Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice

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Figure 2. J. M. W. Tumer, Dolbadern Castle, North Wales, 1802. Oil 011 canvas, 1190 X 889 /11111. Courtesy of the

Royal AcadelllY of Arts, LOlldo/l.

textured clouds were painted in pure oil medium; they more resemble a

megilp, a medium discussed in detail later.

Many of Turner's oils are disfigured by wide contraction cracks long associ­

ated with natural bitumen or asphaltum. The paint of Dolbadern Castle is free

of such defects, possibly because the subject did not require the extreme

contrasts between sunny and shaded landscape that Tu rner achieved so effec-

Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice