Hannah and Her Sisters

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Linda:

I

[Linda Ciallelo]

Thank you so much for your wonderfully detailed reply. I have so many questions for you , I don't know where to start.

I know exactly what you mean about the burnt umber / ultra blue covered by thin layers of white. That's what I used to do when I painted with egg tempera years ago. I am relatively new to oil and have been trying to learn, over the web ,how to use it. I spent the last couple years at another forum and think that I might have accumulated some misinformation.

How do you make your layers of white thin enough to see through? There are so many opinions about this that I hesitate even to ask for fear of causing controversy.

I have tried many mediums and at present like none better than unrefined walnut oil (no solvent added)with a little lead napthante. (2 ml liquid lead to two ounces of walnut oil)

I would be very excited to be able to use the system that I originally used with egg tempera, now, with oil paint. That would be a system of transparent layers similiar to what you described. So far I have been warned against there being any possibility of doing this because I have been told that there is no safe way to use the paint that thin, unless you put it on thickly and wipe it off. Perhaps this is how you get your thin whites. I will go look at your web site. Thank you so much.

[Linda Ciallelo]

Ok, I just looked at your web page and this is definitely what I have been looking for. This is my natural style because of my egg tempera background. BUT..... you keep saying "transparent" layers. I must find out how you make your layers transparent. The most logical assumption being that you thin the paint with oil enough so that light and color will shine through it. I have been told that thinning the paint to this degree with oil will weaken the paint film. I have been seeing paintings everywhere, both old and new, that appear to be layers of thin oil rich paint, and yet I keep being told that this is not what I'm seeing.

Perhaps I should just try it and see what happens. Burnt umber and ultra blue would dry quickly because of the umber. Flake white will give you good transparency, as will Zinc. Zinc white is cooler I believe. In your illustrations your burnt umber appears quite reddish. I would imagine that this might work with ultra blue and burnt sienna as well.

I have been hearing about "the dead layer". Would the white layer be considered " the dead layer". I have heard others talk about "optical grays" but with out ever knowing what was used to thin the paint enough to do it. I am guessing more and more that the person that told me that I couldn't do it, was incorrect. Thank you so much, this is fascinating.

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Linda:

You

[Linda Ciallelo]

Thank you very much. I have started a test underpainting in burnt umber last night, 8 hours ago, using walnut oil with a little lead napthante in it for my medium. It is completely dry this morning(8 hours later).I will use some transparent flake white that I have for the white over painting. Lead will not hurt you unless you eat it or layer it onto your skin or sand it when dry and breath in the dust. Lead white is very good and I have some that has been made with calcium carbonate(I hope thats right)added to it, so it is even more transparent.

I have been painting with different mediums (watercolor, egg tempera, pastel, ink, colored pencil) for 40 years. There isn't anyone near here that teaches anything like that. I have seen videos and read much about the "technique mixe" method of layering. There is a Russian artist on the web that has a demo on his site about this. It seems that each artist has a different version of exactly how the layers should be applied. His name is Alexi Anotov.

I will do a WIP and post it here in a few weeks. Our Thansgiving is tomorrow, and I'm the mother, so I must cook.

The main thing is that the paint needs to be transparent. It all depends on the amount of oil in the paint. It depends on what brand of paint you use and how much oil has been used in it's making.

I am amazed that my underpainting that I did last night, highly diluted with walnut oil/ lead napthante(no solvents) is absolutely dry this morning. The layers will be easy to do like this. This dries faster than Liquin, and it dries shiny. Let's see if the next layer will adhere.

[Linda Ciallelo]

I have started to apply the white to my underpainting. I see what you mean about it being transparent. The white sinks right down after it dries a few minutes.This is what I have now. I will wait for this to dry and bring it up. This is just a little 9x12 thing that I started 8 hours ago, just for experimental purposes.

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Linda:

You didn't post a reference photo so I can't evaluate what your doing in any depth. I would focus on the highest values at this point. You can use your flake white, I would use titanium, and slowly build up those areas the light strikes directly. Values are a relative thing so if you high up one area, the half tones and shadows will need to come up as well.

At a certain point you can paint very thickly and let the brush work show. Make sure everything is dry or you'll lift off the paint layer. Nice to see how quickly you set this up.

[Linda Ciallelo]

Dear Scott,
Thanks for your reply. Here is the reference photo. I just grabbed one form the pile. The model is backlit with her face in the shadow, not an ideal portrait, but I just wanted to get the feel of layering with transparents using this method. I would use flake white instead of the zinc, since I have no zinc , but I will use titanium/ zinc mix for the high lights(since I have no titanium). I should have used plain flake white rather than the transparent flake white, which has almost disappeared altogether. The burnt umber did not come up at all, even though I scrubbed the white over it. I appreciate your help. We'll see how long this takes to dry.

With egg tempera all of the paint is translucent, so layering is the only way you can go.

[Linda Ciallelo]

Scott, I am so excited, this system has tremendous potential. I started this 16x20 on an old panel that was covered with ochre. Ordinarily I paint on pale olive green. I used just burnt umber with lots of walnut oil/ lead for the under paint /drawing yesterday, then when dry went over it roughly with white. It has the effect of immediate solidification. I had redone the face this morning and tried to go over it with white too soon, so it wasn't yet dry. As you can see I am running ahead because I didn't want to wait to see what would happen. This is definitely a good way to start paintings.
Thanks so much for the excellent idea.

[Scott Bartner]

Dear Linda:

One thing I would suggest is not to rush a portrait because you