This is part of an essay i write on Flemish art in First Year. Its a section dealing with the Flemish Technique, particularly the start. I am working on a new painting done in the flemish technique although i admit to not using period materials this time. I want to do some blending of period materials but I will need to have a bit more money before I can do that – plus my setup will need to be different as a lot of the pigments were poisonous.
Prior to the Renaissance the most commonly used paint was tempera. Tempera paints were mixed as needed from egg yolk and pigment. This caused problems as it was almost impossible to match additional batches if too little was mixed. Conversely, if too much was mixed it was frequently a waste of the expensive pigments as the paint dried very fast. The fast drying time of the tempera created problems with painting as blending was almost impossible. The result is that many tempera paintings look flat and rigid. In the Renaissance this was changed due to the practicality of oil paints. Oil paints involve pigment mixed in walnut or linseed oil to create a highly flexible paint that retains bright color. Oil paint dried very slowly allowing great control over blending, texture and translucence. It is supposed that while oil paint had been invented around the twelfth century, it was not used until the northern Renaissance. Jan van Eyck is credited with the invention, as he was the first to refine the techniques involved in creating an oil painting.
An oil painting involves many steps in the traditional application. The Flemish technique, accepted as the first discipline of oil painting, evolved from tempera application. This technique is still widely used in traditional oil painting. The surface was primed pure white with a mixture of glue and chalk. A detailed line drawing, or cartoon, was transferred to primed surface using an early carbon paper technique of applying oil or pigment to the back and tracing, or by perforating the cartoon and using it as a stencil by ‘then positioning it over the panel and slapping it with a pounce bag, or sock filled with charcoal dust’ (2004, Elliot). The lines were clarified using fine line techniques, then the entire surface was varnished to fix the drawing and limit the absorbency of the ground. Frequently a thin wash made of a diluted oil paint was applied over the entire surface called an imprimatura. The imprimatura set the tone for the painting as the tint applied affected the tonality of the light as well as the temperature and ‘making the harmonization of the colors easier, and allowing for more accurate judgment of values.’ (2004, Elliot) The shadows on the painting were executed in layers using thinned oils known as glazes. This allowed a building of tones while still retaining a level of translucency. Mid-tones were added after the shadows and could be transparent or opaque. The final stage saw the addition of highlights. These were always opaque.
