ART 524b
Materials and Techniques Seminar
Mark Aronson
Chief Painting Conservator
Yale Center for British Art
203 432 2805
mark.aronson@yale.edu
This class is meant to be an opportunity to learn and teach each other “stuff” about painting materials and techniques, mostly traditional. The classes will be divided between demonstrations and recipe making (cooking), making paintings (tasting) and discussing materials (critique).
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. ) A class tour of your studio (DONE DURING 2nd CLASS MEETING)
2.) Make paintings outside of class (the following issues can overlap)
- A painting on a dark colored ground
- A painting on a light colored ground
- A painting on a solid support
- A painting on a flexible support
- Use of opaque paint
- Use of transparent paint
3.) Stretch a canvas, prepare a ground layer, paint on it (Stretching should be done during class)
4.) Prepare a presentation a.) in front of a work of art in one of the two Yale museums OR b.)
solve a technical problem and present it to the class. Length of presentations will ultimately depend on how many people are in the class. Presentations will take place November 19th.
a.) Explain and discuss an artist’s technique standing in front of a painting at one of the two museums. Research the painting techniques with library/on-line sources, in the case of a living artist you can also contact them and ask how they did it. Compare the research you have done to what you have observed directly on the painting.
b.) Solve a difficult technical problem you are having in your studio and present the solution in a class presentation. Problems can be specific to your painting, or a theoretical problem. For example, can you get paint to crack right away? In one inch increments or in 1/8 inch increments? Can you cast a pure film of acrylic resin and stretch it without the need of canvas? Is there something you have observed in your paint you don’t like and can you make it go away?
5.) Illustrate – SIMPLE PAINT STRUCTURES
Books on Technique You Might Wish to Consult
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Bomford, David |
Art in the Making: Rembrandt National Gallery of Art: |
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Bomford, David |
Art in the Making Impressionism National Gallery of |
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Bomford, David |
Art in the Making: Italian Painting Before 1400 National Gallery of |
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Crook, Jo and Tom Learner |
The Impact of Modern Paint. |
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Cennini, Cennino D'Andrea |
The Craftsman's Handbook: The Italian "Il Libro dell'Arte". Trans. Daniel V.Thompson, Jr. |
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Doerner, Max |
The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting, With Notes on the Techniques of the Old Masters. Trans. Eugene Neuhaus. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1934. |
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Gettens, Rutherford & George Stout* |
Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopedia, New York: Dover Publications, 1966. |
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Gottseggen, Mark David* |
The Painter’s Handbook. New York, Watson-Guptill Publications, 2006 |
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Hackney, Stephen, Rica Jones and Joyce Townsend |
Paint and Purpose: A study of technique in British Art. London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 1999 |
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Kirsh, Andrea & Levenson, Rustin |
Seeing Through Paintings Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies, Yale University Press, New Haven, London, 2000. |
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Learner, Thomas, Smithen, Patricia, Krueger Jay, W. and Schilling, Michael |
Modern Paints Uncovered, Proceedings from the Modern Paints Uncovered Symposium, The Getty conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 2007. |
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Massey, Robert |
Formulas for Painters. |
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Mayer, Ralph |
The Artists Handbook of Material and Techniques Fifth Edition, Faber and Faber: |
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Merrifield, M.P |
Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting. New York: Dover Publications, 1967 |
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Thompson, Daniel Varney |
The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting. |
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Welte, Kurt* |
The Materials and Techniques of Painting. |