Page 23 - Artist Materials Advisor

Rublev Colours* artists' paints are made in the United States by Natural Pigments that include Artists' Oils, Watercolors, and painting mediums for use by professional fine artists. Rublev Colours are different from other commercial artists' colors. One reason is we use natural and historical pigments like those used by the old masters. Another is we make them as they did before modern artists' paint manufacturing—without synthetic, modern additives...

Silverpoint was commonly practiced during the Renaissance by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, and Raphael, and is the ancestor of the modern graphite pencil. Silverpoint is a drawing instrument composed of a small, pointed metal tip, usually of silver, encased in a holder...

No paint is known to keep its original color indefinitely. From the moment it is applied, it starts changing color. The only issue is, therefore, the degree to which this color change will take place. The oils and resins used by artists tend to yellow or discolor upon drying and aging. Since oxidation and polymerization are the main actions during this process, we can more or less assume that the oxidized and polymerized molecules are darker in color than the original molecules, and these give yellowing or poor color retention...

Here is a typical recipe to make gouache paint. Gouache consists of water, pigment, and gum binder, the same as watercolor paint. The difference is primarily the addition of a white extender, which creates an opaque water-based paint...

The ground is the paint layer applied to the support to prepare it to receive paint. Paint­ing grounds have several functions; the most essential is to provide a surface favorable to paint application. Grounds also change the absorbency of the support, reduce or enhance its texture, provide a different texture entirely, and create a surface that forms a good bond between the support and the paint layer. The ground is crucial to the durability of the painting. De Mayerne noted as early as the 17th century that quality materials were as essential to the ground layer as to the paint layer...

To create a fresco, it is necessary to understand the process. In buon or true fresco, you paint with pure pigments on wet lime plaster. As the plaster cures, a layer of crystal forms over the pigment, locking it into the surface. The author, assistant to Dego Rivera, discusses the brief history of fresco painting techniques...

There’s a bewildering array of drying oils for oil painting. Where do all the different drying oils come from? How are they different? And how do you choose the right one for your painting...

Gel painting mediums come in a variety of thicknesses and properties, but their primary purpose is to change the consistency or appearance of paint. Think of gel medium as transparent paint so that when added to oil colors, it diminishes the opacity of the color while helping to maintain its consistency. Gel mediums increase the transparency of oil colors without making the paint more fluid, such as when adding drying oil to increase the transparency of a color. This is advantageous when you want a transparent layer of color without making the paint runny...

Formulas for varnishes and mediums call for measurements that are often confusing for artists. For example, in his formula for a glazing medium, Ralph Mayer calls for a “5-pound cut” of dammar (or damar) varnish. How do you know what is a 5-pound cut?

The term balsam has been used to designate the resinous exudate from trees of the order Coniferae, which have also been called resin or turpentine. Balsam is a soft, semi-liquid consisting of terpenes associated with bodies of resinous properties. The balsams most used in varnishes or as paint mediums are Larch balsam (a component of Venice turpentine), Strasbourg turpentine, Canada balsam, and copaiba balsam. Balsams flow easily on a surface and give a lustrous, pleasing quality when applied. However, unless a harder resin is mixed with them, they deteriorate quickly. Here are several formulas incorporating balsams...