Ultramarine
PigmentsBefore the Industrial Revolution (1760-1840), the range
of color available for art and decorative uses was technically
limited. Most of the pigments in use were earth and mineral
pigments, or pigments of biological origin. Pigments from unusual
sources such as botanical materials, animal waste, insects, and
mollusks were harvested and traded over long distances. Some colors
were costly or impossible to mix with the range of pigments that
were available. Blue and purple came to be associated with royalty
because of their expense.
Pigments and painting
Prehistoric timesThey used charcoal and mineral ochre, blood,
egg, animal fat to create the images, often diluting these pigments
to produce variations in intensity and creating an impression of
chiaroscuro. They also exploited the natural contours in the cave
walls to give their subjects a three-dimensional effect.
Naturally occurring pigments such as ochres and iron oxides have
been used as colorants since prehistoric times.
The Milkmaid, by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1658). Vermeer was
generous in his choice of expensive pigments, including Indian
Yellow, Lapis lazuli, and Carmine, as shown in this vibrant
painting.
Ultramarine blueUltramarine is a deep blue color and a pigment
which was originally made by grinding the semi-precious mineral
lapis lazuli into a powder.Ultramarine is the most complex of the
mineral pigments; it contains a blue cubic mineral called
lazurite.
Ultramarine blueMineral pigments were also traded over long
distances; the best sources of lapis were remote. Ultramarinus
(Lat) = beyond the sea (imported from Asia).
Lapis lazuli
Indian YellowDutch and Flemish painters of the 17th and 18th
centuries favored it for its luminescent qualities, and often used
it to represent sunlight.
Indian YellowRegarding the exact origins there are many wild
stories.It is said that Indian Yellow was once produced by
collecting the urine of cattle that had been fed only mango leaves.
The urine would be collected and dried, producing foul-smelling
hard dirty yellow balls of the raw pigment, called "purree. Since
mango leaves are nutritionally inadequate for cattle, the practice
of harvesting Indian Yellow was eventually declared to be
inhumane.
It is not exactly clear when Indian yellow was first introduced
into Europe. It is known, however, that between the 15th and 18th
century brown, rather pungent balls were imported into Europe from
Asia. Once they were broken open they revealed a wonderful warm
yellow powder. By grinding and mixing the balls with a binding
agent such as egg, oil or gum, the characteristic golden yellow,
transparent paint was produced. The origins of the pigment lay
somewhere in Persia, China or India. Modern hues of Indian Yellow
are made from synthetic pigments.
Cow piss?
Carmine RedThe name Carmine probably comes from the Arabic word
Chamra, which means red and from which the word crimson also
derives. It had been used since ancient times by the Egyptians,
Greeks and Romans in order to dye fabrics. In the Middle Ages the
term scarlet was introduced. Due to its high price, only rich
people -church leaders, sovereigns and other dignitaries- could
permit themselves a Carmine red gown or cloak.
Carmine RedMiracle of the Slave by Tintoretto (c. 1548). The son
of a master dyer, Tintoretto used Carmine Red Lake pigment, to
achieve dramatic color effects.These days the characteristic dark
red is therefore made from a stable, synthetic pigment.Do you know
where Carmine used to come from?
Carmine RedCochineal Beetle
Spain's conquest of a New World introduced new pigments and
colors to peoples on both sides of the Atlantic. Carmine, a dye and
pigment derived from a parasitic insect found in Central and South
America, attained great status and value in Europe. Produced from
harvested, dried, and crushed cochineal beetle, carmine could be,
and still is, used in fabric dye, food dye, body paint, or in its
solid lake form, almost any kind of paint or cosmetic.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YzM1Edb6mo
How paint is madeSince historic times painters explored the
environment for suitable pigments: chalk, charcoal, the dye of
berries, crustaceans, and minerals extracted from the ground. For
these materials (pigments) to be formed into paint, they needed to
be mixed with a medium to bind them as a liquid.
Effective media were resins, gums -such as gum arabic, still
used to bind watercolors today -and wax. A tempera paint made from
egg was the dominant medium in the Middle Ages until the 15th
century, when oil painting came to the fore. Oils and watercolors
dominated until the advent of acrylic in the 1940s.
PaintingAll paints require a binding medium that can hold
pigments in suspension and permits successful application to
prepared supportswalls, wood panels, vellum, paper, or stretched
fabric (canvas). Early forms of paint consisted of pigment bound by
a water-based glue called size, made from animal skins.
Alternatives were gums and resins extracted from trees, the white
and yolk of eggs, and beeswax. From the 15th to the 20th century
the dominant medium was vegetableusually linseedoil.
Egg temperaPainters on panel used egg yolk mixed with pigment
and a little water. This was the principal painting medium before
the arrival of oil paint. Although tempera is quick-drying,
building up the colors of a painting was a slow process.Panels were
prepared with layers of gesso, a mixture of size and chalk to form
a smooth surface.
The paint was applied over a prepared drawing. Gradations of
color had to be built up slowly, by means a series of carefully
juxtaposed applications of paint.
Egg tempera
(video)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cUDDQt7xfs
Entombment of Christ, Russian icon, 15th centuryTempera on
panel.
FrescoFresco (the Italian word for fresh) refers to the method
of painting in which pigments, mixed solely with water, are painted
directly onto a freshly laid lime-plaster ground. The liquid paint
is absorbed into the plaster and as the plaster dries the pigments
are bound within the fabric of the wall surface. Fresco was
practiced by the Minoans, the ancient Greeks, and the Romans long
before its use by Michelangelo and other painters during the
Renaissance.
The Creation of Adam is a fresco painting by Michelangelo,
forming part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted c.15111512. It
illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of
Genesis in which God breathes life into Adam, the first man.
Oil paintingOil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that
consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil,
commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by
the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and
varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the dried oil
paint film. Oil paints have been used in Europe since the 12th
century for simple decoration, but were not widely adopted as an
artistic medium until the early 15th century.
Vegetable oilprincipally walnut, poppy, and linseedhad been used
as a medium for painting for some time before the Renaissance, but
was more popular in northern Europe than in Italy. The oldest known
oil paintings date from 650 AD, found in 2008 in caves in
Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley, "using walnut and poppy seed
oils."
Oil painting
Oil paintingIt was the skill of Flemish painters such as Jan Van
Eyck at the beginning of the 15th century (1410) that convinced the
Venetians and subsequently other Italians and the rest Europe that
oils were the best medium for easel painting, especially portraits.
The advantages of oil paint are its strength and flexibility. The
paint can be applied in many ways from thin glazes, diluted with
turpentine, to thick impasto.
Oil paint remains wet longer than many other types of artists'
materials, enabling the artist to change the color, texture or form
of the figure. At times, the painter might even remove an entire
layer of paint and begin anew. This can be done with a rag and some
turpentine for a certain time while the paint is wet, but after a
while, the hardened layer must be scraped.
Video: beautiful
paintingshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1btt6iNNvk
The Arnolfini Marriage is an oil painting on oak panel (1434) by
Jan van Eyck.
Oil paintingFor centuries before the invention of the paint
tube, artists used to store their paints in pig bladders!
When the artist was ready to use the paint, they would puncture
a hole in the bladder and squeeze out the desired amount of paint.
They would have to mend the hole when finished and the whole
process was quite messy.
Oil painting: A revolutionJohn G. Rand., a little-known American
portrait painter, living in London in 1841, struggled to keep his
oil paints from drying out before he could use them.
He invented the oil paint tube in 1841, as the primary packaging
of paints for transport and storage.
This invention was slow to be accepted by many French artists
(it added considerably to the price of paint), but when it caught
on it was exactly what the Impressionists needed to escape from the
confines of the studio, to take their inspiration directly from the
world around them and commit it to canvas, particularly the effect
of natural light.
Freedom
Portability
Escape from the confines of the studio
For the first time it was practical to produce a finished
painting at a caf, at the beach, in the countryside!
New colors!
Industrial Revolution, advances, chemical discoveries,
production
Dont paint bit by bit, but paint everything at once by placing
tones everywhere. Camille Pissarro
Pigments by chemical composition
Metallic and carbonCadmium pigments: cadmium yellow, cadmium
red, cadmium green, cadmium orangeCarbon pigments: carbon black
(including vine blac, lamp black), ivory black (bone char)Chromium
pigments: chrome yellow and chrome greenCobalt pigments: cobalt
violet, cobalt blue, cerulean blue, aureolin (cobalt yellow)Copper
pigments: Azurite, Han purple, Han blue, Egyptian blue, Malachite,
Paris green, Phthalocyanine Blue BN, Phthalocyanine Green G,
verdigris, viridianIron oxide pigments: sanguine, caput mortuum,
oxide red, red ochre, Venetian red, Prussian blueClay earth
pigments (iron oxides): yellow ochre, raw sienna, burnt sienna, raw
umber, burnt umber.Lead pigments: lead white, cremnitz white,
Naples yellow, red leadMercury pigments: vermilionTitanium
pigments: titanium yellow, titanium beige, titanium white, titanium
blackUltramarine pigments: ultramarine, ultramarine green shadeZinc
pigments: zinc white, zinc ferrite
Biological and organicBiological origins: alizarin
(synthesized), alizarin crimson (synthesized), gamboge, cochineal
red, rose madder, indigo, Indian yellow, Tyrian purple
Non biological organic: quinacridone, magenta, phthalo green,
phthalo blue, pigment red 170
Acrylics1934 the first usable acrylic resin dispersion was
developed by German chemical company BASF, which was patented by
Rohm and Haas. The synthetic paint was first used in 1940s,
combining some of the properties of oil and watercolor
(commercially available in the 1950s).
Otto Rohm invented acrylic resin, which quickly transformed into
acrylic paint.
Prior to the 19th century, artists mixed their own paints, which
allowed them to achieve the desired color and thickness and to
control the use of fillers, if any. While suitable media and raw
pigments are available for the individual production of acrylic
paint, hand mixing may not be practical due to the fast drying time
and other technical issues.
The advantage of acrylics is that they are water-soluble when
wet, but dry quickly to a durable surface. They can be used in
transparent applications like watercolors or in thick, impasto
applications like oil paints.
Artistic Movements in the Later 20th Century
Artists were beginning to explore movements and forms such as
pop culture, photorealism, abstract expressionism, and pop art.
Acrylics were the ideal medium for these art forms; media could be
mixed, different textures and consistencies could be achieved (by
mixing sand, water, or other elements into the paint), colors could
be transparent or opaque, and artists could work much more quickly
due to its substantially faster drying time. In essence, the
arrival of acrylic painting opened up a whole new wave of
creativity and possibility in the modern art world that to this day
is still a strong influence in artistic forms and trends.
Watercolor
Both watercolor and gouache paints are bound in gum arabic and
are water soluble.
Watercolor is transparent; Gouache is opaque.
Watercolor uses the brightness of the paper or other support to
generate a distinctive luminescence. Light passes through overlaid
transparent washes and is reflected back from the supportfor
example, white paper.
Watercolor
BrushesPaint brushes are traditionally made from animal hair,
stiff brushes from hogs bristles, finer ones from squirrel or sable
hair. Both kinds are now produced using synthetic fibers.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78w0EnQE8Hs
Whenever you paint, youre basically holding a stick with some
animal hair secured at the end and smearing around crushed up rocks
and oil on a piece of wood or cotton fiber!
