Page 16 - George O'Hanlon

Unsized paper is called “waterleaf” paper. It is usually composed of hydrophilic cellulose fibers, meaning they ‘love water.’ This is a good quality while the paper is being made, but it can lead to unfortunate consequences once the paper is made. The extreme porosity of an untreated sheet of paper means that printing or drawing inks and water-based paints will soak into the paper spreading quickly and randomly. This is called ‘bleedthrough.’ Sizing retards some of the paper’s absorbency.

During the history of Art, from the earliest times to the present day, certain pigments have remained common to the artists' palette, and while some have dropped out of use, others have been added. Although a great deal of information on the subject has been collected from the examination of old records and, in addition, by the occasional analysis of the actual pigments used, the whole subject seems to me to be deserving of a more exact inquiry than it has as yet received.

The art of Lala Ragimov is inspired by the beauty and sensuality of her subjects, that range from great opera voices to nudes and fruit. The artist was born in Moscow. In childhood, she studied art from the works of great painters in museums and from books and nature. Through art school and after graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree from California State University Long Beach, she has continually researched the techniques of Flemish Baroque and Venetian Renaissance painters through conservation journals and restoration papers. She is dedicated to using those techniques, materials, and ideals in her work.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (born 1571, Milan or Caravaggio; died 18 July 1610, Porto Ercole) was the most radical painter in post-Tridentine Italy. In his religious and mythological compositions, he mocked classical Roman tradition by depicting his models in an unidealized, naturalistic style.

Since the introduction of the collapsible tube over 170 years ago, manufactured artists’ oil paint has changed the way artists work. Artists no longer must laboriously grind pigment in oil to make paint. With this change also came greater uniformity in oil paint. Let’s face it; the composition of oil color is pretty simple. Generally, only three items are used in a modern oil color formula. They are the pigment, the oil, and a stabilizer (typically aluminum stearate). And as more and more pigments manufactured by large industrial companies find their way into artists’ oil colors, the last differences also disappear.

Purifying natural ultramarine requires more operations than grinding, washing and sieving the mineral. Here are several resources on the method described by Cennino Cennini in his famous treatise Il libro dell'arte.

The palette is one of the most essential tools in the history of oil painting, and its effect is one of the most minor studied aspects in art history. Setting the palette has a significant history; its development is relatively easy to trace in pictures of artists at work. The use of a set, limited palette, a portable surface upon which colors are arranged according to their tonal value, and its implications in painting is the subject of a lecture by George O’Hanlon, Technical Director of Natural Pigments. The first part of the lecture is featured in this article.

Rublev Colours Stack Process White Lead is made in small amounts according to the 16th-century Dutch method, differing little from the historical “stack process.” It is a basic carbonate of lead and usually contains about 70% lead carbonate and 30% lead hydroxide. This grade of white lead is composed of the actual flakes that fall off the corroded lead coils of the stack process and the white lead that is mechanically removed. It is washed and ground, ready to be mixed with a paint binder.

Instacoll is a size (adhesive) for high-gloss, weather-resistant exterior, and interior gilding. It can be used on nearly all substrates prepared using standard methods to create weather-resistant surfaces.

Vermilion and cinnabar are historical pigments of red mercuric sulfide (HgS). The former is the artificial mineral pigment, whereas the latter, cinnabar, is the mineral found in nature. Their hues and undertones are unmatched by any modern equivalent pigments, such as cadmium red.