre-coated with glue. Hieronymus Bosch used brown varnish for this purpose, thanks to which his paintings retained their color for such a long time.
At this stage, the largest amount of work is being done, so you should definitely buy a desktop easel, because every self-respecting artist has a couple of such tools. If the picture was planned to end in color, then cold, light tones acted as a preliminary layer. On them, again, oil paints were applied with a thin layer of glazing. As a result, the picture acquired vital shades and looked much more spectacular.
Leonardo da Vinci shaded the entire ground in the shadows in one tone, which is a combination of three colors: red ocher, kraplak and black. He painted the clothes and the background of the works with transparent overlapping layers of paint. This technique allowed the image to convey a special characteristic of chiaroscuro.
