Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

401

painting

RestoRation

Paintings lose their freshness over

the years. Oil paints tend

to turn yellow and crack,

canvases may rot, and

strong light and air

pollution may

damage pictures.

To clean and repair

paintings, highly

skilled picture

restorers use both

modern science

and knowledge

of great artists’

techniques and

the types of paint

they used.

This

colorful

dolphin fresco

is in the queen’s

apartment of the

Minoan palace of

Knossos, in Crete.

BOdy PainTing

For thousands of years, people have used red, yellow,

and brown earth, chalk, and dyes made from plants

and animals to paint designs on their bodies. Some

designs are purely for decoration at special

festivals; others have more significance. Many

tribes painted their bodies with the markings of

the animals they were about to hunt; they

believed this gave them power over their prey.

indian brides traditionally paint beautiful

designs on their hands with a dye made from

WaTercOlOr PainTing the henna plant (above).

The paints used in watercolors are

finely ground pigments bound

with gum arabic, from the

acacia tree. The paint is

mixed with water, and the

gum helps it stick to the

paper. There are two

types of watercolor

painting;

transparent, in

which the white

of the paper

provides a clear

background to the

transparent

colors, and

opaque, in

which

thicker

“gouache”

paints are

used to create opaque

colors on the painting.

Good quality paper is the

best surface on which to

do a watercolor painting.

Poster paints

Acrylic paints—pigments

bound with a synthetic resin—

were developed in the 20th

century. They are popular with

painters because they dry

quickly and can be applied

to almost any surface.

Artists use

large sable

brushes to apply

watercolor

to paper.

Find out more

architecture

color

leonardo da vinci

Painters

renaissance

FreScO PainTing

Fresco painting (meaning “fresh” in

italian) involves brushing pigments

ground in water directly on to the

plaster while it is still wet. This

way the paint is absorbed deep

into the plaster. The painter has

to work very quickly within small

areas. The technique reached its

height during the italian

renaissance; Michelangelo

(1475-1564) took several years

to paint a fresco showing scenes

from the Bible on the ceiling

of the Sistine chapel in rome.

The ancient greeks were expert

fresco painters.

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