Page 7 - George O'Hanlon

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With the recent surge in popularity of painting on metal, such as aluminum composite material (ACM) and copper, some have questioned its viability regarding the thermal expansion of the metal. When an object is heated or cooled, its length changes by an amount proportional to the original length and the temperature change. This is known as “linear thermal expansion,” or the change in the length of a material.

White pigments consist of natural or synthetic inorganic pigments. Inorganic pigments are easier to disperse in most paint vehicles than organic pigments. Nevertheless, many white pigments undergo treatment to improve their dispersibility, lightfastness, and weather resistance.  White pigments are used for white colors, tinting colors, and covering tones in paint.

The first project of the newly formed Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC) Project Committee on Artists' Materials was “a study of the pigments used in the manufacture of artists' paints as well as the labeling practices used by these manufacturers.” The committee membership and the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) D01.57 subcommittee were virtually identical. It was composed of artists, conservators, analytical chemists and color scientists, and artists' paint manufacturers and their chemists.