Page 6 - George O'Hanlon
George O’Hanlon is the technical director of Natural Pigments, and executive director of Iconofile, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting understanding of sacred art. George received his fine arts education and apprenticeship in Mexico. Upon return to the United States, he worked as creative director for advertising agencies in Silicon Valley, working on such major accounts as Sony, Hewlett-Packard, and Ricoh. He founded an agency later acquired by the chemical giant, Shin-Etsu. There he served as vice-president of U.S. marketing. In 1992, he studied traditional art techniques abroad. Then in 2001, co-founded Iconofile and in 2003 Natural Pigments to promote an understanding of these practices. Since that time he has formulated hundreds of artists’ paints and materials, including Ceracolors, a waterborne wax paint.
- December 01, 2021 5127
Lead white is the most important white pigment used in painting throughout history. It was known to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and was commonly used in the preparation of ointments and plasters, as well as cosmetics. It was first identified in the literature as a pigment by Pliny, who mentions it, among other colors, as used by the ancients to paint ships...
- December 01, 2021 1525
One of the topics taught at the Painting Best Practices workshops is the optics of paint films. For example, we discuss and demonstrate how light interacts with paint films to create glossy or matte surfaces. Gloss is an observed phenomenon when light is reflected from a surface and thus, to a degree, is a relative effect. When light is reflected in a coherent manner, it creates a specular reflection, which we observe as “gloss”. If the light is scattered it causes diffuse reflection that we observe as “matte”...
- February 19, 2021 2237
Italy is a land of painters and popes, pasta and polenta, and medieval castles and alpine mountains. Most importantly, it is the land of romance. Italy is also a land rich in minerals from which many different colored pigments have historically been used in some of the world’s most important works of art. This article examines a few of the many earth colors available from Italy by Natural Pigments...
- November 21, 2020 5679
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired worldwide for its form, composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of the human form. This article discusses his painting materials, such as supports, grounds, imprimatura, binders, pigments, and his use of glass powder...
- November 19, 2020 4965
Pearlescent pigments are usually mica platelets, synthetic or natural that have been coated with titanium dioxide, iron oxide, or another metal oxide. Platelets of coated mica can vary in size, shape, and thickness. The degree of these characteristics and the thickness of the coating determine the color and appearance of the pigment. Additionally, thickness and the coarseness of the particles determine the sparkle...
- October 29, 2020 1194
Maintaining studio safety is paramount to keeping you, your loved ones, and your pets safe from harm. There are simple yet effective steps you can take to keep yourself healthy regardless of the medium you use. These suggestions may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how easy it is to become forgetful. Here are a few tips to keep your studio safe...
- September 25, 2020 4895
While we do not know why oil painting on copper enjoyed popularity from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, we may be able to provide some reasons based on historical evidence linked to artistic tradition in both the cultural and economic context of the period. This article details the reasons why copper enjoyed brief popularity and may provide the initiative for today’s art renewal and the second renaissance of copper painting...
- September 05, 2020 2285
When we think of Mars, we think of the red planet angrily growling at us in the night sky. Its earthy red color is linked to blood and the Greek god of wars. The planet appears distant and non-threatening to us. But Mars is closer than you think. And it is in more colors than red. Mars is a group of synthetic iron oxide colors in a range from orange-red to violet, yellow, brown, and black. The variations of the iron oxide pigments are distinguished by a color descriptor, i.e., ‘Mars red’. Read the article for the complete story of Mars colors...
- July 29, 2020 279
When making paint, we sometimes encounter surprises. Some are disappointing. Others offer exciting possibilities. This is the latter. Recently a large shipment of lead white pigment arrived at Natural Pigments. We inspected the pigment and accompanying documentation and placed the entire lot in production. That evening production prepared a small batch of lead white number two—our lead white ground in walnut oil. However, the pigment’s color was not white when ground in oil; it was very pale pink...
- March 15, 2020 21816
The age-old advice to wait at least six months before varnishing oil paintings is a good practice but one that many artists resist. And it is understandable why because when a painting is completed, it often needs to be delivered immediately for exhibit or into the customer’s hands. This article reviews the reasons for this advice and determines whether this is true or not...
