Comments on: Repost: Glazing

By: davidrourke

davidrourke — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:26:00 +0000

Julius,

Thank you. I've answered your question in a separate post.

http://rourkevisualart.com/wordpress/2008/11/29/q...

By: Julius Gordon

Julius Gordon — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:55:06 +0000

David: In the beautiful work you show on your gallery, are most of the effects achieved with your “thick glazing” technique? I have been experimenting with thin glazes and have run into problems at every turn. For example:
How to achieve an intense red or orange, since cadmium colors are out?
How to glaze thinly and be able to do fabrics and tablecloths — especially in light colors?
How to do a light color ceramic bowl (as in one of yours)?

Maybe you could speak in detail about the work in your gallery…

By: davidrourke

davidrourke — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:35:31 +0000

Anne,

Linseed will certainly dry--of the drying oils in common use (linseed, walnut, poppy, safflower) it dries the fastest. I recommend applying it to the painting surface in a whisper thin layer before glazing.

By: Annne Fontaine

Annne Fontaine — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:42:42 +0000

Great entry! I used linseed oil two days ago and worried that it will never dry. It will dry, correct? I am subscribing to your feed…I guess that is how it is done, to get updates. Your feed….I feel like a pig at the trough. lol I have a gallery and studio, I paint people, not literally. I do thick paintings, I do thin paintings. Lately with the thin ones I have been glazing a LOT. come see me, either on the web or for real, if you are near NH. :) http://www.chameleonart.biz

By: David

David — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:02:07 +0000

@Sandy -

Sandy,

You can certainly glaze multiple times, letting the paint dry in between. And there is no reason why you have to use the same color from one glaze layer to the next. They will mix optically, so that blue glazed over yellow will make green. Just be aware that transparent glaze layers absorb light, so multiple glaze layers darken the value of that section of the painting.

There's no identified limit to how many layers you can glaze, especially if you keep each layer very thin.

Note, however, that one of the reasons I don't use alkyd painting mediums such as Liquin is that I have heard a few scattered reports that it can cause paint layers to peel away, especially when glazing. Other artists report no problems whatsoever.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:37:37 +0000

I have only been painting for a short time and I'm very interested in learning more about glazing. I am finding quite a bit on the internet...but I am left with questions. I have been using Liquin mixed with transparent paint...such as Alizaron to glaze certain parts of my painting. Can I then wait for the glaze to dry and continue to paint...and then glaze the entire painting again or a portion of the painting... How many times can I apply glaze and then keep painting...will it add depth? Do I use the same color of glaze...or can I use an Alizaron as the first glaze and then add a blue glaze to get a purple glaze? I'm obviously confused :)

By: michelle

michelle — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:16:31 +0000

Thanks so much for reposting this!

I have been struggling with glazing to some success - (and sometimes not). I'll be trying a few of these techniques out immediately.

Very grateful. :)

By: David

David — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:19:42 +0000

@SPQR -

SPQR,

I'm a big fan of glazing. For the most part, the artists you cite (except perhaps Turner) used a mix of opaque and transparent passages in painting. The tinted effect is most noticeable if you use it over large areas, or if you don't know what you are doing. All of them certainly did know far more about painting than I do. Nevertheless, for us regular folks, it is all too easy to get glazing effects that are unconvincing if you are not careful.

A tiny addition of white is not particularly noticeable, to anyone's eyes. That's particularly the case with flake white, which is what all of those painters used. I don't know that they mixed white into their glazes--I expect they did so sometimes, but not other times.

By: SPQR

SPQR — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:21:35 +0000

JMW Turner was apt to use pure glazes, in his dark areas, and laterly in his colours too. ..though he was hardly attempting a vivid illusion of reality. Also Velasquez (at least in the NG in London) used pure colour glazes (especially the crimson and turquoise-blue) over a neutral grey UP.
Rubens paintings, in the same gallery, have glazed umber shadows over a lighter imprimatura.
Too my eyes, these painters did not add white too these glazed areas.
If this is the ‘tinted photograph’ effect, i like it :)

By: David

David — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:27:14 +0000

@Incompetent -

I agree. A mixture of opaque and transparent passages creates the most vivid illusion of reality, overall. Adding a small amount of white to glaze mixtures tends to reduce the "tinted photograph" effect that glazing can produce.