The Oil Painter's Bible - chapter 6
warm tonality, in which context greys made with Ivory Black and white appear to be blue. Greens are
made from yellow and black, or yellow, black, and white, and violets are mixed from black and red, or
black, red, and white. An automatic unity is thus achieved, as the cool colors produced in these mixtures
are low in chroma, and cannot disrupt the harmony of the warm dominance. The palette is then expanded
gradually, as the student becomes familiar with the limited palette, by the addition of Burnt Sienna, Raw
Umber, and Cadmium Red, Light. At the appropriate point, Ultramarine Blue is added, and so on, so that
no lesson overwhelms the student with too much to learn at once.
It must be stressed repeatedly during the early sketch sessions in oils that only the big shapes should
be painted, and large brushes used exclusively. No detail should be attempted until the student is able to
judge the correct value, color, shape, and relative proportions of the large shapes of shadow and light
accurately. By then, the powers of observation will have been developed highly enough that the rendering
of detail will be easier, and, hopefully, bad habits will have been unlearned. By this method of learning,
one gains the necessary skills for painting well in oils, in any technique.
The Direct Painting Technique is the one most widely used in modern times. The vast range of
pigments available today has, in great measure, narrowed the gap between what is possible with it and
with the Venetian Technique. It is also possible to modify the Direct Painting Technique by finishing off
with glazes and/or scumbles after the painting is dry, but it then ceases to be direct painting. Some styles
of Direct Painting owe their appeal to the painterly looseness obtained when painting very quickly with
large brushes. For this type of painting, superimposition of glazes and scumbles would in most cases be
inappropriate. In practice, the boundaries between techniques become blurred as artists combine elements
of more than one method in pursuit of the desired effect. This is how new techniques are born.
INNOVATIONS OF REMBRANDT
Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn, whom many consider the greatest artist of all time, learned all
that was then known about oil painting while still a very young man, surpassing his teachers very early in
his career, and then proceeded to add his own discoveries to the technical knowledge of his time. To this
day his best works remain unsurpassed, and serve as inspiration to the rest of us who paint. This being the
case, any book on advanced techniques must address Rembrandt separately and at such length as the
author's knowledge allows.
What technical information Rembrandt
was taught may be discerned by studying
the works of his instructors, Jacob
Isaacxszoon Van Swanenburch and Pieter
Lastmann. Such study also immediately
shows the genius of Rembrandt by the
extent to which he so obviously surpassed
them both, and in how early in his career
he did so. Nonetheless, his training under
them was an important factor in his
artistic development, and should not be
minimized. Both teachers seem to have
possessed a working knowledge of the
painting methods in use at that time,
which Rembrandt learned from them.
This would include the Flemish
Technique, the Venetian Technique, and
the Direct Painting Technique. Various
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