Crafting a painting requires planning; planning can often comes at the expense of spontaneity. Modern art seems more concerned with spontaneity than the craftsmanship of its roots. Most likely because of the development of commercial painting materials and the camera. ‘Academic’ or ‘Figurative Art’ could not compete with the realism and immediacy of photography. Impressionism, Plein Aire Painting, Surrealism and Expressionism came into vogue. Alla Prima, Mixed Media and Collage techniques were more commonly incorporated into modern works of art, and having a course offered in traditional techniques as part of a college curriculum has become more the exception than the rule. These movements and related techniques can often afford a greater spontaneity and latitude for creativity. The traditions of figurative art have been lost and few are teaching it. There’s just a handful of  traditional workshops or studios left. They were called ‘Ateliers’ (pronounced a-tel-yay), and the teaching was very specific with regard to materials and methods. Today these traditions are exemplified by Juliette Aristides‘ Atelier in Seattle WA that teaches both the techniques and process of Traditional Figurative Art. It’s a long process taking a lifetime. It’s understandable that they can’t be poured into the mold of modern academia. Paintings by the Old Masters, like Rembrandt, or a new Master like Odd Nerdrum, attain incredible luminosity, detail and creativity using traditional painting techniques, so having at least a cursory understanding of craftsmanship is well worth the effort.

MY NOTES

DRAWING:

Drawing: Beginning with a detailed drawing is the actual size of the surface to be painted is optimal. This way you are aware of the proportions and the level of detail you intend early on, and it will more easily be transferred to the surface later.

Transferring the drawing to the panel or canvas can be done in several ways.

Tracing paper: Using tracing paper, trace your drawing. Scribble conte on the reverse side of your traced lines. Place the paper, conte side onto the panel or canvas and redraw it over your traced lines. The image will appear on the surface in conte.

Pouncing: Pouncing techniques can be used by poking very small holes along the outline of the sketch or drawing on paper. Place the paper with holes onto the panel or canvas and use a bundled rag with a powdered pigment, gently pounce along the holes. This will result in dots on the panel or canvas. These can be connected with conte. This technique was traditionally used for frescos.

Opaque Projectors: Projecting the sketch onto the panel or canvas and tracing the image directly onto the canvas or panel with conte, charcoal or ink. People may say that using a projector is somehow cheating, even more so if you use a reference photograph. But these rules may no longer apply, Postmodern Art seems to have fully transcended the meaning, method and message of intellectual ownership. In very real ways, every work of art is at least informed by, and at most derivative of, what has gone before it. That being said, there are still copyright laws, and nothing can really replace the actual rendering of the image by the artist. There is no way to better understand the tone and qualities of your subject.

Sketching Directly: It should be mentioned that many fine modern painters do not transfer, but sketch directly on the surface of the panel or canvas. This lends itself to immediacy, and often the corrections in the sketch show through to further emphasize spontaneity. As a study, sketching quickly in oil is a great way of capturing an image or even a mood.

Ink Drawing: After transferred the sketch to the panel or canvas, draw it out in ink. If the surface is to be completely flat, use thinned sepia or India ink applied with a brush. The Imprimatura (first layer) may wash away pencil but not conte. Link will leave a faint drawing showing through the first layer of your painting.

Medium: There are various mediums that artist swear by thinking that they are what the Old Masters had used. These are topics for scholarly debate. I recommend you explore what works best for you.

 

PAINTING:

Set Up: Put a few drops of linseed oil on the pallet and rub it in. This will make for easier clean up later. Soften brushes by dipping them into Turpentine and wiping out the excess with a towel. This will make for easier clean up later. If you’re approaching a canvas that you’ve been working on, it’s recommended to rub a few drops of linseed oil on to the surface of the painting.

Imprimatura: Imprimatura is the first oil layer in the traditional oil painting technique. Imprimatura most often has a neutral olive hue. The degree of darkness or lightness of imprimatura should be chosen in relation to the largest light area of the future painting.
Sometimes this initial layer is done in grays rather than with viridian (olive hue). This is called Grisaille (pr. greez-eye’, or griz-eye’): A style of monochromatic painting in shades of gray, used especially for the representation of relief sculpture, or to simulate one. It is achromatic painting and refers to a gray underpainting, laid in for subsequent color glazing.

Rule: Don’t proceed to another layer until the previous one is sufficiently dried. If you do your new layer will lift the previous one creating globs of paint. This is definitely something to be avoided unless that’s the effect you want. It is outside the realm of traditional painting but there is probably someone out there making use of it.

Umber Underlayer: (Definition: Umber means shadows). The Imprimatura is now dried. This next layer is used to define as the deeper shadows. The point here is to create the tonality. This can be further defined with the next layer, which can be called the Penumbra: (Definition: Latin paene , almost + Latin umbra, shadow). The Penumbra is the partial (almost) shadows between the deep shadows and the areas completely illuminated. These layers are often combined when a wet-on-wet techniques is used. The tonalities of these Dead Underlayers are malleable and corrections to them can be easily made prior to applying local color

Glazing: is a method of obtaining transparent vales of color to the surface of a painting. Local color refers to the color of an object. An object may have other colors too. These are often related to its lighting such as specular highlights and reflected colors from other objects. The glazing colored layers should be thin and done gradually with care not to over saturate with pigment. Care should be taken not to overload the brush with paint (unless you’re after texture). When you add textures then you moving in direction of fatness, each successive layer must also be equal to or greater in flexibility/fatness. This is definitely not a crime, but it’s easy to lose control of the texture resulting in huge globs of paint.

Scumbling is a method of obtaining a softened effect by applying a thin layer of opaque color to the surface of a painting. Alternately use of scumbling and glazing techniques can be used to achieve natural color and light. Certain colors are naturally transparent and other naturally opaque.

Varnish: After drying the painting for at least six months, you can apply a cover varnish. Cover the canvas with the regular non-thinned dammar varnish using a soft flat varnish brush. There are various recipes for varnishes geared towards various effects such as Matte, Satin and Glossy finishes.

Clean Up: Observe the surface of the painting and remove any particles of dust, lint or stray fibers with tweezers. Clean the pallet with mineral spirits. Treat the surfaces of the pallet by rubbing in a few drops of linseed oil. Clean the brushes with mineral spirits. Dry with a rag and then wash with warm soapy water. Dry with a rag and leave them lying horizontally to completely dry so that water does not seep into the ferrule of the brush.