Secrets of the old masters. Techniques and secrets of oil painting

In the new millennium paintings started to resemble 3D movies. The secrets of painting have moved from workshops to the depths of computer technology. The image became in literally alive, simulating colored volumetric reality on a plane. However, the word “canvases” is conditional, because they paint on canvas less and less: artists go out into the street and create on the asphalt, on walls, on people...

Wonderful paintings... using resin

American artist Jessica Dunagan creates colorful underwater paintings. The illusion of volume is created by the technique of applying paint in layers mixed with such a transparent and adhesive material as epoxy resin. Street-painting masters have their own painting secrets: they create illusory objects on asphalt thanks to an excellent knowledge of the basics of perspective, computer graphics and... the same epoxy resin. Chinese artist Wang Xia Xiao took a different path - he creates three-dimensional paintings from superimposed on each other flat images, made on tinted glass. Each artist has his own subtleties of technology, individual preferences to the choice of paints, your ideas, methods, findings. The most important secrets painting = patience + innovation + new materials, putting unprecedented tools in the hands of the master.

New tools

The revolution in painting began with the fact that the colors themselves changed. The usual gouache, watercolor, and oil have moved to make way for acrylic. In general, polymer materials have given many new products to the respectable art of painting and attracted the broad masses to it. Glowing, pearlescent, with sparkles and beads, easy-to-dry paints inspired not only professional artists, but also ordinary people who like to decorate their home. The secrets of painting began to be revealed on websites and in in social networks, encouraging more and more people to be creative. And, of course, one should not discount the achievements computer graphics, which allows you to create a ready-made template, stencil, design a future picture, and then bring it to life.

Special additives to paints - another secret of painting

In many ways wonderful paintings, which you come across every now and then on the Internet, became possible thanks to the emergence and widespread use of special means to improve the properties of paints. Conventionally, these products can be divided into those that change the properties (structure) of paints, and those that do not change the properties of paints, but allow them to maintain their quality longer. The most famous additives: textured pastes, structural gels, fixing varnishes.

1. Fixing varnishes are sold in jars or an aerosol can.

Types of varnishes:

• fir,
• dammar,
• acrylic (matte or glossy),
• retouched.

There are other types. Varnishes are usually applied with a brush after the paint has dried. If the varnish is in an aerosol can, it is sprayed onto the canvas. In addition to varnishes, there are special fixatives for pencil and charcoal, wood oil for sheet iron, and a wax-based fixative for pastel drawings. Many protective products contain ultraviolet light filters. Previously, paintings were extremely vulnerable and required special storage conditions; The secret of painting was not only in the image, but also in the way to preserve this image. Now neither light nor humidity is afraid of paint. By covering the painting with a special product, the artist not only protects it from the sun, moisture and time, but gives the image additional expressive features, for example, a glossy or matting effect.

2. Textured paste helps imitate various materials: stone, wood, clay, glass, metal. Allows you to apply paint in layers, which allows you to create very impressive canvases. A structural gel changes the quality of paint in the direction desired by the artist: it can make the paint more transparent or more durable. Sometimes paste and gel are mixed. Modeling (or contour) gels are very popular for creating a contour and a relief surface. This gel is loved not only by artists, but also by craftswomen involved in scrapbooking, decoupage and other types of home crafts.

3. There are other types of additives: thickeners, thinners, retarders - they (each in their own way) make working with paints more comfortable. There are separate additives for watercolors, gouache, and acrylic paints. They improve the quality of paint, increase its elasticity and brightness. Our store offers artists in Korolev a wide range of pastes, varnishes and gels for creating works of the most different styles and directions.

No one is surprised anymore by the illusion of volume in interior and exterior wall painting. Self-leveling 3D floors are no longer exotic. Body painting has reached such heights that painted live models simply disappear against the backdrop of a forest or desert. Some artists depict non-existent people against the backdrop of the city, others depict cities directly on living people. What is this? Eccentricity? Trying to get attention? Or a new means of expression, a way of understanding the world, colors, textures, the secrets of painting? An attempt to say that the world we see is also an illusion? An illusion at the tip of someone's brush...

This type of paint has been used for more than 3 thousand years - they have been used for centuries in easel painting, were widely used in icon painting. Sarcophagi of the pharaohs ancient egypt painted by them. Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Corraggio used it when writing their works. When oil paints appeared for some time, they became more popular among professional artists, while tempera paints continued to live in folk painting.

Choosing art paper

Art paper is a material with fibers and mineral components. It is created unnaturally, but is able to absorb moisture and paint. The paper that is intended for drawing is impregnated with kerosene or oil, so when wet it practically does not change its appearance. The characteristics and properties of the sheets depend on the composition, type of processing, finishing and other aspects that form the basis of production.

If you would like to take part in the training, please fill out the pre-registration form. We will notify you of the start of the course by email.

Who are the “old masters”? This is the name given to artists, starting with Jan van Eyck, who discovered oil painting for the world and showed its stunning beauty. The painting of the old masters reached its peak in Holland and the Netherlands in XVII century, when hitherto unsurpassed painters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, the “Little Dutchmen” and their followers worked.

IN XVIII century this painting gradually faded away, repressed academic school, and, later, impressionism. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the painting secrets of the old masters had already been lost, and it seemed that they had sunk into oblivion forever.
Many artists of the twentieth century and our time are trying to unravel what painting techniques the “old masters” used to achieve in their works the stunning expressiveness of still lifes, the vitality of portraits and bewitching, almost mystical realism.

Many people know that this technique is based on glazes - the thinnest layers of paint, like filters covering paintings. But to say that this is glaze painting is to say nothing about the technique of work. Indeed, in this painting, the secrets begin with the most seemingly simple and ordinary processes: with the preparation of the canvas, the choice of paints. And if in general the stages of work on a painting are generally known, then the actual secrets and methods of work remain secret.

Arina Daur has been studying the art of old masters for many years, collecting knowledge bit by bit from ancient books, in conversations with restorers, copying masterpieces of the past in museums. She not only unraveled many of the secrets of this painting, but also created a school where everyone can learn this skill.

In the old days, the only school for a novice artist was the practice of copying: the student copied the teacher’s work, learning all the secrets of the craft. And we will do the same.

What will you do on the course? Will you copy the work? Dutch artist Jacob van Hulsdonck. This still life with a jug has become a kind of business card Arina Daur studio. It is by copying this picture that all beginners begin their training here. Despite its small size, this painting provides a chance to learn the basics of the old masters' techniques, conduct research and paint your own "Jug" with all the details of this still life. You will learn how to convey the texture of warm clay and cold metal, the vibrant shine of berries and the mesmerizing shimmer of glass, you will learn how to “immerse” an image in a mysterious haze and show light on objects. This still life, filled with golden light, will become the basis for your success in oil painting.

And it doesn’t matter in what manner you prefer to work, even if you write modern stories, choose unexpected compositional solutions And bright colors to work in the a la prima technique (in one session), the ability to work in the technique of the old masters will give you a huge advantage. Salvador Dali, an artist who cannot be suspected of adherence to antiquity, said this best: “First, learn to draw and write like the old masters, and only then act at your own discretion - and you will be respected.”

For everyone who cannot attend the school of painting by the old masters in St. Petersburg, our online course is intended. And in this video you can find out Arina Daur’s recommendations on which books will be useful on this topic.

Materials and tools

Canvas on a stretcher (fine-grained), primed with water-based or acrylic primer, size 30x40 cm;
. primed cardboard 24x30 cm for making your own palette;
. wooden oval palette for paints (or the one you have);
. double oiler;
. acrylic primer and acrylic paint(ocher or natural sienna);
. polymerized oil;
. dammar varnish;
. "Pinene" odorless or thinner No. 4;

. Brushes:
- No. 1 round for small parts,
- No. 2 or 3 round columns,
- synthetic brush, cut into a corner.

. oil paints "Master class":
1) titanium white;
2) light ocher;
3) red ocher;
4) Mars is orange;
5) ultramarine;
6) Indian yellow;
7) olive;
8) natural umber;
9) dark kraplak;
10) cadmium light red.

There are artists who feel a calling to one type of creativity and are passionate about it all their lives. They reach heights in their chosen direction, but are known in one single role. There are other masters who try many things and improve in several types of art. The world knows them simultaneously as watercolor and stained glass painters, architects and graphic artists, illustrators and sculptors. Arina Daur is just such a versatile artist.

Arina was born in Krasnodar, but already in early childhood ended up in Leningrad. By her own admission, she felt like an artist at the age of four. And from that moment on, creation became the work of life.

Then there were bright years in art school, difficult admission to the school named after V.I. Mukhina in Leningrad, there was a misunderstanding in the Union of Artists and a happy coincidence of circumstances that gave hope of being understood by the viewer and colleagues in the profession. In various complex ways, life led to society recognizing the value of what Arina invested time and effort, knowledge and soul energy into.

As an artist, Arina did many things: she painted finds and earthen walls in the excavations of archaeological expeditions, worked on the creation animated films, was fond of modeling and clay casting. Her creative energy was used in creating dolls and theatrical costumes, in painting and graphics. And inspiration was drawn from the cultural atmosphere of the places where fate led.

One of such iconic places in her life was the Pushkin Mountains, where Arina spent the summer months, “relaxing” while working in the workshop. Here she taught children “all sorts of fine art things”: to work with the special clay of those places, to look for images in the shapeless blots of monotypes. At the same time, I was imbued with the “spirit of the place” and read Pushkin thoroughly. As a result of this immersion, illustrations for the works of Alexander Sergeevich appeared. And in 2012, the novel “Eugene Onegin” was published with drawings by Arina Daur.

A person with a philosophical mindset, Arina tries to comprehend each of her practical experiences, to “take” the topic deeply and broadly, studying the works of her predecessors, establishing connections with various phenomena in the history of culture, and gathering like-minded people around her. When silhouette drawings caught her attention, her own exercises with paper were followed by historical research. And naturally, chance brought Arina together with her descendants famous artist « Silver Age» Elizaveta Kruglikova, engravings, monotypes and silhouette graphics which became a bright page in history Russian art. And in April 2009, Arina organized the Fourth international festival monotype, dedicated to the memory of the famous artist.

Arina Daur knows how to “infect” others with her interest - many. Her sincere passion, goodwill, and understanding of the deep essence of art amaze and attract not only creative people, but also completely non-artists. The energy of human relationships is seething and seething around Arina, and joint efforts produce amazing results. This is how many festivals were organized, including international ones, dedicated to monotype. This technique, which is seriously practiced by professionals, attracted many artists of the past, and simply bewitched Arina. Since childhood, she was attracted by the ability to “get” an image from the colorful chaos. The ability to look and see, multiplied by artistic experience and many years of practice, yielded results: in 2002, at an exhibition at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the name of Arina Daur thundered and became literally a discovery for the European public. “The Queen of Monotype,” as she was presented at this event, inspired by success in foreign countries, thoroughly “immersed” herself in the topic, studying history and finding like-minded people. Exhibitions, master classes, lectures, and the organization of festivals filled the 2000s.

And in 2013, Arina opened her own studio, where she teaches painting techniques of the old masters. And this is not a sudden change of interests, this is another facet of the life of the same person.

Every conversation with Arina reveals her personality from an unknown, often unexpected side: for example, her graduation project - a pottery service for the sailing ship "Nadezhda" of thirty-six items is in the collection of the museum of her native school, which has long since changed its name to its original one - the Academy of Arts and Industry them. A. L. Stieglitz. She also illustrates fairy tales and hosts an author’s program on Radio Russia, talking about artists in the series “Ours for You with a Brush.” Arina's works are in museum collections different countries. The film “A Man Came Out of the House,” in the creation of which she participated as an animator, received a Big Gold Medal at the Baltic Film Festival in 1990. These are just a few bright facts from the artist's biography. She works in different types, techniques and genres of art and captivates others with them. Children and adults learn the main thing in communicating with Arina - the ability to see beauty: in the paintings of old masters and in a black blot on paper. And having seen it once, they remain captivated by the endless process of learning artistic creativity in its most varied manifestations.

Do you want to become creative personality? Watch Arina Daur's lessons.

Works by Arina Daur

Course program

The video course “Technique of the Old Masters” consists of 21 lessons. These are theoretical and practical video lessons with 16 tasks for mastering the material. In each lesson, Arina tells and shows one stage of working on a painting, and you repeat it yourself at a speed convenient for you. Through the feedback form, you show the results to Arina, get answers to questions and move on, mastering the material step by step.

Program:

1 part. Preparatory. Theory. Talk about paints and canvas. Making your own palette. Preparing the canvas. 6 lessons, 3 practical tasks.

Part 2: “Ghost” of the painting. 1 lesson, 1 task.

Part 3: The main stage of writing. 7 lessons, 4 tasks.

Part 4: The pictorial stage of writing. 7 lessons, 8 tasks.

What will you receive at the end of the course? A self-painted copy of a painting using the technique of old masters and a huge amount of knowledge, with the help of which you can create many more copies and independent work using the technique of the old masters.

Required Skills: This course does not require oil painting skills.

Who is this course for? It will suit:

• for those who admire the paintings of the old masters and want to master their working method,
• creators who love to try new things to diversify their skills, to enrich their own writing style.
• and even to beginners in painting who have not yet practiced much or have barely touched their brushes. Don't believe me? Watch a video with students of the St. Petersburg School of Old Masters, in which they talk about themselves and their training in the studio.

Who exactly is this course not suitable for?

Those who do not like the still lifes of the old masters, who are indifferent to the paintings of the small Dutchmen, Rembrandt and Rubens, who are sure that they already know everything and nothing can surprise them.

Your work will be displayed here soon.

Even those masterpieces of painting that seem familiar to us have their secrets. Recently, a strange thing was done in art history and unusual discovery- American student deciphered musical notation, depicted on the buttocks of a sinner from a painting by Bosch. The resulting tune has become one of the Internet sensations of recent times.

Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden" earthly pleasures", 1500-1510.

Fragment of the right side of the triptych.

Disputes about meanings and hidden meanings most famous work of the Dutch artist have not subsided since its appearance. The right wing of the triptych called “Musical Hell” depicts sinners who are tortured in the underworld with the help of musical instruments. One of them has music notes stamped on his buttocks. Oklahoma Christian University student Amelia Hamrick, who studied the painting, translated the 16th-century notation into modern style and recorded “the 500-year-old ass song from hell.”

Nude Mona Lisa

The famous “La Gioconda” exists in two versions: the nude version is called “Monna Vanna”, it was written by little-known artist Salai, who was a student and model of the great Leonardo da Vinci. Many art historians are sure that it was he who was the model for Leonardo’s paintings “John the Baptist” and “Bacchus”. There are also versions that dressed up as women's dress Salai served as the image of the Mona Lisa herself.

In 1902, the Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Csontvary painted the painting “The Old Fisherman”. It would seem that there is nothing unusual in the picture, but Tivadar put into it a subtext that was never revealed during the artist’s lifetime.

Few people thought of placing a mirror in the middle of the picture. In each person there can be both God (the Old Man's right shoulder is duplicated) and the Devil (the Old Man's left shoulder is duplicated).

Doubles at the Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, "The Last Supper", 1495-1498.

When Leonardo da Vinci wrote " last supper", he attached special meaning two figures: Christ and Judas. He spent a very long time looking for models for them. Finally, he managed to find a model for the image of Christ among the young singers. Leonardo was unable to find a model for Judas for three years. But one day he came across a drunkard on the street who was lying in a gutter. He was a young man who had been aged by heavy drinking. Leonardo invited him to a tavern, where he immediately began to paint Judas from him. When the drunkard came to his senses, he told the artist that he had already posed for him once. It was several years ago, when he sang in the church choir, Leonardo painted Christ from him.

The innocent history of "Gothic"

Grant Wood, " American Gothic", 1930.

Grant Wood's work is considered one of the strangest and most depressing in history. American painting. The picture with the gloomy father and daughter is filled with details that indicate the severity, puritanism and retrograde nature of the people depicted. In fact, the artist did not intend to depict any horrors: during a trip to Iowa, he noticed a small house in gothic style and decided to portray those people who, in his opinion, would be ideal as inhabitants. Grant's sister and his dentist are immortalized as the characters Iowans were so offended by.

« The night Watch" or "Daytime"?

Rembrandt, "Night Watch", 1642.

One of the most famous paintings Rembrandt’s “Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg” hung in different rooms for about two hundred years and was discovered by art historians only in the 19th century. Since the figures seemed to be protruding dark background, it was called “Night Watch”, and under this name it entered the treasury of world art. And only during the restoration carried out in 1947, it was discovered that in the hall the painting had managed to become covered with a layer of soot, which distorted its color. After clearing original painting It was finally revealed that the scene presented by Rembrandt actually takes place during the day. The position of the shadow from Captain Kok's left hand shows that the duration of action is no more than 14 hours.

Overturned boat

Henri Matisse, "The Boat", 1937.

At the New York Museum contemporary art in 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" was exhibited. Only after 47 days did someone notice that the painting was hanging upside down. The canvas depicts 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background. The artist painted two sails for a reason; the second sail is a reflection of the first on the surface of the water. In order not to make a mistake in how the picture should hang, you need to pay attention to the details. The larger sail should be the top of the painting, and the peak of the painting's sail should be toward the top right corner.

Deception in self-portrait

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with a Pipe, 1889.

There are legends that Van Gogh allegedly cut off his own ear. Now the most reliable version is that van Gogh damaged his ear in a small brawl involving another artist, Paul Gauguin. The self-portrait is interesting because it reflects reality in a distorted form: the artist is depicted with his right ear bandaged because he used a mirror when working. In fact, it was the left ear that was affected.

Two "Breakfasts on the Grass"

Edouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863.

Claude Monet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1865.

The artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are sometimes confused - after all, they were both French, lived at the same time and worked in the style of impressionism. Monet even borrowed the title of one of Manet’s most famous paintings, “Luncheon on the Grass,” and wrote his own “Luncheon on the Grass.”

Alien bears

Ivan Shishkin, “Morning in Pine forest", 1889.

The famous painting belongs not only to Shishkin. Many artists who were friends with each other often resorted to “the help of a friend,” and Ivan Ivanovich, who painted landscapes all his life, was afraid that his touching bears would not turn out the way he wanted. Therefore, Shishkin turned to his friend, the animal artist Konstantin Savitsky.

Savitsky drew perhaps the best bears in history Russian painting, and Tretyakov ordered his name to be washed off the canvas, since everything in the painting “from the concept to the execution, everything speaks about the manner of painting, about creative method, characteristic of Shishkin."

TECHNIQUES AND SECRETS OF OIL PAINTING

Each artist basically has his own style, so of course they also have their own secrets in painting. But there are also generally accepted techniques for drawing a picture, such as we write what is far away is lighter than what is close.

We have collected just a few secrets that will serve as a basis for you, and maybe help you figure it out in the initial stages.

So, when writing in oils, tools, which will be useful to you are not limited to with brushes! There are also palette knives (universal palette knife- No. 61, 5 cm long, “fish”), fingers, rag! Don't neglect these things - The rag perfectly creates haze, fog, shades paint, and is ideal for painting flowers with your finger and the body, the palette knife will serve you both for mixing paint and when painting clouds (you need to know that during the day clouds are always lighter at the top, and grayer, bluer or pinkish at the bottom), foliage, grass, buildings, tree trunks, water, reflections in water (to create a reflection, you need to vertically press the paint against the canvas with a palette knife, and then use the blade of the same palette knife to drive the paint in front of you with movements reminiscent of a cardiogram), laying paint in a mosaic on the canvas etc. This instrument is simply a godsend and anyone who once gets acquainted with it is unlikely to part with it!

Speaking of mosaics, this type of art dates back to the 2nd half of the 4th millennium BC. e. So naturally works written in this style always look advantageous.

When starting work, you must “cover” everything, or it will also not be superfluous So you are fully armed, you have indicated landmarks - center, diagonals and so on. and when this is behind you already know that the first thing you need to do is not to draw a drawing with a pencil on the canvas (this is sometimes done, but mostly when acrylic painting), A get rid of the “blank canvas”, i.e. use hatching movements to drive the paint into the canvas, having previously provided it with a thinner. The paint substance you apply must be the consistency is similar to sour cream. Next, you should remember that we do not draw the contours of objects in oil painting, but First we write the background, and then what obscures it. Our paint does not dry for approximately 24 hours, i.e. You have a whole day to correct unnoticed mistakes. It's important to remember that the paint must be applied (both with a palette knife and with a brush) in the direction. That is, the road, water, roofs of houses are laid horizontally, walls - vertically, arms - as if in a cylinder, because they are round, etc.

Since we are talking about the body, it is necessary to mention that the body is perfectly drawn with a finger, so you don’t need to draw an outline, but start with the main spots of light and shadow.

And finally about light and shadow! There are several rules, following which your work will sparkle with new colors of feelings:

Of course, this is only a quarter of the key to the door to an exciting and amazing world art, which

Secrets of painting by the old masters
Old oil painting techniques

Flemish writing method oil paints

The Flemish method of painting with oil paints basically boiled down to the following: the drawing was transferred onto the white, smoothly sanded primer from the so-called cardboard (separately made drawing on paper). Then the drawing was outlined and shaded with transparent brown paint (tempera or oil). According to Cennino Cennini, even in this form the paintings looked like perfect works. This technique in its further development changed. The surface prepared for painting was covered with a layer of oil varnish mixed with brown paint, through which the shaded drawing was visible. The pictorial work ended with transparent or translucent glazes or half-body (half-covering), in one step, writing. The brown preparation was left to show through in the shadows. Sometimes for brown preparation they painted with so-called dead paints (gray-blue, gray-greenish), finishing the work with glazes. The Flemish painting method can be easily traced in many of Rubens' works, especially in his studies and sketches, e.g. triumphal arch“The Apotheosis of Duchess Isabella.”

To preserve the beauty of blue paints in oil painting(blue pigments rubbed in oil change their tone), recorded blue paints the places were sprinkled (over the not completely dry layer) with ultramarine or smalt powder, and then these places were covered with a layer of glue and varnish. Oil paintings sometimes glazed with watercolors; To do this, their surface was first wiped with garlic juice.

Italian method of painting with oil paints

The Italians modified the Flemish method, creating a distinctive Italian way of writing. Instead of white ground the Italians made colored; or the white primer was completely covered with some kind of transparent paint. They drew on the gray ground with chalk or charcoal (without resorting to cardboard). The drawing was outlined with brown glue paint, it was also used to lay out shadows and paint dark draperies. Then the entire surface was covered with layers of glue and varnish, after which they painted with oil paints, starting with laying out the lights with white. After that based on the dried bleach preparation, they painted in corpus in local colors; Gray soil was left in partial shade. They finished the painting with glazes.

Later they began to use dark gray primers, performing underpainting with two paints - white and black. Even later, brown, red-brown and even red soils were used. The Italian method of painting was then adopted by some Flemish and Dutch masters(Terborkh, 1617-1681; Metsu, 1629-1667 and others).

Examples of the use of Italian and Flemish methods.

Titian initially painted on white grounds, then switched to colored ones (brown, red, and finally neutral), using impasto underpaintings, which he made in grisaille2. In Titian's method, significant specific gravity purchased the letter in one go, in one go, without subsequent glazes ( Italian name this method alia prima). Rubens mainly worked on Flemish method, greatly simplifying brown shading. He completely covered a white canvas with light brown paint and laid out shadows with the same paint, painted on top with grisaille, then with local tones, or, bypassing the grisaille, painted alia prima. Sometimes Rubens painted in local lighter colors over a brown preparation and finished the painting with glazes. The following, very fair and instructive statement is attributed to Rubens: “Begin to paint your shadows lightly, avoiding introducing into them even an insignificant amount of white: white is the poison of painting and can only be introduced in highlights. Once whitewash disrupts the transparency, golden tone and warmth of your shadows, your painting will no longer be light, but will become heavy and gray. The situation is completely different with regard to lights. Here the paints can be applied body-wise as needed, but it is necessary, however, to keep the tones pure. This is achieved by placing each tone in its place, one next to the other, so that with a slight movement of the brush you can shade them without, however, disturbing the colors themselves. You can then go through such painting with decisive final blows, which are so characteristic of great masters.”

The Flemish master Van Dyck (1599-1641) preferred corpus painting. Rembrandt most often painted on gray ground, working out the forms with transparent brown paint very actively (darkly), and also used glazes. Strokes various colors Rubens applied one next to another, and Rembrandt overlapped some strokes with others.

A technique similar to the Flemish or Italian - on white or colored soils using impasto masonry and glaze - was widely used until mid-19th century. The Russian artist F. M. Matveev (1758-1826) painted on brown ground with underpainting done in grayish tones. V. L. Borovikovsky (1757-1825) underpainted grisaille on a gray ground. K. P. Bryullov also often used gray and other colored primers, and underpainted with grisaille. In the second half of the 19th century, this technique was abandoned and forgotten. Artists began to paint without the strict system of the old masters, thereby narrowing their technical capabilities.

Professor D.I. Kiplik, speaking about the importance of the color of the primer, notes: Painting with wide, flat light and intense colors (such as the works of Roger van der Weyden, Rubens, etc.) requires a white primer; painting, in which deep shadows predominate, uses a dark primer (Caravaggio, Velasquez, etc.).” “A light primer imparts warmth to the paints applied to it in a thin layer, but deprives them of depth; the dark primer imparts depth to the colors; dark soil with a cold tint - cold (Terborkh, Metsu).”

“To create depth of shadows on a light ground, the effect of the white ground on the paints is destroyed by laying out the shadows with dark brown paint (Rembrandt); strong lights on a dark ground are obtained only by eliminating the effect of the dark ground on the paints by applying a sufficient layer of white in the highlights.”

“Intense cold tones on an intense red primer (for example, blue) are obtained only if the action of the red primer is paralyzed by preparation in a cold tone or the cool-colored paint is applied in a thick layer.”

“The most universal color primer is a light gray primer of a neutral tone, since it is equally good for all paints and does not require too impasto painting”1.

Grounds of chromatic colors affect both the lightness of the paintings and their overall color. The influence of the color of the ground in corpus and glaze writing has a different effect. So, green paint, laid as a non-transparent body layer on a red ground, looks especially saturated in its surroundings, but applied with a transparent layer (for example, in watercolor) loses saturation or becomes completely achromatized, since the green light reflected and transmitted by it is absorbed by the red ground.