Transferring Images to Prepared Panels for Painting
Table of Contents
Date and Time:
2016.02.25, 3:30pm
Location: Making and Knowing LabSubject: Two methods for transferring images
Following early modern descriptions as reported in Erma Hermens's instructions, we used two methods to reproduce images (using printouts of early modern paintings as source images) on the prepared panels.
Method 1: Pouncing
- trace the desired image onto a piece of tracing paper
- dock the paper with a thick needle along all lines that are needed to convey the image
- secure the image to the panel, and, using a wadded up piece of fabric, firmly tamp charcoal dust into the holes
- carefully remove the tracing paper, and paint over the charcoal dotted lines with a distemper paint in yellow ochre
Method 2: Carbon Paper
- transfer the image to a piece of paper (or use a copy of the image)
- rub the back of the paper with charcoal or charcoal dust, and tap the paper to remove excess
- secure the paper to the panel, with the charcoal side down
- trace the image with a stylus or pencil, making sure not to lean on the paper
- carefully remove the carbon paper, and paint over the carbon lines with oil paint in yellow ochre
Name: Robin Reich and Sophie Pitman
Date and Time:
2016.02.29, 1:00pm
Location: Making and Knowing LabSubject: Painting skin tones
We wanted to text the method the manuscript describes for painting skin tones, so we selected on half of our portrait's face (the left side, which was less shadowy). The manuscript instructed us to lay down three layers: a shadow layer, a base skin tone, and a ruddy accent. We decided to do this portrait in distemper, so we mixed all the pigments with small amounts of water and rabbit skin glue.
We first mixed a shadow color, combining iron oxide and a small amount of sap green. This resulted in a pretty good color, although we used too much water, so the pigment did not spread well when we used it to fill in the background. We mixed the paint in a glass beaker, using a wooden dowel to break up the pigments and a paintbrush to mix the paint. We then set the beaker in a metal can with hot water to keep the glue from seizing up. We used this shadow sparingly, applying it with a small brush, just in places that appeared visibly darker in the original painting, although we realized later on that we could have laid this layer on much more extensively, as became clear when we applied the ruddy accent. The distemper paint dries within a few minutes, so we were able to move onto the next layer almost immediately.
The skin tone layer was mostly chalk, a little yellow ochre, and a tiny amount of sap green. The manuscript instructs that this color should include some venice red, but we chose not to include this because the original painting we were using as a model has very sallow skin. We used less water and more rabbit skin glue than before. We mixed and used the paint as before, although this time we covered every part of the face, overlapping the portions we had already covered with the shadow layer. This mellowed the shadow substantially, but it still showed through to nice effect. The skin layer initially appeared very yellow, but as it dried the color settled to a more grayish tone. The paint itself also dried almost immediately in the beaker, and once it did we could only apply it by wetting it with the hot water it was sitting in. We think this was due to the chalk, although we initially thought it was the rabbit skin glue. We think this layer could have been mixed with only a small amount of chalk and considerably more yellow and green.
The third layer was a similar composition to the second, this time with a small amount of red that colored the paint a dusty rose color that was, again, a fairly good match for the original painting. We used less rabbit skin glue than before, not realizing that the drying of the paint was due to the chalk. We applied this layer as an accent on the cheeks, and then in a few other small places, such as the line of the upper eyelid. When we did this, the ruddy accent color was siting on top of where the shadow layer had been, and the two colors together created a really nice shadow effect - if we had realized this when we put down the shadow layer, we would have put the shadow over most of the face and gone over it with the accent color in areas we really wanted it to look shadowy. We also realized that we should have applied the shadow in more of a hatch pattern, rather than large strokes, because the result was large regions of pink, rather than pink accents. This was difficult because of the size of the painting compared to the brush, but perhaps we could find a way to do this in the future. This layer could also have done with considerably less chalk in the mixture, both because of the rapid drying and because the color faded substantially as it dried.
When we finished with the three layers, the face still looked flat and incomplete and we have a few thoughts as to why:
1) The amount of chalk in the paints dulled the colors considerably
2) The manuscript instructs us to wet the painting surface, which we did not do
3) The color may have appeared more dynamic if we had applied the shadow more liberally and the accent more sparingly
4) The manuscript seems to suggest that we should have gone back over the top layers with the shadow color to bring out the shadows again
We conclude from this that we could have read the manuscript's instructions more carefully before beginning to paint. We also could have done test panels with the paints to test how they would appear on the board and how they would dry.
Thoughts about timing and action: this is a fast moving process - the paint dries quickly if not kept very warm and well stirred, so the painter needs to know what he or she is doing, and work fast.
Name: Sophie Pitman
Date and Time:
2016.March.2, 10:30am
Location: Making and Knowing LabSubject: Second Attempt, shadow layer
Having shown Erma our first attempt via Skype, she recommended we do the right side of the face (the side we left blank) following the manuscript instructions more closely and using our experience from the first attempt to refine our pigments and practices. We decided to leave the side we have already done as is so we can compare the two attempts.
As we could not visit the lab at the same time, Sophie started on the shadow layer, following Erma's advice to be bolder with the use of this initial pigment. We blended a mixture of chalk, Bavarian green (in the absence of sap green), iron oxide, and a small amount of yellow ochre with rabbit skin glue, and applied this in thin strokes over large areas of the face - anywhere with depth. In true early modern workshop style, Robin will add the next layers on her visit to the lab.
Thoughts about the process: it struck me that I really had to think about the three-dimensionality of the painting, anticipating the subsequent layers of pigment, as I worked. I am not used to thinking about painting in this way, and found it a real test of looking at the image repeatedly, re-reading the manuscript instructions, and watching the paint dry and change tone and depth.
Name: Robin Reich
Date and Time:
2016.March.3, 4:00pm
Location: Making and Knowing LabSubject: Final layer
I (Robin) went back to the lab to lay down the skin tone layer on the base layers Sophie had done, and based on our thoughts from our first attempt, experimented with the other side of the face.
This second lab trip gave me the opportunity to experiment with painting methods. In order to keep the paint fluid enough, I placed the glass mixing dish over a pot filled with boiling water. I put the pigments on the plate in separate piles, along with a portion of hot water and rabbit skin glue, each in their own pile. I also used a portion of a leftover skin layer that someone had made previously and left in the lab. The hot dish method reconstituted the saved paint almost immediately - it softened from gelatinous to liquid in just a minute with some slight mashing with a palette knife. I found that this color was a little too dark, but used it on the darker portions of the face anyway. I then mixed a new color with the same pigments as before (chalk, ochre, and green earth), and kept the consistency very liquidy to lay down a progressively less transparent layer. I then adjusted the tone of the color once it was on the panel by mixing a color that was mostly chalk white with a small amount of the flesh tone, and used this to lighten up areas that had become too dark. I found that I could add water or glue to the paint once it had already been laid on the panel and this would enable me to spread the color more evenly. Perhaps this is what the manuscript meant when it instructs the painter to wet the canvas in advance of painting? Because I used considerably less chalk this time, the colors did not lighten much as they dried.