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Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth
Garth, what's a "velatura"? And how would you say that was different from a glaze or a scumble? Thanks!
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Hi Michele:
My understanding of a velatura or my understanding of a scumble may vary from others in this forum, because I have seen a number of posts that seem to lump the two together as the same technique. I do not have an art dictionary in front of me to back me up, but here is what I think I was taught at PAFA: We all know what a glaze is, usually a somewhat transparent thinned pigment in more medium overlaying a lighter underpainting layer. For me a velatura is treated the same way, except that it is a translucent lighter colored pigment suspended in medium over a darker underpainting layer. Velatura is equated as a "veil", putting an atmospheric haze over the painting. There will be a cooler color temperature shift, varying in degree according to how thick the veil is. One can think of it as the same effect as flakes of cereal in a bowl of milk; the brown flakes suddenly appear blueish as they dip below the milk.
Using only white in a velatura may make the painting more blue than you need. It is amazing to see how one can use a light orange tint (as an extreme warm example) over a darker brown, both being very warm colors, and acheive a sort of cool optical gray effect when covering the darkest values (actually, if the orange is intense enough it will effectively be a cooler chromatic yellow). If this veil is thicker, then it will be more orange than gray. Over white, of course this velatura would then be like an orange glaze. I am not really advocating the use of "orange" in a typical velatura. This is an extreme example, and there are a whole range of subtle possibilities in between. A velatura just may need to be formulated warmer than your target color you are looking for. If a painting becomes too dark and too warm, in its color effect (like mine sometimes do), or the contrast is too strong and jumpy (or too photographic), then a velatura may be the remedy.
For me a scumble can have a similar effect as a velatura, but I think of a scumble as a drier, more opaque consistency of paint being dragged over the texture of the canvas.
Hope this helps!