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Chantal Sulkow · 01-11-2003, 03:33 AM

The copying experience at the Met has a number of guidelines. There is an application process, and the hours are 12-4 Tues to Thurs, avoiding the busy weekend hours. Your set up has to be a certain number of feet away from the painting, you must have a drop cloth, and while working on the painting you must leave it with the education department. (Many of the rules seem to be insurance that you're not trying to create a forgery. )

There is definitely a lot of attention from the museum visitors and tourists. Sometimes huge crowds gather. I've moved backward only to step on people standing behind me! Some people have little concept of personal space and want me to stop working and pose for pictures (I don't!), but most are friendly and considerate. After getting over the intitial nerves about painting in public AND in the Met, I started to enjoy the audience- I also realized the situation can be a business opportunity, and when I copy now, I've just started bringing business cards. The closer to the finish you are, the more people get excited.

Looking at my image now on the screen, there's so much that got lost. In person, the background gradation is much smoother and there's more detail visible in the hat and coat. But that's the nature of reproduction! I also always remind myself that a really strong painting should hold up under any reproduction or viewing situation...something to shoot for.

I do a lot of research when I do a copy- I went to The School of Visual Arts and one of the teachers that I studied with taught portraiture in terms of old master techniques and was with me at the museum when I started copying. I did 2 Rubens copies and I am currently in the middle of a Van Dyck, and I feel that the research I did for those paintings may have been more accurate in terms of technique than for this Rembrandt. What I really want to copy is a Sargent, but the paintings available at the Met are too large (heads too high up) and in an inconvenient area.

The ground I used was an umber wash, and the pallette very basic- titanium white (I don't use lead white because of health reasons), yellow ochre, venetian red, cadmium red (in place of vermillion), alizarin crimson, burnt and raw umbers, and ivory black. I based my research on this painting on information I had on other similar paintings, but found out after there was more accurate research I did not have access to until I was done.

Also, I used a controlled, pre-mixed palette. This is the method I was trained in, and I adapt it to the old master pallette colors.

If you are interested, I can dig up my notes and research sources - for Rembrandt, the Rembrandt Research Project is a big resource, as well as a number of books.

01-11-2003, 03:33 AM	#3
Chantal Sulkow Associate Member Joined: Mar 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 19	Copying at the Met The copying experience at the Met has a number of guidelines. There is an application process, and the hours are 12-4 Tues to Thurs, avoiding the busy weekend hours. Your set up has to be a certain number of feet away from the painting, you must have a drop cloth, and while working on the painting you must leave it with the education department. (Many of the rules seem to be insurance that you're not trying to create a forgery. ) There is definitely a lot of attention from the museum visitors and tourists. Sometimes huge crowds gather. I've moved backward only to step on people standing behind me! Some people have little concept of personal space and want me to stop working and pose for pictures (I don't!), but most are friendly and considerate. After getting over the intitial nerves about painting in public AND in the Met, I started to enjoy the audience- I also realized the situation can be a business opportunity, and when I copy now, I've just started bringing business cards. The closer to the finish you are, the more people get excited. Looking at my image now on the screen, there's so much that got lost. In person, the background gradation is much smoother and there's more detail visible in the hat and coat. But that's the nature of reproduction! I also always remind myself that a really strong painting should hold up under any reproduction or viewing situation...something to shoot for. I do a lot of research when I do a copy- I went to The School of Visual Arts and one of the teachers that I studied with taught portraiture in terms of old master techniques and was with me at the museum when I started copying. I did 2 Rubens copies and I am currently in the middle of a Van Dyck, and I feel that the research I did for those paintings may have been more accurate in terms of technique than for this Rembrandt. What I really want to copy is a Sargent, but the paintings available at the Met are too large (heads too high up) and in an inconvenient area. The ground I used was an umber wash, and the pallette very basic- titanium white (I don't use lead white because of health reasons), yellow ochre, venetian red, cadmium red (in place of vermillion), alizarin crimson, burnt and raw umbers, and ivory black. I based my research on this painting on information I had on other similar paintings, but found out after there was more accurate research I did not have access to until I was done. Also, I used a controlled, pre-mixed palette. This is the method I was trained in, and I adapt it to the old master pallette colors. If you are interested, I can dig up my notes and research sources - for Rembrandt, the Rembrandt Research Project is a big resource, as well as a number of books.