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 The research on this site began eight years ago when I realized that a working knowledge of the older craft had to be built from the foundation up.
If you'd like more information about the work...
If you have a technical question related to the material here...
If the translation ends up making no sense...
If you're interested in traditional materials and making them yourself...
Feel absolutely free to email
me, and I'll happily write you back. Please don't be concerned about English, it's undoubtedly better than my version of your language. I love to hear from other, almost undoubtedly more civilized, parts of the world. If you don't hear from me, it's because I didn't get your e-mail. There have been a few issues with mail to and from Europe.
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| frequently asked questions |
After almost a decade of active research into the materials, the method of making paintings I feel best about uses the putty medium on panels. This proven 17th Century method allows for an incredible variety of stable techniques -- especially on panel -- and a solvent-free work environment.
Download a printer friendly pdf about Sound Practice here.
An extensive pdf file about the process of refining linseed oil is here. This is all text, no photos, for printing out to use in the studio, contains everything I've learned. At fifteen pages, this is more than the total written in all 20th Century manuals in English on refining the oil.
The single most important thing to keep in mind is that the old method is not accessible via the rules of the modern method, the systems are too different. The putty medium can be used to create a bridge via a strong OM style "blank" paint to strengthen weak modern paint. However, a putty is only as good as the oil involved. Therefore, even when using this bridge, the functional difference is a high quality oil that is painter refined.
So if you're interested in the proven foundation of the older method, or are willing to actually read just one text, please consider this one.
What about solvent-free painting methods? To get a pdf detailing solvent-free methods of traditional oil painting used on this site, click here.
With regard to the materials, who is really telling the truth? There are many different levels of experience and understanding within the craft, and, as such, many different types or compartments of truth. The truth of modern science with regard to the materials and the truth of a working 17th Century painter are two very different things. The laboratory tends towards the black and white of analytical abstraction, the working painter towards a conditional, experiential model with many shades of gray. It is always best to be wary of the often quite selective evidence presented by someone who is selling something, but especially -- given the current level of commercial integrity -- if this evidence is touted as "scientific" and therefore intrinsically beyond reasonable doubt. Science is often too eager to claim that dissection and comprehension are the same thing, when in life, as in art, the whole is always more than the sum of its parts. While science can provide guidelines, is not possible to substitute science for actual experience with the materials. As much as certain individuals seem to be trying.
What about the Maroger Medium, or meglip, a gel made from mastic and leaded oil. The short answer is to avoid it and use a silica gel instead, but if you're interested in the longer answer it's on a page called sound practice. I don't recommend Maroger's book as a source of information, at this remove it is obviously synthetic and largely based on information in Merimee and De Mayerne.
Another frequent question is about the relevance of the fat over lean principle to the new old master painting that is forming these days. The structural rule of painting fat over lean is very important if raw oil is used with raw oil tube paint, or with dammar and stand oil in the standard 20th Century academic system. It becomes increasingly less important the more the oil used to make the paint and medium is modified in the ways that are standard from sources such as the De Mayerne Manuscript and the findings in the National Gallery Technical Bulletins. This is because these methods -- principally pre-heating the oil, and introducing lead salts into the oil -- produce oil which is stronger, more flexible, and significantly less volatile in it's drying characteristics. Another great addition for long term stability is the addition of calcium carbonate to the paint through the use of the putty medium.
Beeswax is often recommended as an addition to a medium or to handmade paint in very small amounts. This is an example of an area where something might work with one type of method but not with another: beeswax was not part of older painting practice in terms of the literature and no older paint film that's been analyzed contains beeswax to my knowledge. Beeswax does act as a natural emulsifier but also creates a softer paint film. It should not be used in conjunction with a leaded oil, the resulting paint film can soften significantly in warmer weather.
Information on making a thick cold leaded oil as a northern climate alternative to sun oil is here.
There's a tutorial about the putty medium here.
General formulas are here, and a techniques index page is here.
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If you're interested in a particular painting just send me the thumbnail from the site and I'll send you a larger and higher resolution image to review.
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After seven years of ever-increasing size and bandwidth the site now accepts donations via Pay-Pal. This service can use any major credit card or an existing Pay-Pal account. Donations can be in any small amount and will help the site continue to grow. Thanks very much for supporting the process!
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Numenist, anachronist, maroon.