Drawing lessons - illustrated lesson notes for teachers and students

The painterly effect a lesson by Virgil Elliott

The 'painterly' style became more popular with John Singer

Sargent, Anders Zorn, and Joachin Sorolla. Sargent actually

worked very hard to achieve the effect that he had dashed

the picture off effortlessly and accurately all at once. Many

passages were scraped out and repainted over and over

again until the desired appearance was accomplished. There

is a certain charm in this type of painting (see opposite), but

its effectiveness depends on the values and colors being

registered extremely accurately, or the result just looks

sloppy. Sargent's eye was precise enough to make it work.

Ironically, he expressed regret, late in life, that he had not

carried his paintings to a higher degree of finish. The main

trick to painting in this manner is to work fast, with large

hog- bristle brushes and large amounts of paint available on

the palette. palette knife can also be used for certain effects.

A somewhat rougher texture canvas works best for this

technique, in my experience. Some subjects are more suited

for this approach than others. It is well for artists to be able

to paint in more than one manner, and to choose whichever

technique best suits the subject at hand.

Regarding impasto highlights, the reason for this is to ensure

that they remain opaque far into the future. Oil paint

becomes more transparent as it ages, and the thinner the

paint, the more transparent it will become. Highlights must

be opaque in order to reflect the light which strikes them in

the same way as it would reflect from the surface depicted.'

Refined Painting - 'The most advanced concepts go beyond words' ... VE

Rembrandt developed the technique

of glazing over dried impasto for a

bas- relief effect, wiping the wet

glaze off the high spots and allowing

it to remain in the nooks and

crannies for a heightened three-

dimensional effect. Used in this

manner, impasto can actually

enhance the illusion of the third

dimension.

http://www.geocities.com/~jlhagan/advanced/painterly.htm (2 of 3)1/13/2004 3:37:03 AM