Secrets of the Old Masters. The “dead layer” of Flemish painting The Flemish method of painting with oil paints

of the past fascinate with their colors, the play of light and shadow, the appropriateness of each accent, the general condition, color. But what we see now in the galleries, which has survived to this day, differs from what the author's contemporaries saw. Oil painting tends to change over time, this is influenced by the selection of paints, technique of execution, the finish of the work and storage conditions. This does not take into account the small mistakes that a talented master could make when experimenting with new methods. For this reason, the impression of the canvases and the description of their appearance may differ over the years.

Technique of the old masters

The technique of oil painting gives a huge advantage in work: a picture can be painted for years, gradually modeling the form and prescribing details with thin layers of paint (glazing). Therefore, body writing, where they immediately try to complete the picture, is not typical for the classical manner of working with oil. A well-thought-out phased application of paints allows you to achieve amazing shades and effects, since each previous layer, when glazed, shines through the next one.

The Flemish method, which Leonardo da Vinci loved to use so much, consisted of the following steps:

• On a light ground, the drawing was written in one color, with sepia - the contour and the main shadows.
• Then a thin underpainting was made with volume modeling.
• The final stage was several glazing layers of reflections and detailing.

But over time, Leonardo's dark brown inscription, despite the thin layer, began to strongly show through the colorful image, which led to a darkening of the picture in the shadows. In the base layer, he often used burnt umber, yellow ocher, Prussian blue, cadmium yellow, and burnt sienna. His final application of paint was so subtle that it was impossible to catch it. Own developed sfumato method (shading) allowed this to be done with ease. Her secret is in highly diluted paint and dry brush work.

Rubens, Velasquez and Titian worked in the Italian method. It is characterized by the following stages of work:

• Applying colored primer to the canvas (with the addition of any pigment);
• Transferring the outline of the drawing to the ground with chalk or charcoal and fixing it with a suitable paint.
• The underpainting, dense in some places, especially in the illuminated areas of the image, and in some places completely absent, left the color of the ground.
• The final work in 1 or 2 steps with semiglazing, less often with thin glazes. In Rembrandt, the ball of layers of the picture could reach a centimeter in thickness, but this is rather an exception.

In this technique, particular importance was given to the use of overlapping additional colors, which made it possible to neutralize the saturated ground in places. For example, red ground could be leveled with gray-green underpainting. Work in this technique was carried out faster than in the Flemish method, which was more to the liking of the customers. But the wrong choice of the color of the ground and the colors of the final layer could spoil the picture.

The color of the picture

To achieve harmony in a painting, they use the full power of reflexes and the complementarity of colors. There are also little tricks like applying a colored primer, as in the Italian method, or varnishing the painting with pigment.

Colored primers can be adhesive, emulsion and oil. The latter are a pasty layer of oil paint of the desired color. If the white base gives a glow effect, then the dark one gives depth to the colors.

Rembrandt painted on a dark gray ground, Bryullov on a base with umber pigment, Ivanov tinted the canvases with yellow ocher, Rubens used English red and umber pigments, Borovikovsky preferred gray ground for portraits, and Levitsky preferred gray-green. The darkening of the canvas awaited everyone who used earthy colors in excess (sienna, umber, dark ocher).

For those who make copies of paintings by great artists in digital format, this resource will be of interest, which presents web-based artist palettes.

Lacquering

In addition to earth colors that darken over time, resin-based topcoats (rosin, copal, amber) also change the lightness of the picture, giving it yellow tints. To artificially give antiquity to the canvas, ocher pigment or any other similar pigment is specially added to the varnish. But a strong darkening is more likely to cause an excess of oil in the work. It can also lead to cracks. Although such the craquelure effect is more often associated with work on half-wet paint, which is unacceptable for oil painting: they write only on a dried or still damp layer, otherwise it is necessary to scrape it off and re-register.

I must say right away that I wrote this small first still life (40 x 50 cm) for about 2 years. I was in the workshop only on Saturdays, plus not always, with breaks for the summer, which is why it took so long. And the first work itself takes much longer than subsequent ones. As a standard, only six months should be laid for work.

I add photos of other works to make it clearer, plus we worked synchronously with my sister (there are shots when two canvases stand side by side, different hands are just visible :)

There are a lot of nuances that cannot be covered in one article. This is an overview master class, for those who have already taken oil in their hands.

So. A still life is being set, drawn with a pencil on plain paper (the state sign is suitable). Not just drawn - built. All axes are checked with a ruler, verticals must be vertical, ellipses must be perfectly rounded, no fractures. All the jambs of the picture will come out to the surface, it will be impossible to fix something without consequences.

This layered type of painting is very similar to watercolor - all the blots of the lower layers are visible. Another responsibility is added by the fact that in a few hundred years the paint layer will become thinner and our descendants will come out with lack of paint and bugs that you supposedly closed. Conclusion: you need to work efficiently at any time.

The pencil drawing is ready, now you need it transfer to primed canvas(more on that below).

To do this, the entire drawing is pierced along the lines, a powder (stencil) is obtained.

The back side looks like this:

The stencil is superimposed on the canvas and either sannin powder or graphite is rubbed with a fluffy brush, depending on the color of the imprimatura.

Let's go back a little canvas By this point, it should already be prepared and dried. If you need a quick option, then the usual purchased, white-primed canvas is suitable, on which natural umber evenly diluted with turpentine is applied.

If you need a “real” option, then the canvas is stretched by hand, glued and primed with a thick layer of a mixture of titanium white and black lamp white, smeared with a thick rectangular spatula and sent to dry for a year. Then it is skinned by hand. Imprimatura in both cases should have a medium tone.

In my photos, everywhere is a variant of umber imprimatura.

After the drawing is “spilled” onto the canvas, all the dots are connected neatly with gray ink and the entire drawing is restored.

I will say in advance that 10 days should elapse between prescribing the same place (technological drying).

Then comes the stage grisaille. A black-and-white gradation with warm-coldness is mixed (at the bottom right, a board from lights to shadows).

The layout begins with the highlights (do not touch the glare). White + black lamp + natural umber to neutralize purple from black. Closer to the shadows comes burnt umber (white, of course, are excluded) and steel de grain.

Remember: pasty lights, but we practically don’t touch the shadows (our previous umber glows).

Next stage: colored underpainting.

Since the whole environment is gray, any color entered will appear quite bright, so there will be several steps to get the right colors later.

At this stage, each object is written as a “blank” with a simple shape (almost a repetition of grisaille) without textures and other things.

And one more color underpainting (or maybe more than one)...

And only after that the stage of completion (detailing and incandescence of highlights).

After completion, dry for 3 months and lachim :)

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While studying the technique of some of the old masters, we come across the so-called “Flemish method” of oil painting. This is a layered, technically complex way of writing, the opposite of the "a la prima" technique. The multi-layered nature implied a special depth of the image, shimmer and radiance of colors. However, in the description of this method, such a mysterious stage as the “dead layer” is invariably encountered. Despite the intriguing name, there is no mysticism in it.

But what was it used for?

The term “dead colors” (doodverf - nid. death of paint) is first found in the work of Carl van Mander “The Book of Artists”. He could call paint that way, on the one hand, literally, because of the deadness that it gives to the image, on the other hand, metaphorically, since this pallor, as it were, “dies” under the subsequent color. Such paints included bleached yellow, black, red colors in different proportions. For example, cold gray was obtained by mixing white and black, and black and yellow, when combined, formed an olive tint.

A layer painted with “dead colors” is considered a “dead layer”.

Stages of painting "Dead layer"

Fast forward to the workshop of a Dutch artist of the Middle Ages and find out how he painted.

First, the drawing was transferred to the primed surface.

The next step was modeling the volume with transparent penumbra, subtly turning into the light of the ground.

Then imprimatura was applied - a liquid paint layer. It made it possible to preserve the drawing, preventing particles of charcoal or pencil from getting into the upper colorful layers, and also protected the colors from further fading. It is thanks to imprimatura that the saturated colors in the paintings of Van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden and other masters of the Northern Renaissance have remained almost unchanged to this day.

The fourth stage was the “dead layer”, in which bleached paints were applied to the volumetric underpainting. The artist needed to preserve the shape of the objects without violating the light-shadow contrast, which would lead to the dullness of further painting. “Dead colors” were applied only to the light parts of the image, sometimes, imitating gliding rays, white was applied in small dotted strokes. The picture acquired additional volume and an ominous deathly pallor, which, already in the next layer, “came to life” thanks to multi-layered color glazing. Such a complex painting seems unusually deep and radiant, when light is reflected from each layer, as from a flickering mirror.

Today, this method is not often used, however, it is important to know about the secrets of the old masters. Using their experience, you can experiment in your work and find your way in all sorts of styles and techniques.

He worked in the technique of chiaroscuro (light-shadow), in which there is a contrasting contrast between the dark areas of the picture and the light ones. It is noteworthy that not a single sketch of Caravaggio has been found. He worked immediately on the final version of the work.

Painting of the 17th century in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands took the new trends as a breath of fresh air. The Italians de Fiori and Gentileschi, the Spaniard Ribera, Terbruggen and Barburen worked in a similar technique.
Caravaggism also had a strong influence on the stages of creativity of such masters as Peter Paul Rubens, Georges de Latour and Rembrandt.

The voluminous canvases of the caravagists amaze with their depth and attention to detail. Let's talk more about the Dutch painters who worked with this technique.

The very first ideas were taken by Hendrik Terbruggen. He visited Rome at the beginning of the 17th century, where he met Manfredi, Saraceni and Gentileschi. It was the Dutchman who initiated the Utrecht school of painting with this technique.

The plots of the canvases are realistic, they are characterized by the soft humor of the depicted scenes. Terbruggen showed not only individual moments of his contemporary life, but also rethought traditional naturalism.

Honthorst went further in the development of the school. He turned to biblical stories, but he built the plot from the everyday point of view of the Dutch of the 17th century. So, in his paintings we see a clear influence of the chiaroscuro technique. It was his works under the influence of the caravagists that brought him fame in Italy. For his genre scenes by candlelight, he received the nickname "night".

Unlike the Utrecht school, Flemish painters like Rubens and van Dyck did not become ardent supporters of caravaggism. This style is indicated in their works only as a separate stage in the formation of a personal style.

Adrian Brouwer and David Teniers

For several centuries, the painting of the Flemish masters has undergone significant changes. We will begin our review of artists from the later stages, when there was a move away from monumental paintings to narrowly focused subjects.

First, Brouwer, and then Teniers the Younger, based on scenes from the everyday life of ordinary Dutch people. So, Adrian, continuing the motives of Pieter Brueghel, somewhat changes the technique of writing and the focus of his paintings.

It focuses on the most unattractive side of life. Types for canvases he is looking for in smoky, semi-dark taverns and taverns. Nevertheless, Brouwer's paintings amaze with their expression and depth of characters. The artist hides the main characters in the depths, exposing still lifes to the fore.

A fight over a game of dice or cards, a sleeping smoker or dancing drunkards. It was these subjects that interested the painter.

But the later works of Brouwer become soft, in them humor prevails over the grotesque and unrestraint. Now the canvases contain philosophical moods and reflect the slowness of thoughtful characters.

Researchers say that in the 17th century, Flemish artists begin to shrink in comparison with the previous generation of masters. However, we simply see a transition from the vivid expression of the mythical subjects of Rubens and the burlesque of Jordaens to the calm life of the peasants by Teniers the Younger.

The latter, in particular, concentrated on the carefree moments of village holidays. He tried to depict the weddings and festivities of ordinary farmers. Moreover, special attention was paid to external details and the idealization of lifestyle.

Frans Snyders

Like Anton van Dijk, whom we will talk about later, he began training with Hendrik van Balen. In addition, Pieter Brueghel the Younger was also his mentor.

Considering the works of this master, we get acquainted with another facet of creativity, which is so rich in Flemish painting. Snyders' paintings are completely different from the canvases of his contemporaries. Frans managed to find his niche and develop in it to the heights of an unsurpassed master.

He became the best in the depiction of still lifes and animals. As an animal painter, he was often invited by other painters, in particular Rubens, to create certain parts of their masterpieces.

Snyders' work shows a gradual transition from still lifes in the early years to hunting scenes in later periods. With all the dislike for portraits and depictions of people, they are still present on his canvases. How did he get out of the situation?

It's simple, Frans invited Janssens, Jordaens and other masters familiar from the guild to create images of hunters.

Thus, we see that 17th-century painting in Flanders reflects a heterogeneous stage of transition from previous techniques and attitudes. It did not proceed as smoothly as in Italy, but gave the world completely unusual creations of the Flemish masters.

Jacob Jordaens

Flemish painting of the 17th century is characterized by greater freedom compared to the previous period. Here you can see not only live scenes from life, but also the beginnings of humor. In particular, he often allowed himself to add a piece of burlesque to his canvases.

In his work, he did not reach significant heights as a portrait painter, but nevertheless, he became perhaps the best in conveying character in the picture. So, one of his main series - "Feasts of the Bean King" - is built on the illustration of folklore, folk sayings, jokes and sayings. These canvases depict the crowded, cheerful, bustling life of Dutch society in the 17th century.

Speaking about the Dutch art of painting of this period, we will often mention the name of Peter Paul Rubens. It was his influence that was reflected in the work of most Flemish artists.

Jordanes also did not escape this fate. He worked for some time in the workshops of Rubens, creating sketches for paintings. However, Jacob was better at creating tenebrism and chiaroscuro in the technique.

If you look closely at the masterpieces of Jordaens, compare them with the works of Peter Paul, we will see a clear influence of the latter. But Jacob's canvases are distinguished by warmer colors, freedom and softness.

Peter Rubens

When discussing the masterpieces of Flemish painting, one cannot fail to mention Rubens. Peter Paul was a recognized master during his lifetime. He is considered a virtuoso of religious and mythical themes, but the artist showed no less talent in the technique of landscape and portraiture.

He grew up in a family that fell into disgrace due to the tricks of his father in his youth. Soon after the death of a parent, their reputation is restored, and Rubens and his mother return to Antwerp.

Here the young man quickly acquires the necessary connections, he is made a page of the Countess de Lalen. Additionally, Peter Paul meets Tobias, Verhacht, van Noort. But Otto van Veen had a special influence on him as a mentor. It was this artist who played a decisive role in shaping the style of the future master.

After four years of internship with Otto Rubens, they are accepted into the guild association of artists, engravers and sculptors called the Guild of St. Luke. The end of the training, according to the long tradition of the Dutch masters, was a trip to Italy. There, Peter Paul studied and copied the best masterpieces of this era.

It is not surprising that the paintings of the Flemish artists in their features resemble the technique of some Italian masters of the Renaissance.

In Italy, Rubens lived and worked with the famous philanthropist and collector Vincenzo Gonzaga. Researchers call this period of his work the Mantua period, because the estate of the patron Peter Paul was located in this town.

But the provincial place and Gonzaga's desire to use it did not please Rubens. In a letter, he writes that with the same success, Vicenzo could use the services of artisan portrait painters. Two years later, the young man finds patrons and orders in Rome.

The main achievement of the Roman period was the painting of Santa Maria in Valicella and the altar of the monastery at Fermo.

After the death of his mother, Rubens returns to Antwerp, where he quickly becomes the highest paid master. The salary he received at the Brussels court allowed him to live in grand style, have a large workshop, and many apprentices.

In addition, Peter Paul maintained a relationship with the Jesuit order, which brought him up in childhood. From them he receives orders for the interior decoration of the Antwerp Church of St. Charles Borromeo. Here he is helped by the best student - Anton van Dyck, which we will talk about later.

Rubens spent the second half of his life in diplomatic missions. Shortly before his death, he bought himself an estate, where he settled, took up landscapes and depicting the life of peasants.

In the work of this great master, the influence of Titian and Brueghel is especially traced. The most famous works are the canvases "Samson and Delilah", "The Hunt for the Hippo", "The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus".

Rubens had such a strong influence on Western European painting that in 1843 a monument was erected to him on the Green Square in Antwerp.

Anton van Dyck

A court portrait painter, a master of mythical and religious subjects in painting, an artist - all these are the characteristics of Anton van Dyck, the best student of Peter Paul Rubens.

The painting techniques of this master were formed while studying with Hendrik van Balen, to whom he was given as an apprentice. It was the years spent in the workshop of this painter that allowed Anton to quickly gain local fame.

At the age of fourteen he wrote his first masterpiece, at fifteen he opened his first workshop. So at a young age, van Dijk becomes an Antwerp celebrity.

At the age of seventeen, Anton was accepted into the guild of St. Luke, where he became an apprentice with Rubens. For two years (from 1918 to 1920), van Dyck paints portraits of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles on thirteen boards. Today, these works are kept in many world museums.

The painting art of Anton van Dyck was more focused on religious themes. He writes in the workshop of Rubens his famous paintings "Coronation with a crown" and "Kiss of Judas".

From 1621, the period of travel begins. First, the young artist works in London, under King James, then goes to Italy. In 1632, Anton returned to London, where Charles I knighted him and gave him the position of court painter. Here he worked until his death.

His canvases are exhibited in the museums of Munich, Vienna, the Louvre, Washington, New York and many other halls of the world.

Thus, today we, dear readers, have learned about Flemish painting. You got an idea about the history of its formation and the technique of creating canvases. In addition, we briefly met with the greatest Netherlandish masters of this period.

Compiled based on materials collected by V. E. Makukhin.

Consultant: V. E. Makukhin.

On the cover: A copy of Rembrandt's self-portrait by MM Devyatov.

Preface.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Devyatov is an outstanding Soviet and Russian artist, painting technologist, restorer, one of the founders and leader for many years of the restoration department at the Academy of Arts. Repin, founder of the Laboratory of Technique and Technology of Painting, initiator of the creation of the Restoration Section of the Union of Artists, Honored Art Worker, Candidate of Art History, Professor.

Mikhail Mikhailovich made a huge contribution to the development of fine arts with his research in the field of painting technology and the study of the techniques of old masters. He was able to capture the very essence of phenomena, and present it in a simple and understandable language. Devyatov wrote a series of excellent articles on the technique of painting, the basic laws and conditions for the durability of a picture, the meaning and main tasks of copying. Devyatov also wrote a dissertation entitled “The Preservation of Oil Paintings on Canvas and Features of the Composition of Soils”, which is easy to read like an exciting book.

It is no secret that after the October Revolution, classical painting was severely persecuted, and much knowledge was lost. (Although some loss of knowledge in the technology of painting began earlier, this was noted by many researchers (J. Wieber "Painting and its means", A. Rybnikov Introductory article to the "Treatise on Painting" by Cennino Cennini)).

Mikhail Mikhailovich was the first (in the post-revolutionary period) to introduce the practice of copying into the educational process. Ilya Glazunov picked up this initiative of his in his academy.

In the Laboratory of Technique and Technology of Painting created by Devyatov, under the guidance of a master, a huge number of primers were tested, according to recipes collected from surviving historical sources, and a modern synthetic primer was developed. Then the selected soils were tested by students and teachers of the Academy of Arts.

One of the parts of these studies were diaries-reports that the students had to write. Since we have not received accurate evidence of the process of work of outstanding masters, these diaries, as it were, lift the veil over the secret of creating works. You can also trace the connection between the materials used, the technique of their use and the safety of the thing (copy) from the diaries. They can also be used to trace whether the student has mastered the lecture materials, how he uses them in practice, as well as the student's personal discoveries.

Diaries were kept approximately from 1969 to 1987, then this practice gradually disappeared. Nevertheless, we are left with very interesting material that can be very useful for artists and art lovers. In their diaries, students describe not only the progress of the work, but also the comments of teachers, which can be very valuable for the next generations of artists. Thus, while reading these diaries, one can, as it were, “copy” the best works of the Hermitage and the Russian Museum.

According to the curriculum compiled by M. M. Devyatov, in the first year students listened to his course of lectures on the technique and technology of painting. In their second year, students copy the best copies made by senior students in the Hermitage. And in the third year, students begin direct copying in the museum. Thus, before practical work, a very large part is given to the assimilation of the necessary and very important theoretical knowledge.

In order to better understand what is described in the diaries, it would be useful to read the Articles and Lectures of M. M. Devyatov, as well as the methodological manual compiled under the guidance of Devyatov for the course Questions and Answers in Painting Techniques. However, here, in the preface, I will try to dwell on the most important points, based on the above books, as well as the memoirs, lectures and consultations of Mikhail Mikhailovich's student and friend - Vladimir Emelyanovich Makukhin, who is currently teaching this course at the Academy of Arts.

Soils.

In his lectures, Mikhail Mikhailovich said that artists are divided into two categories - those who love matte painting, and those who love glossy painting. Those who love glossy painting, seeing matte pieces on their work, usually say: "It's rotten!", And they get very upset. Thus, the same phenomenon is joy for some, and grief for others. Soils play a very important role in this process. Their composition determines their effect on paints and the artist needs to understand these processes. Now artists have the opportunity to buy materials in stores, and not make them themselves (as the old masters did, thus ensuring the highest quality of their works). As many experts note, this possibility, which seems to make the work of the artist easier, is also the reason for the loss of knowledge about the nature of materials and, ultimately, for the decline of painting. In modern commercial descriptions of soils, there is no information about their properties, and very often even the composition is not indicated. In this regard, it is very strange to hear the assertion of some modern teachers that the artist does not need to be able to make the ground himself, because it can always be bought. Be sure to understand the compositions and properties of materials, even in order to buy what you need, and not be deceived by advertising.

Gloss (shiny surface) exhibits deep and rich colors, which matt makes uniformly whitish, lighter and colorless. However, gloss can make it difficult to see the big picture, as reflections and glare will make it difficult to perceive it all at once. Therefore, often in monumental painting, a matte surface is preferred.

Generally speaking, glossiness is a natural property of oil paints, since the oil itself is shiny. And the dullness of oil painting came into fashion relatively recently, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century (Feshin, Borisov-Musatov, and others). Since the matte surface makes dark and saturated colors less expressive, matte painting usually has light tones, advantageously emphasizing their velvety. And glossy painting usually has rich and even dark tones (for example, old masters).

The oil, enveloping the pigment particles, makes them glossy. And the less oil, and the more the pigment is exposed, the more it becomes matte, velvety. A good example is pastel. It is almost pure pigment, without binder. When the oil leaves the paint and the paint becomes matte or “withered”, its tone (light-dark) and even color change somewhat. Dark colors lighten and lose their color sonority, while light colors darken somewhat. This is due to a change in the refraction of light rays.

Depending on the amount of oil in the paint, its physical properties also change.

The oil dries from top to bottom, forming a film. The oil shrinks as it dries. (Therefore, you can not use paint that has a lot of oil for pasty, textured painting). Also, the oil tends to turn yellow in the dark (especially during the drying period), in the light it is restored again. (However, the picture should not dry in the dark, as in this case some yellowing occurs more noticeably). Paints on traction primers (oil-free paints) turn yellow less because they contain less oil. But in principle, the yellowing that comes from a large amount of oil in paints is not significant. The main cause of yellowing and darkening of old paintings is old varnish. It is thinned and replaced by restorers, and under it is usually a bright and fresh painting. Another reason for the darkening of old paintings is dark grounds, since oil paints become more transparent over time and the dark ground seems to “eat” them.

Primers are divided into two categories - pulling and non-pulling (according to their ability to draw oil from the paint, and, therefore, make it matte or glossy).

Burning can also occur not only from the pulling soil, but also from applying a layer of paint to an insufficiently dried (formed only film) previous layer of paints. In this case, the insufficiently dried bottom layer begins to draw oil from the upper, new layer. This phenomenon is prevented by an interlayer treatment with compacted oil, and the addition of thickened oil and resin varnish to the paints, which speed up the drying of the paints and make it more uniform.

Oil-free paint (paint with little oil) becomes thicker (pasty) and easier to make a textured brushstroke. It dries faster (because it has less oil). It is harder to spread over the surface (hard brushes and a palette knife are required). Also, oil-free paint turns yellow less, as there is little oil in it. The pulling primer, pulling the oil out of the paint, seems to “grab” it, the paint seems to grow into it and hardens, “becomes”. Therefore, a sliding, thin smear on such a soil is impossible. On pulling soils, drying is faster also because drying occurs both from above and from below, since these soils give the so-called “through drying”. Fast drying and paint density make it possible to quickly gain texture. A striking example of impasto painting on pulling ground is Igor Grabar.

The complete opposite of painting on "breathing" pulling grounds is painting on impenetrable oily and semi-oily grounds. (Oil primer is a layer of oil paint (often with some additives) applied to the sizing. Semi-oil primer is also a layer of oil paint, but applied to any other primer. Semi-oil primer is also simply dried (or dried) painting, which after some time the artist wants to finish by applying a new layer of paint on it).

The dried layer of oil is an impermeable film. Therefore, oil paints applied to such a primer cannot give it part of their oil (and thus gain a foothold on it), and, therefore, cannot “burn out”, that is, become dull. That is, due to the fact that the oil from the paint cannot go into the ground, the paint itself remains the same shiny. The layer of painting on such an impenetrable ground is thin, and the stroke is gliding and light. The main danger of oily and semi-oily primers is their poor adhesion to paints, since there is no penetrating adhesion. (A very large number of works of even famous artists of the Soviet period are known, from the paintings of which paint is peeling off. This moment was not sufficiently covered in the system of education of artists). When working on oily and semi-oily primers, an additional agent is needed to bond a new layer of paint to the primer.

Pulling soils.

Glue-chalk primer consists of glue (gelatin or fish glue) and chalk. (Sometimes chalk was replaced by gypsum - a substance similar in properties).

Chalk has the ability to absorb oil. Thus, the paint applied to the ground, in which there is a sufficient amount of chalk, seems to grow into it, giving up part of its oil. This is a fairly strong type of penetrating adhesion. However, often artists, striving for matte painting, use not only a very pulling primer, but also strongly de-oil the paints (preliminarily squeezing them onto absorbent paper). In this case, the binder (oil) may become so small that the pigment will not hold well in the paint, turning almost into pastel (for example, some of Feshin's paintings). By running your hand over such a picture, you can remove some of the paint like dust.

Old Flemish method of painting.

Pulling glue-chalk soils are the most ancient. They were used on wood and painted with tempera paints. Then, at the beginning of the 15th century, oil paints were invented (their discovery is attributed to Van Eyck, a Flemish painter). Oil paints attracted artists with their glossy nature, which was very different from matte tempera. Since only the pulling glue-chalk primer was known, the artists came up with all sorts of secrets to make it non-pulling, and thus get the sheen and color saturation that oil gives them so much love. The so-called Old Flemish method of painting appeared.

(There are disputes about the history of the emergence of oil painting. Some believe that it appeared gradually: at first, painting started with tempera was finished with oil, thus the so-called mixed technique was obtained (D. I. Kiplik “Painting Technique”). Other researchers believe that oil painting arose in northern Europe simultaneously with tempera painting and developed in parallel, and in southern Europe (with a center in Italy) various variants of mixed media appeared from the very beginning of easel painting (Yu. I. Grenberg "Technology of easel painting"). Van Eyck's painting "The Annunciation" was restored and it turned out that the blue cloak of Our Lady was painted in watercolor (a documentary film was made about the restoration of this painting. Thus, it turns out that mixed media was also in northern Europe from the very beginning).

The Old Flemish method of painting (according to Kiplik), which was used by Van-Eycky, Dürer, Peter Brueghel and others, was as follows: adhesive primer was applied to a wooden base. Then, a drawing was transferred to this smoothly polished ground, “which was previously carried out in full-size paintings separately on paper (“cardboard”), since direct drawing on the ground was avoided so as not to disturb its whiteness.” Then the drawing was outlined with water-soluble paints. If the drawing is translated with charcoal, then drawing with water-soluble paints fixes it. (The drawing can be transferred by covering the reverse side of the drawing with charcoal where necessary, overlaying it on the basis of the future picture and tracing it around the contour). The drawing was outlined with a pen or brush. With a brush, the drawing was transparently shaded with brown paint "in such a way that the ground shone through it." An example of this stage of work is Van Eyck's Saint Barbara. Then the picture could continue to be painted in tempera, and only completed with oil paints.

If the artist wanted to continue working with oil paints after shading the drawing with water-soluble paint, then he had to somehow isolate the pulling soil from oil paints, otherwise the paints would lose their sonority, for which artists fell in love with them. Therefore, a layer of transparent glue and one or two layers of oil varnish were applied over the drawing. The oil varnish, when dried, created an impenetrable film, and the oil from the paints could no longer go into the ground.

Glue-chalk soils have a very important feature - the oil applied to such a soil forms a yellow-brown spot, since the chalk, when combined with the oil, turns yellow and turns brown, that is, it loses its white color. Therefore, the old Flemish masters first covered the ground with weak glue (probably no more than 2%) and then with oil varnish (the thicker the varnish, the less its penetration into the ground).

If the painting was only finished with oil, and the previous layers were made with tempera, then the pigment of tempera paints and their binder isolated the ground from the oil, and it did not darken. (Before working with oil, tempera painting is usually covered with an interlayer varnish in order to bring out the color of the tempera, and for a better entry of the oil layer).

The composition of the adhesive primer, developed by M. M. Devyatov, includes zinc white pigment. The pigment prevents the soil from turning yellow and turning brown from oil. The pigment of zinc white can be partially or completely replaced by another pigment (then you get a colored primer). The ratio of pigment and chalk should remain unchanged (usually the amount of chalk is equal to the amount of pigment). If only the pigment is left in the primer, and the chalk is removed, then the paint will not adhere to such a primer, because the pigment does not absorb oil as chalk does, and there will be no penetrating adhesion.

Another very important feature of glue-chalk soils is their fragility, which comes from skin-bone fragile glues (gelatin, fish glue). Therefore, it is very dangerous to increase the required amount of glue, this can lead to ground cracks with raised edges. This is especially true for such primers on canvas, as this is a more vulnerable base than a solid board base.

It is believed that the old Flemings could add light flesh-colored paint to this insulating layer of varnish: “Oil varnish with an admixture of transparent flesh-colored paint was applied over the tempera pattern, through which the shaded pattern shone through. This tone was applied to the entire area of ​​the picture, or only to those places where the body was depicted ”(D.I. Kiplik“ Painting Technique ”). However, in "Saint Barbara" we do not see any translucent flesh tone covering the drawing, although it is obvious that the picture has already begun to be worked out from above with paints. It is likely that painting on white ground is still more characteristic of the Old Flemish painting technique.

Later, when the influence of Italian masters with their colored grounds began to penetrate into Flanders, light and light translucent imprimaturs (for example, Rubens) remained characteristic of the Flemish masters.

The antiseptic used was phenol or catamine. But you can do without an antiseptic, especially if you use the soil quickly and do not store for a long time.

Instead of fish glue, you can use gelatin.

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