Re: secrets of the masters$$$ pt 1

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Re: secrets of the masters$$$ pt 1

In Reply to: Re: secrets of the masters$$$ pt 1 posted by Ed on 09/12/00 at 11:51 PM:

The cherry gum emulsion glaze of the skirt in the Jewish Bride is an unusual case. The old masters typically acheived their deep reds by glazing plant- or insect-based red dyes (lakes) over a layer of vermilion. This particular glaze uses a carmine lake extracted from Mexican cocheneal lice (which I understand is currently used to give ruby red grapefruit juice its ruby red color). This color is very much like the modern alizarin crimson but weaker. Rembrandt's emulsion allowed him to strengthen the color saturation by applying it in a very thick glaze.
This particular innovation is of less interest today as one can achieve a rich saturation by glazing alizarin crimson over vermilion or cadmium red.

Of more interest is Rembrandt's use of an emulsion white to create textural effects.

I'm not sure how water-soluble colors and water would compare in this respect. A necessary component of an emulsion is the emulagator which isolates the encapsulated drops from each other. In the case of Rembrandt the emulgator could be egg, glue or cherry gum (I believe Bri has used a cherry gum emulsion so perhaps he'll jump in here). Supposing you can achieve the desired textural effects with the water-soluble oils, you would still be missing some of the special qualities of a good emulsion. Rob can explain better his reasons for using an emulsion underpainting. I would guess it has something to do with a requirement for a lean, fast-drying paint. This would help to minimize the buildup of oil and provide a receptive surface for overpainting. For one exploring the textural possiblities of an emulsion, the accelerated drying time is especially important.
An emulsion will also allow you to create cooler whites that are less prone to yellowing and can be applied wet in wet to produce crisp highlights.

I hope I have sold you on emulsions. I don't use them myself because I'm too lazy to prepare them and besides I paint too slow. But that's just me. If I ever become interested in texture I may start out with one of the ready-made whites such as Christian refered to. I don't think I'll bother with water-solubles.

A quick word on Rembrandt's impasto. His use of textures was very deliberate and targeted. To some degree he used texture to mimic the surface of the object he was depicting. To a much greater degree he used texture to enhance the illusion of space in his paintings. The idea is that a textured passage will catch the eye and bring it forward while a flatter, featureless surface will tend to recede.

: Jewish Bride is an emulsion as well, this time of oil with another watery substance than egg; the cavities in the paint must be interpreted as the traces of water drops emulgated in the oil....

: Can it be assumed from this that past masters were able to mix oil paint with water albeit in an emulsion, which give the cavities and is the layer spongy like that found in water mixable oils when dried? This is not a statement just a question.