How do you use painting medium?

[Jeff Fuchs]

When I was in school, I was taught to mix painting medium with the paint on the palette. I have, on occasion, read that medium should be applied to the canvas, then painted over. Yesterday I found a painting demonstration that urged painters to return to the lost technique of applying the medium to the dry canvas (or dry underpainting), and then painting wet on wet into it.

Do any of you use this technique? It seems logical to me. I am not painting yet, but I want to know these things in advance.

Here's the demo:

http://studioproducts.com/demo/demo.html

[Steven Sweeney]

After having been subjected, in training and in the real afterworld, to all manner of recipes for mediums

[Patricia Joyce]

Hi Jeff,

It's been a while since you have posted anything. I thought about you the other day and, "Aha! I bet Jeff is starting to paint and is VERY busy!! " Looks like you are getting closer.

I went to the Cennini Art Forum and saw the article and that there is a video of this type of painting. It sounds very interesting, especially since I struggle to squint and get the masses set before drawing detail. The life drawing and portrait drawing classes are helping me to work from the outside in, buiding detail later in the drawing. This is so against how I taught myself to draw portraits. A kind of starting at square one for me. And at my age!

Nice to see your post, hope to see some drawings you have completed lately as I always enjoy your work.

Following your pencil...
Pat

[Marvin Mattelson]

The subject of mediums is very tricky as alluded to by Steven. Mediums cannot draw, paint or compose. The hand of the artist controlling the brush determines the outcome of the picture.

It's been recently confirmed through rigorous scientific testing that painters before the 18th century used nothing but linseed and walnut oils. No secret mediums were employed. As a result their paintings have fared far better against the ravages of time than did much of the works that followed.

There is a lot of controversy concerning Studio Products and the claims they make. Both pro and con. I would caution against blindly following what manufacturers claim to be THE answer since their prime motivation remains fiscal health.

The other thing I caution against is following rules that contain admonitions such as always and must . There is no right way to apply paint. Any artist that thinks their way of paint application is the only correct way, is mistaken. This is the one area where the individuality of the artist can manifest and helps distinguish inherent uniqueness.

Mediums serve many functions. They alter the drying time of paints (slower and faster). They also can change the consistency of the paint by making it more transparent, translucent, stickier and/or smoother flowing.

Some of what we call mediums are simply just oils added to the paint. Some are combinations of various additions to the oil such as varnishes, synthetic resins, solvents and just about anything else imaginable.

The choices of appropriate pigments can somewhat mitigate their need. For example flake white dries quickly and may not be the best choice to keep a painting open longer. (titanium dries far more slowly).

The idea of painting over a medium can be tricky resulting in a fatter layer. However judiciously rubbing a little oil into dry paint film will decrease the sinking in of darks and allow the paint a little more flow with less drag.

Certain applications such as glazing and scumbling require more medium since the paint needs to be veil-like for these to succeed. Anyone who says that it is wrong to have oil mixed in with the paint has never had the opportunity to create paintings like Bouguereau, who used scumbling to create his luminous flesh.

Keep in mind that too much medium in all of your layers will lead to a much weaker paint film.

The bottom line is figure out what you want to achieve, pick appropriate whites for your technique and keep the KISS philosophy in your mind at all times.

Good luck!

[Linda Brandon]

Jeff, I agree with Messrs. Steven and Marvin - the subject of mediums is fraught with opinion and contention, and it's also easy to get a desired result using any number of methods.

I use Maroger because it enables me to more easlily achieve a luminous tonal effect with subtle edges. I can also throw around some painterly brushwork if I want to, and I usually want to do that - the luminosity AND the painterliness - all in the same painting. (But that's my own taste in painting.)

I apply a thin layer of Maroger every morning before I begin to work, and then I apply another layer of paint, scumbling over the surface. The surface is usually dry the next day and I work over it again and again... . Is this "better" than my alla prima work? To tell you the truth, I don't know for sure, but I have really come to love working this way.

For example, the attached painting reflects at least 15 coats of paint on the face. My paintings are done on panels and I'm not worrying about cracking or layer separation, unless somebody can give me a convincing reason to do so.

"Jolie", 20" x 16", Oil on panel

[Patricia Joyce]

It's so good to have this forum for those of us just beginning our journey into painting. Thank you Steven, Marvin, Linda for your perspectives, it helps me remember there are no secret formulas but many approaches suited to varying tastes and personalities.

Every day is an education for me on this forum.
Thank you!

[Jeff Fuchs]

I had to re-read my post. I never claimed that there was a big secret, although the demonstration I cited claims that the method had been largely abandoned because of the influence of the Impressionists.

All I wanted to know was whether this is a traditional use of medium, and whether anyone here does it that way.

In a parallel universe somewhere, there's a guy posting a question about sight-size painting, only to be chastised by responses urging him to avoid so-called "secrets of the masters".

If I haven't learned it yet, it's still a secret to me.

[Minh Thong]

In a parrallel universe somewhere, there's a guy posting a question about sight-size painting, only to be chastized by responses urging him to avoid so-called "secrets of the masters".

I know how you feel, bro. I haven't had that feeling here yet, thank God/the Buddha/Mohammed. But I have had that feeling other places. I think it's often due to the difficulties in conveying intention/meaning via the written word, and also sometimes due to the rather strong predjudices and opinions many accomplished artists hold.

When I first started drawing in pastel I had someone YELL at me in all caps to "STOP SMUDGING IMMEDIATELY!", as if my children would certainly be born naked, bald-headed, and unable to speak the Queen's English. Artists, I am learning, are an opinionated lot. Not as bad as pilots, who will fist-fight over 'power v.s. pitch'. But still very opinionated.

Most folks mean well, though. And I usually learn much, even when my original question is misconstrued or otherwise unanswered.

Minh

[Michele Rushworth]

The more you read about the use of mediums the more you'll find that there are as many approaches as there are artists.

I trust the input of artists like Virgil Elliott who work with the ASTM, studying longevity of artists materials. He recommends a philosophy of "less is more" with mediums. Fewer extraneous ingredients and less of whatever you do use. He especially cautions against including any varnish in the paint layers which causes dramatic darkening over time (and that includes all the mastic varnish in the Maroger's).

I use paint and a bit of linseed sometimes. That's it. I can paint alla prima, glaze or scumble with different proportions of oil and paint, but either way, I don't use much linseed.

I will sometimes rub a very thin layer of it into any sunken in darks and then wipe much of it off. It does restore the gloss and depth of color in the darks and it allows me to blend wet edges, but I use this technique only once in a while.

[Patricia Joyce]

Jeff,

You are right, the site did imply this was some "great" way to process through a portrait painting. They sucked me in until I read the posts here. Some days (most days, I'll admit) I feel like a boat adrift needing direction.