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Marvin Mattelson · 03-30-2004, 10:19 PM

I wish I could offer up some suggestions here but unfortunately Bouguereau was pretty tight lipped because most of what is written seems to be based on conjecture. No one even knows with any certainty which colors he had on his palette. The only one of his students that was able to closely replicate the quality of his work was his second wife, Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau. So I wouldn't bet the farm on what is written on ARC.

I have read that Bouguereau used glazes, an opinion which I never agreed with. I've probably seen close to one hundred originals and always felt he scumbled and this was how he arrived at the translucency in the skin tones.

Several months ago I had the opportunity to see a badly cleaned Bouguereau which had the top layer removed by a heavy handed restorer. This was bad for the painting but a great opportunity for me to learn about my hero's secrets. The color intensity in his under layer was overstated. It was obviously Bouguereau's finishing technique to scumble over and reduce contrast and intensity.

That very same day I had the opportunity to meet Damian Bartoli who is authoring Bouguereau's catalog raisonne, rumored to be released next year. At any rate, we discussed the aforementioned damaged painting and he agreed with my assessment. It seems the French use the same word to describe both glazing and scumbling and apparently that is the source of much confusion.

With regards to your drawing, there are a lot of nice things going on. The main thing you are missing is the cohesiveness that distinguishes his genius from the works of all others. You are not alone.The problem that most artists have to overcome is keeping the smaller aspects relative to the large planes. You have rendered the smaller areas without considering their location on the ball of the head with relationship to the light source. For example, compare the values on the chin in your drawing with the example posted by Steven.

Unity must always be the goal. I am constantly striving to make my students aware of this very fact.

I hope this helps.

03-30-2004, 10:19 PM	#8
Marvin Mattelson SOG Member FT Professional '04 Merit Award PSA '04 Best Portfolio PSA '03 Honors Artists Magazine '01 Second Prize ASOPA Perm. Collection- Ntl. Portrait Gallery Perm. Collection- Met Leads Workshops Joined: May 2002 Location: Great Neck, NY Posts: 1,093	I wish I could offer up some suggestions here but unfortunately Bouguereau was pretty tight lipped because most of what is written seems to be based on conjecture. No one even knows with any certainty which colors he had on his palette. The only one of his students that was able to closely replicate the quality of his work was his second wife, Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau. So I wouldn't bet the farm on what is written on ARC. I have read that Bouguereau used glazes, an opinion which I never agreed with. I've probably seen close to one hundred originals and always felt he scumbled and this was how he arrived at the translucency in the skin tones. Several months ago I had the opportunity to see a badly cleaned Bouguereau which had the top layer removed by a heavy handed restorer. This was bad for the painting but a great opportunity for me to learn about my hero's secrets. The color intensity in his under layer was overstated. It was obviously Bouguereau's finishing technique to scumble over and reduce contrast and intensity. That very same day I had the opportunity to meet Damian Bartoli who is authoring Bouguereau's catalog raisonne, rumored to be released next year. At any rate, we discussed the aforementioned damaged painting and he agreed with my assessment. It seems the French use the same word to describe both glazing and scumbling and apparently that is the source of much confusion. With regards to your drawing, there are a lot of nice things going on. The main thing you are missing is the cohesiveness that distinguishes his genius from the works of all others. You are not alone.The problem that most artists have to overcome is keeping the smaller aspects relative to the large planes. You have rendered the smaller areas without considering their location on the ball of the head with relationship to the light source. For example, compare the values on the chin in your drawing with the example posted by Steven. Unity must always be the goal. I am constantly striving to make my students aware of this very fact. I hope this helps. __________________ Marvin Mattelson http://www.fineartportrait.com [email protected]