Bistre and dry brush…What’s up in the Wednesday Class

Impasto: Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface (or the entire canvas) very thickly, usually thickly enough that the brushor painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides texture, the paint appears to be coming out of the canvas. The word impasto is Italian in origin; in that language it means “dough” or “mixture”; the verb “impastare” translates variously as “to knead”, or “to paste”. Italian usage of “impasto” includes both a painting and a potting technique. According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, the root noun of impasto ispasta, whose primary meaning in Italian is paste.

Russian icons are typically paintings on wood, often small, though some in churches and monasteries may be much larger. Some Russian icons were made of copper.[1] Many religious homes in Russia have icons hanging on the wall in the krasny ugol, the “red” or “beautiful” corner. There is a rich history and elaborate religious symbolism associated with icons. In Russian churches, the nave is typically separated from the sanctuaryby an iconostasis (Russian ikonostas, иконостас), or icon-screen, a wall of icons with double doors in the centre. Russians sometimes speak of an icon as having been “written”, because in the Russian language (like Greek, but unlike English) the same word (pisat’, писать in Russian) means both to paint and to write. Icons are considered to be the Gospel in paint, and therefore careful attention is paid to ensure that the Gospel is faithfully and accurately conveyed. Icons considered miraculous were said to “appear.” The “appearance” (Russian: yavlenie, явление) of an icon is its supposedly miraculous discovery. “A true icon is one that has ‘appeared’, a gift from above, one opening the way to the Prototype and able to perform miracles”.[2]

http://lifeartschool.co.za/why-do-i-need-to-draw-before-i-can-paint/

http://lifeartschool.co.za/step-by-step-tutorial-on-using-the-venetian-method-bistre-or-grisaille-monochromatic-gray-under-painting/

• At this stage a loosely applied, almost dry-brushed application of grey paint is being used to begin the modelling of the form of the girl’s head. 
• It is not clear that Vermeer’s technique involved the use of a black and white under painting (grisaille) like this one, but he more than likely used a monochromatic under painting technique of some kind, perhaps done in a warm brown tone, (or use Burnt Sienna) as was common with the Northern European school of painting at that time. (Also called Bistre)
• 
  

Come join us and learn from established teacher and artist: Leonie.e.Brown.

For more info contact Leonie on: leonie@lifeart.co.za