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Next dates: No Schedule
| Next date: the weekend May 28th-29th will take place as scheduled |
| Introduction to the Workshops As a result of my studio experience, pigment research with institutions, lectures and teaching over the years, I have listed some common misunderstandings about the so-called Renaissance painting technique, i.e. painting in thin translucent layers with the use of glazes: 1. No modern tube paint with synthetic colours can recreate the luminosity of the Flemish and Italian Renaissance masters. 2. No amount of alkyd resin added to modern oil paint will produce the 'spell binding' quality of the Masters. Alkyds discolour fairly rapidly in thin layers of paint. 3. Adding thick 'Venetian turpentine' straight from the bottle to oil paint may give the desired 'enamel' appearance, but will lead to cracking. In addition the painting will remain very sticky for weeks. Strasbourg or Venetian turpenting as well as Canada Balsam need to be fused with a pure spirits of turpentine to produce either a binding medium or diluent. NO SOLVENT such as mineral spirits or spirits of turpentine should be added to oil paint. To recreate the 'satin' finish of the Renaissance painters, the following points need to be observed; 1. The support and ground - most modern prepared canvases have a life of about 30 to 50 years. Deterioration will most probably become evident during the artist's life-time including cracking. Unfortunately, after completing expensive MFA's, many artists do not know how to prepare stretched linen or linen on a panel. Look at all those floppy canvases hanging on gallery walls. Most recipes from the 19th century which are still in universal use are overkill. The worst example is rabbit skin glue which at 60 grams a litre is meant to glue linen to a panel and not for sizing stretched linen. No Renaissance recipes give such absurd measurements. 2. Natural and mineral pigments such as azurite, lapis lazuli, cinnabar, malachite etc. are the first choice. It is a completely different colour system. However, don't despair, synthetic pigments can be improved to increase luminosity. 3. The other major misunderstanding about trying to recreate Renaissance painting techniques is that oil was used as a primary binding medium and then some 'secret juice' was added as a painting medium. There is no one universal binding medium for all the natural and mineral pigments to create depth of colour with luminosity. This principle may actually apply to modern synthetic pigments, but the paint industry has convinced itself and artists to add all sorts of weird and wonderful mediums to speed up the drying of impossibly slow drying tube oil colours. If you have had enough of toothpaste-like modern oil paint and your paintings look better in catalogue reproductions than in real life, then these workshops may be an eye opener and a guaranteed challenge. Email: artmprice@gmail.com |
| Once in his store in Munich, Georg Kremer asked me, "What is the first question artists ask when they come into the store?". At a loss, I could not answer the question. He continued, "What's the cheapest!". The cost of materials is one of the artist's main concerns. Stretching your own canvas, preparing grounds and making your own paint is not rocket science. Here is a unique opportunity to learn what you should have practiced from day one as a painter. You don't have to restrict yourself to the cheapest materials anymore since you will literally save thousands of dollars over the years as well as knowing EXACTLY what materials you are employing. |