Re: Baroque painting technique 326 by doug selway on 02/25/01 at 3:27 PM
Re: Baroque painting technique

In Reply to: Re: Baroque painting technique posted by Sedona on 10/21/00 at 8:47 PM:

A question for art history buffs:
Does anyone know the technique used by baroque artists such as Caravaggio and Guido Reni?
i.e. what color ground did they use?
did they glaze or work wet into wet?
how did they achieve such luminous flesh tones? by letting the ground show through or by
using opaque layers?
any information will be appreciated as I can't seem to find much info on the subject.

: Caravaggio probably used a warm, thin color like burnt umber in a watercolor style to establish his first sitting. He left the color of the ground untouched for the lighter areas and painted the shadows with transparent color diluted with medium. The underlying tone of the canvas would show through the shadows. In the second sitting, he would work into the flesh tones with shades of opaque greys and then model and blend them into the shadow edges, being careful not to paint back into the shadow itself. The shadows would be translucent, and the inner forms would be well blended. In the third sitting, Carvaggio would paint translucent flesh tints over the grey underpainting. He would work suble greys and pinks into the shadow areas for reflected lights. The fouth sitting would be for details, more subtle glazes and tints. The final sitting would be large overall dark glazes, manipulating the shadows and controling the lights.
: I don't know anything about how Guido Reni worked.
: Hope this helps.:)




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Post a Followup 82,83,326"> doug selway"> doug_signapse.co.ukRe: Baroque painting technique_02/25/01 at 3:27 PM"> "Re: Baroque painting technique"
: A question for art history buffsDoes anyone know the technique used by baroque artists such as Caravaggio and Guido Reni? : i.e. what color ground did they use? : did they glaze or work wet into wet? : how did they achieve such luminous flesh tones? by letting the ground show through or by : using opaque layers? : any information will be appreciated as I can't seem to find much info on the subject. Caravaggio probably used a warm, thin color like burnt umber in a watercolor style to establish his first sitting. He left the color of the ground untouched for the lighter areas and painted the shadows with transparent color diluted with medium. The underlying tone of the canvas would show through the shadows. In the second sitting, he would work into the flesh tones with shades of opaque greys and then model and blend them into the shadow edges, being careful not to paint back into the shadow itself. The shadows would be translucent, and the inner forms would be well blended. In the third sitting, Carvaggio would paint translucent flesh tints over the grey underpainting. He would work suble greys and pinks into the shadow areas for reflected lights. The fouth sitting would be for details, more subtle glazes and tints. The final sitting would be large overall dark glazes, manipulating the shadows and controling the lights. I don't know anything about how Guido Reni worked. Hope this helps.:)

 
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