The Oil Painter's Bible - chapter 6
to paint the clothing, the folds remaining undisturbed for days, or weeks, if necessary. A live sitter would
have to visit the bathroom, eat, sleep, move around, etc., and the folds of the cloth would never be likely
to resume their previous shape after any of these activities. The use of the mannequin may or may not
have been Rembrandt's innovation, but it was, and is, a good idea regardless.
We cannot expect to be able to rival the great genius of Rembrandt merely by following some of his
procedures and using the same tools and materials he used. These are only a small part of his brilliance as
an artist. At the core was his intelligence and artistic sense, his ability to constantly strive to improve upon
what he had already done without losing sight of the original concept for the painting, to devise
techniques, on the spot, which would create the effect he was after. We might hope to achieve the best
results by adopting this same attitude towards our own work, rather than by attempting to reduce the
methods of a great genius whose works we admire to a simple formula and then following it, unthinking.
This is not meant to disparage technique, but to show it in its proper context. The more we know of
technique, the more effects we have at our disposal, to serve our creativity and inspiration in the execution
of our finest conceptions. If there is anything remotely approaching a formula for creating Great Art, it
might be stated as the combination of knowledge and intuition in a single endeavor, plus a lot of work.
This chapter concludes with sections on:
l THE BISTRE METHOD
l THE TECHNIQUE OF WILLIAM ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU
l FRENCH ACADEMIC METHOD
l GENERAL PAINTING TIPS
To place your advance order contact;
Virgil Elliott, APSC, ASPA
111 Goodwin Avenue, Penngrove, California 94951-8660, U.S.A.
Telephone: (707) 664-8198
E-Mail: [email protected]
© 2000 Virgil Elliott. All rights reserved
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