Scumbling along!

Elizabeth Schott · 03-09-2004, 10:42 AM

I decided to post this here instead of the "old masters copies" area to discuss the benefits of scumbling.

After the workshops I have attended, this has been a surprise. I guess it was a matter of time constraints, but other than a touch of demonstration or a quick mentioning, no one has really told me about the true benefits of Scumbling.

Carl has been helping me with a few studies using Bouguereau for reference. Please note the color has actually changed in the images from just my computers, so I will just post and see what we get here. Just think of how great it would be to work from an original.

The image on the left is how this looked after I finished adjusting the drawing and values, pretty much ready to be scrapped so I could move onto a better reference image. But the one on the right shows how much it has changed after 4 hours of scumbling, and more drawing adjustment. I personally think it is amazing how much more subtle the transitions of the values are and the softness of the skin tones are portrayed.

My medium was a mix of double mastic, black walnut oil, stand oil and a touch of English Turp. The colors varied based on the background.

I think a lot of people hold back on working off of the masters paintings; but I have learned so much from this exercise - mainly how subtle the changes are from darks to light, but how much the "change line" is still notable.

Sorry, I have not figured out how to get my attachments in the order I want them; the first is my canvas, the second is the actual Bouguereau and the third shows the scumbling vs the paint only.

Michele Rushworth · 03-09-2004, 11:39 AM

Nice, Beth!

Can you explain how scumbling is done? I'm not sure everyone is familiar with the term.

Kimberly Dow · 03-09-2004, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

Nice, Beth!

Can you explain how scumbling is done? I'm not sure everyone is familiar with the term.

Yes, please explain!

Tom Edgerton · 03-09-2004, 08:18 PM

Scumbling is traditionally thought of as dragging wet paint over dry, or nearly dry. The new layer is straight opaque paint, and not a transparent glaze, which is a different thing.

Scumbling does not always cover what is below entirely--some of the underpainting often shows through. For instance, if you scumble a color over its complement, and just lightly hit the top of the canvas texture, you can get a beautiful misty optical gray that you wouldn't get if you just mixed gray. Burt Silverman is a big fan of these optical mixes, and opened my eyes to them.

Working a new layer over a dry underpainting can use elements of both scumbling and glazing, sometimes at the same time. For instance, I'll glaze to shift a color, and scumble into the glaze with more opaque paint if my glaze gets dirty or I want to adjust it with fuller-bodied paint. Or I'll paint over a dry area with clear medium and scumble into that, though some purists might actually call that a glaze. For me, the two techniques obviously are not exclusive of each other, when painting furiously "in the zone."

I'll leave the semantics debate to the pedagogues.

--TE

Elizabeth Schott · 03-09-2004, 08:31 PM

Thanks Tom, I was hoping a Pro would jump in here.

Michelle and Kim to just add the basics from a non pro in training. scumbling is like glazing with the exception of two things.

From my understanding of what I have read posted by Karin, when you glaze it is usually over an under-painting that is done monochromatic, it also involves using "transparent" colors in a medium(I am not sure if the medium is true).

To scumble, you are usually working on a painting which is to a certain point, colors and all. You add an opaque paint, or transparent if that is what color is called for, and by using a medium to thin the paint; some use cold press linseed or a mix of their choice to thinly paint over the areas you want to work with. I made sure the color just barely showed through the medium.

Kimberly Dow · 03-09-2004, 09:50 PM

Ah, ok. Thank you for explaining Tom & Beth. I've been using this technique all along and did not know it.

Tom Edgerton · 03-09-2004, 10:43 PM

Beth--

Almost, but to me it's not whether your underpainting is monochromatic or colored, it's whether your new wet layer is transparent (glaze) or opaque (scumbling).

But again, anything further from me is putting too fine a semantic point on it.

Best--TE

(Nice skin tones on your Bouguereau exercise, by the way.)

Terri Ficenec · 03-10-2004, 01:46 PM

How does Fat over Lean work with this?

Just started doing this with my last painting but am wondering if this is the right way. I've been painting with cold-pressed linseed oil very thinly (stretching it out, then brushing off any excess) on top of a (dry) section of painting then painting into that linseed oil either thinly/transparently like a glaze or more thickly/opaquely like a scumble- and probably in-between like translucent too. I'm not using anything but the linseed oil and the paints. Its really easy to get nice soft blends this way, or alter colors. It's been fun.

But is this the right way to do this?

Is the glaze/scumble layer then really 'fat'.... And how do you make sure that the next layer is as fat or fatter? How long does a glaze layer like this need to dry before you put another layer over it (it seems to go through a time where it's kind of tacky and it's not a good time to mess with it)? If it's dry to the touch - is that enough? And can you only paint more 'glaze' type layers over it? Is it OK to 'scumble' over an area that was previously glazed (like if you need to make a correction)? Or would the scumble be leaner than the glaze?

I've been painting additional 'oiled-in' layers over top once the layer below is dry to the touch... is this sound? I'm loving this, but don't want to be abusing the technique!

Tom Edgerton · 03-10-2004, 08:28 PM

Quote:

But is this the right way to do this?

Is the glaze/scumble layer then really 'fat'.... And how do you make sure that the next layer is as fat or fatter? How long does a glaze layer like this need to dry before you put another layer over it (it seems to go through a time where it's kind of tacky and it's not a good time to mess with it)? If it's dry to the touch - is that enough? And can you only paint more 'glaze' type layers over it? Is it OK to 'scumble' over an area that was previously glazed (like if you need to make a correction)? Or would the scumble be leaner than the glaze?

I've been painting additional 'oiled-in' layers over top once the layer below is dry to the touch... is this sound? I'm loving this, but don't want to be abusing the technique!

Terri--

Fat over lean is the ideal, but it's also the thing oil painters obsess over WAY too much. Oil painting is a very muscular, forgiving medium, and will take a lot of experimentation and idiosyncratic technique before imploding on you. So don't worry so much. As Mr. Silverman once said in a demo, "Concentrate more on making better art...If it's good, somebody will be around later to take care of it."

"Oiling out" is a legitimate technique, but the key is not to let the applied oil get too soupy. Wipe on a LIGHT layer with a clean, lint-free cloth. Old tee shirts are great. You can then scumble or glaze to your heart's content. Of course you can scumble over a dry glaze, and vice versa. If the underlying layer is too tacky to work wet-in-wet, it's better to let it dry to touch before working over it, as working over tacky or sticky paint will cause it to wrinkle. (Experience will teach you when something is really dry or only skinned-over.) Then either jump in again, as I do, or oil out and proceed as you wish.

Again, oils are very forgiving of individual technique--it's not rocket science or high-level chemistry, more a product of experimentation, experience and intuition. You don't have to feel as if you're walking on eggshells. But for a well-rounded view, read previous posts on oiling out to get a wide range of opinions.

Best--TE

Terri Ficenec · 03-10-2004, 11:37 PM

Tom - Thanks! I do tend toward worrying too much about things... it does help to get some reassurance!

And Beth, thanks for bringing up the topic... What a difference the scumbling has made in your two images above! The color shift between your 'before' and 'during' photos was a result of the glazing/scumbling (rather than an artifact of lighting in the photos), yes?