All 35 /Art = Math 2 /Book Notes 3 /Essays and Enquiries 5 /Flesh Tones 2 /From the Studio 1 /History 1 /Interviews 0 /Masters 11 /Materials 3 /Palettes 3 /pLog Pith 5 /Quotes 2 /Resources 5 /Responses 1 /Reviews 2 /Technical Bulletins 2 /Techniques 7 /The "Science" Series 0 /Travels and Museums 2 /Videos 2 /Writers 0
“Sinking In” – When Oil Paint Dries Dull and Matte on the Canvas and Why
"Sinking in" is the term used to describe what happens when a layer of paint loses its saturation. If you, like me, often use an earth palette, then this effect can easily be seen when a layer of Raw Umber or Burnt Umber has dried.
December 29, 2018/by tjaAnthonis Mor: Technical Info on the National Portrait Gallery Website
Alway a delight to find this kind of information.
December 10, 2018/by tjaFrom the Graveyard: Formulas for Flesh – Part I: Caravaggio, Guercino, Reni and Caracci
Today I am less convinced that there is a formula for the color of flesh... but I do think there are strategies to be considered in terms of managing luminosity and temperature. What do you think?
August 19, 2018/by tjapLog Pith XVII
If the big things aren't right, the small things won't matter.
Make…
August 19, 2018/by tjaMake…
Pigment Analysis in Paintings: Titian, Velazquez, Rembrandt
I always enjoy have some idea of the kinds of pigments used to create a certain color, especially if multiple layers are involved. Here is a website I stumbled upon that has some nice presentations on this very topic...
April 20, 2018/by tjaGreat Interactive Website for a Rubens Show
I hope they will keep this up even after the show ends:
Rubens:…
March 11, 2018/by tjaRubens:…
Track the Lives of the Old Masters
There is a very clever new website called eVasari: you can trace…
January 30, 2018/by tjapLog Pith XVI
You follow rules to go somewhere.
You break rules to go somewhere else.
You ignore rules to go nowhere.
November 25, 2017/by tjaYou break rules to go somewhere else.
You ignore rules to go nowhere.
pLog Pith XV
We need to be reminded: there is no beauty without rules and…
September 10, 2017/by tjaThe National Gallery Technical Bulletin: Titian after 1540
This special edition is dedicated to the study of Titian’s technique and style after 1540.
September 1, 2017/by tjaThe Palette of Gilbert Stuart
From the Natural Pigments website...
June 7, 2017/by tjaThe Providence of Fundamentals – Learning to Draw Before You Paint Pays Dividends
June 3, 2017/by tjaThe Continuity of Light and the Criteria to Capture It: A Review of the Workshop with Charles Weed
June 3, 2017/by tja“J. M. W. Turner and other English artists of his generation relied on the development of innovative gels. “
"To paint quickly while creating exceptional texture and volume effects, J. M. W. Turner and other English artists of his generation relied on the development of innovative gels."
January 26, 2017/by tjaThe Pigment Compendium on Google Books
If you are doing research on unfamiliar names of pigments, then…
October 24, 2016/by tja“Flesh Spheres”
In January of 2014 I made my second trip to visit Odd in Norway.…
October 16, 2016/by tjaThe National Gallery Technical Bulletin: Sir Joshua Reynolds
This special edition is dedicated to the paintings of Joshua Reynolds in the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection.
October 10, 2016/by tjaTitian’s Secret Revealed
"He was simply better than anyone else."
October 10, 2016/by tja“Painter’s Palettes from Historical Writings”
A just-discovered great new resource by Patricia Railing.
September 20, 2016/by tjaA Poem from 1762
—The diſtinguish'd part of Men
With Compaſs, Pencil, sword,…
August 12, 2015/by tjaWith Compaſs, Pencil, sword,…
A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings Online
For those familiar with Ernst van de Wetering's Rembrandt - The…
May 12, 2015/by tjaCaravaggio’s Contarrelli Chapel in High-Res and Head-On
If you visit the Contarelli Chapel in Rome's San Luigi dei Francesi,…
January 17, 2015/by tja“Aesthetics Have Nothing to Do with It.”
Nowadays the charlatans say it straight to your face.
November 30, 2014/by tjaFrom Odd Nerdrum to Igor Stravinsky and a Favorite Quote on the Creative Process
I have a recent habit of saving a variety of essays, forums…
November 29, 2014/by tja“The Four Techniques for Illusion and Volume”
For those out there like myself interested in technical art history,…
October 11, 2014/by tjaRubens: How to Price a Painting
For one evaluates pictures differently from tapestries. The latter…
May 20, 2014/by tjaSeeing is Believing: Caravaggio’s Conversion of Saul, Formal Analysis and Critical Thinking
I teach a 100 level on-site Art History class for The American…
April 17, 2014/by tjaIs Burnt Umber Evil?
Some time back in 2012 I read Virgil Elliot's Traditional Oil…
October 8, 2013/by tjapLog Pith XIV
Dogma is the illusion of power.
Craft is the power to create…
May 9, 2013/by tjaCraft is the power to create…
Illustration vs. Painting
Decades ago this would often come up in discussion with Maestro:…
April 2, 2013/by tjaExhibit A in the Decline and Fall of the “Art Elite”
When Craft and Quality are smothered by Dogma: Kate Middleton's…
January 12, 2013/by tjapLog Pith XIII
Religion requires the suspension of Reason.
Little Good is…
December 31, 2012/by tjaLittle Good is…
Further Notes on “Netherland”
While speaking with the Maestro earlier tonight on Skype we spent…
December 30, 2012/by tjaNotes on Copying Velázquez in the National Gallery
Notes on the notes: this post is long overdue! My glorious…
December 26, 2012/by tjaEnthrone Reason
The title says it all.
December 23, 2012/by tjaOther Excellent Painting Blogs
Research Resources
Tags
Bianco di San Giovanni
Brian Greene
C. J. Holmes
Camera Obscura
Caravaggio
Carolus-Duran
Charles H. Woodbury
Charlie Rose
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Waltz
Cloud Atlas
Cobalt Siccative
David Mitchell
da Vinci
Eric Hebborn
Flesh Tones
Grand Canyon
Hannibal
Harold Speed
John F. Carlson
landscape
Mark Twain
Max Doerner
Michael Harding
Michelangelo
Nigel Dundas
Odd Nerdrum
Pip Seymour
Plato
portrait
Prof. Donald Kagan
Pythagoras
R.A.M. Stevenson
Roberta Lapucci
Robert Hughes
Sargent
Solomon J. Solomon
Stephen Colbert
Steve Martin
Titian
tja
Velázquez
Vermilion
Virgil Elliot
Yale University
Recent Posts
- “Sinking In” – When Oil Paint Dries Dull and Matte on the Canvas and Why December 29, 2018
- Anthonis Mor: Technical Info on the National Portrait Gallery Website December 10, 2018
- From the Graveyard: Formulas for Flesh – Part I: Caravaggio, Guercino, Reni and Caracci August 19, 2018
- pLog Pith XVII August 19, 2018
- Pigment Analysis in Paintings: Titian, Velazquez, Rembrandt April 20, 2018
Recent Comments