1. 7
Painting

2. Learning Objectives
Distinguish the pigment, binder, vehicle, and support in paintings.
Compare the characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of paint media and techniques.
Define terms used to describe painting processes, materials, and effects.
Identify representative works of art to show characteristics of each medium.
Contrast the use of airbrushes and animated pictures to traditional painting techniques.

3. Introduction Gerhard Richter's Abstract Painting
Medium and process of its application impart message
"Art" signifying "painting" for much of the Western world
From the earliest cave paintings with natural pigments to ground pigments in the seventeenth century
High-quality paints in today's world

4. Gerhard Richter. Abstract Painting. 1984. Oil on canvas. 17" × 23-5/8"
Gerhard Richter. Abstract Painting Oil on canvas. 17" × 23-5/8". © the artist. [Fig. 7-1]
Gerhard Richter. Abstract Painting Oil on canvas. 17" × 23-5/8". © the artist. [Fig. 7-1]

5. Ingredients and Surfaces
Three ingredients of all paint
Pigment
Binder
Vehicle
Pigments provide color.
Usually in the form of fine powder
Lita Albuquerque's Wind Painting illustrates its dusty nature.
Must be stable while drying

6. Lita Albuquerque. Wind Painting 01. 08. 12, 1:10:44pm PST. 2012
Lita Albuquerque. Wind Painting , 1:10:44pm PST Pigment on canvas. 72" × 114". Courtesy of the artist and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California. [Fig. 7-2]
Lita Albuquerque. Wind Painting , 1:10:44pm PST Pigment on canvas. 72" × 114". Courtesy of the artist and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California. [Fig. 7-2]

7. Ingredients and Surfaces
Pigments provide color.
Must resist fading over time
Advances in chemical industry in 19th and 20th centuries allowed for synthetic pigments in a range of stable colors.
Binders hold pigment particles together.
Oil paint contains linseed oil.
Tempera paint contains egg yolk.

8. Ingredients and Surfaces
Vehicles make paint a liquid and can be further added for thinning.
Turpentine in oils and water in watercolors
Support
Structure underneath the painting
Must be sealed
Sizing
Followed by a primer for uniform surface

9. Watercolor
Pigments mixed with water as a vehicle and gum arabic as a binder
White rag paper most common support
Requires neither sizing nor priming
A staining technique
Paint applied in thin, translucent washes
Highlights obtained by leaving areas of white paper unpainted
Opaque (nontranslucent) detailing

10. Watercolor Fluid spontaneity suited for outdoor impressions
John Singer Sargent
Notable American watercolorist
Rio de Santa Maria Formosa
Stains and highlights appear spontaneous
Use of dry brush

11. Video: Studio Technique: Watercolor
John Singer Sargent. Rio de Santa Maria Formosa, Venice Watercolor over graphite and pen and ink on wove paper /16" × 19-3/8". Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. Photography by Erik Gould. [Fig. 7-3]
John Singer Sargent. Rio de Santa Maria Formosa, Venice Watercolor over graphite and pen and ink on wove paper /16" × 19-3/8". Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. Photography by Erik Gould. [Fig. 7-3]

12. Watercolor
Gouache
Opaque watercolor with a vehicle that includes fine chalk powder
Common in:
Book illustration of European Middle Ages
Traditional Persian art
Popular for ease of use and low cost
Jacob Lawrence, Going Home from chapter 4

13. Watercolor Chinese watercolor technique Traditional modes
Frequent use of black ink without color, although color may be used
Painting descended from calligraphy
Contemporary modes
Zhang Daqian's landscape painting
Over 6' tall
Borrows style from 12th-century Guo Xi

14. Closer Look: Technique: Ink Painting
Zhang Daqian. Hidden Valley, After Guo Xi Ink and color on paper. 76-1/4" × 40-1/8". Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.: Gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, S [Fig. 7-4]
Zhang Daqian. Hidden Valley, After Guo Xi Ink and color on paper. 76-1/4" × 40-1/8". Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.: Gift of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, S [Fig. 7-4]

15. Fresco True fresco (buon fresco)
Pigments suspended in water applied to damp lime-plaster surface
Most modern frescoes utilize cartoons
Plaster dries quickly
Only the portion that can be painted that day is prepared.
Joints arranged along edges of major shapes

16. Fresco True fresco (buon fresco) Rapid staining process
Lime forms calcium crystals that chemically bind pigment to wall
Durable surface
Best suited to drier climatic zones
Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry
Plaster texture shows through

17. Video: Diego Rivera's Frescoes
Diego Rivera. Detroit Industry (detail). 1932–1933. Fresco. Detroit Institute of Arts, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 7-5]
Diego Rivera. Detroit Industry (detail). 1932–1933. Fresco. Detroit Institute of Arts, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 7-5]

18. Fresco True fresco (buon fresco) Fresco secco
No changes can be made after paint is applied to plaster.
12–14 straight hours for 2 sq. yds
Ideal for large murals
Fresco secco
On finished, dried lime-plaster wall
Tempera paint applied to surface
Often used for retouching

19. Fresco Popular in Renaissance Italy Revival in Mexico in the 1920s
Frescoes favored medium for painting on church walls
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling
Revival in Mexico in the 1920s
Government's support of the arts in public buildings
Detroit Industry a blend of tradition and contemporary subject matter

20. Closer Look: Diego Rivera, Detroit Industry
Diego Rivera. Detroit Industry. 1932–1933. Fresco. Detroit Institute of Arts, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 7-6]
Diego Rivera. Detroit Industry. 1932–1933. Fresco. Detroit Institute of Arts, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 7-6]

21. Forming Art Diego Rivera: Creating Controversy Man at the Crossroads
Contract originally for Rockefeller Center
Depicted Russian Communist leader Lenin clasping hands with laborers
Rockefeller would not compromise
Mural destroyed in NYC
Already 2/3 complete
Use of jackhammers to remove it
Rebuilt in Mexico City

22. Diego Rivera. Archive Photos/Getty Images. [Fig. 7-7]

23. Diego Rivera. Man at the Crossroads. 1934. Fresco. 16' × 37' 6"
Diego Rivera. Man at the Crossroads Fresco. 16' × 37' 6". Museo del Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Banco de Mexico Trust. © 2013 Photo Art Resource/Bob Schalkwijk/Scala, Florence © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 7-8]
Diego Rivera. Man at the Crossroads Fresco. 16' × 37' 6". Museo del Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. Banco de Mexico Trust. © 2013 Photo Art Resource/Bob Schalkwijk/Scala, Florence © 2013 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [Fig. 7-8]

24. Encaustic Pigments suspended in hot beeswax Known to ancient Greeks
Wax as binder and vehicle
Known to ancient Greeks
Flourished in Egypt during Roman colony period
Fayum portraits
Memorials to the deceased
Portrait of a Boy
Temperature control necessary

25. Portrait of a Boy. c. 100–150 CE. Encaustic on wood. 15" × 7-1/2"
Portrait of a Boy. c. 100–150 CE. Encaustic on wood. 15" × 7-1/2". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Edward S. Harkness, Acc.n.: © Image copyright The MoMA/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 7-9]
Portrait of a Boy. c. 100–150 CE. Encaustic on wood. 15" × 7-1/2". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Edward S. Harkness, Acc.n.: © Image copyright The MoMA/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 7-9]

26. Tempera
Egg yolk (binder) mixed equally with pigment and thinned with water
Matte (not shiny) surface when dry
Gesso
Preferred ground for egg tempera
Chalky, water-based liquid
Advantages
Achieving sharp lines and precise details

27. Tempera Disadvantages The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti
Colors change during drying
Difficult to rework and not flexible
Requires pale underpainting
The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti
Botticelli's early Renaissance work
Rich glow from thin layers of paint
Reddish colors

28. Video: Studio Technique: Egg Tempera
Sandro Botticelli. The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti (I) Tempera on panel. 32-1/2" × 54-1/2". Museo Nacional del Prado/Oronoz. [Fig. 7-10]
Sandro Botticelli. The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti (I) Tempera on panel. 32-1/2" × 54-1/2". Museo Nacional del Prado/Oronoz. [Fig. 7-10]

29. Oil Favored medium of Western art for five centuries
Linseed oil recipe perfected by fifteenth century Flemish artists
Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Madonna and Child with the Chancellor Rolin
Gesso-covered wood panel
Used glaze, or transparent film of color
Refined, detailed textures

30. Video: Studio Technique: Making Oil Paint
Discovering Art: Jan van Eyck, Double Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife: Detail 1
Video: Studio Technique: Making Oil Paint
Jan van Eyck. Madonna and child with the Chancellor Rolin. c. 1433–1434. Oil and tempera on panel. 26" × 24-3/8". Louvre Museum, Paris. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 7-11]
Jan van Eyck. Madonna and child with the Chancellor Rolin. c. 1433–1434. Oil and tempera on panel. 26" × 24-3/8". Louvre Museum, Paris. Photograph: akg-images/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 7-11]

31. Oil
Advantages
Provides both increased opacity and, when thinned, greater transparency
Slow drying time
Pigments change little when drying
Flexible
Allows use of canvases

32. Oil Application techniques Impasto Thinned Wet onto wet Wet onto dry
Thick layers
Thinned
Wet onto wet
Direct painting, completed at one sitting
Wet onto dry

33. Oil Tom Wudl's Rembrandt's Indulgence... Small work, 4" by 3"
Direct painting
Impasto near the top of the work
Yellow paint thinned by turpentine
Smoothed brushstrokes in the middle heighten trompe l'oeil quality

34. Video: Studio Technique: Oil Painting
Tom Wudl. Rembrandt's Indulgence was Van Gogh's Dilemma Oil on canvas. 4" × 3". © the artist. [Fig. 7-12]
Tom Wudl. Rembrandt's Indulgence was Van Gogh's Dilemma Oil on canvas. 4" × 3". © the artist. [Fig. 7-12]

35. Oil Joan Mitchell's untitled work More spontaneous approach
Emotional states in abstract visual form
Two canvases unified by:
Colors chosen from two or three segments of the color wheel
Echo in composition
Creates visual rhythm with quick, uniform brushstrokes

36. Joan Mitchell. Untitled. 1987. Oil on canvas. Diptych
Joan Mitchell. Untitled Oil on canvas. Diptych /8" × 157-1/2". Private collection. © Estate of Joan Mitchell. Image courtesy of the Joan Mitchell Foundation and Cheim & Read Gallery, New York. [Fig. 7-13]
Joan Mitchell. Untitled Oil on canvas. Diptych /8" × 157-1/2". Private collection. © Estate of Joan Mitchell. Image courtesy of the Joan Mitchell Foundation and Cheim & Read Gallery, New York. [Fig. 7-13]

37. Acrylic Invented mid-twentieth century Relatively permanent paints
Binder is acrylic polymer (synthetic)
Vehicle, water, more convenient than toxic turpentine
Relatively permanent paints
Rapid drying time
Anne Truitt, Return
Application of layers on flat areas creates rich surface

38. Anne Truitt. Return. 2004. Acrylic on wood. 81" × 8" × 8"
Anne Truitt. Return Acrylic on wood. 81" × 8" × 8". Private Collection/annetruitt.org/The Bridgeman Art Library. [Fig. 7-14]
Anne Truitt. Return Acrylic on wood. 81" × 8" × 8". Private Collection/annetruitt.org/The Bridgeman Art Library. [Fig. 7-14]

39. Contemporary Approaches
Airbrushes
Small-scale paint sprayers capable of projecting fine, controlled mist of paint
Even application without individual brush strokes
Subtle gradations of color
Graffiti artists
Spray cans
Favor quickness of execution

40. Contemporary Approaches
The works of Keltie Ferris
Layers do not necessarily harmonize in color or texture.
Sprayed dots cover more hand-made marks beneath
Jeremy Blake, Sodium Fox
DVD collages combining film footage and stills with hand-painted elements
Dreamlike flow unified by a poem

41. Keltie Ferris. ++++. )))). 2012. Oil, acrylic, and pastel on canvas
Keltie Ferris. ++++****)))) Oil, acrylic, and pastel on canvas. 80" × 100". Mitchell-Innes & Nash. [Fig. 7-12]
Keltie Ferris. ++++****)))) Oil, acrylic, and pastel on canvas. 80" × 100". Mitchell-Innes & Nash. [Fig. 7-12]

42. Jeremy Blake. Sodium Fox. 2005. Still from digital animation
Jeremy Blake. Sodium Fox Still from digital animation. 14-minute continuous loop. Courtesy Kinz + Tillou Fine Art. [Fig. 7-16]
Jeremy Blake. Sodium Fox Still from digital animation. 14-minute continuous loop. Courtesy Kinz + Tillou Fine Art. [Fig. 7-16]