Pigments Information

Pigments Through the Ages

http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/

One of the most valuable resources that I have discovered on the internet to aid in my egg tempera painting is the website "Pigments Through the Ages". This site is a very comprehensive look at artists' pigments, the history of their use, their manufacture, their properties, toxicity, etc. It even has an interactive page that allows the user to go to a pigment (through a color bar) and it will take you to that pigment's complete analysis pages. I suggest that anyone truly interested in painting should examine this website and those serious about their art should keep this bookmarked on their computer browser. After you examine the pages let me know what you think. I find it exciting and exhilarating to be able to examine artist pigments so carefully. I hope that you will feel the same.

A New Painting Approach

Painting with a Knife

As most of my readers know, the painting technique which I am most known for and my preferred way of creating art is with egg tempera. Once in a while I will do pen and ink drawings as finished art and occasionally I will paint in oils or do a pastel painting. I decided to really loosen up on a current painting by working in oils with a painting knife, exclusively. Not as a textural add-on but as a completed work. Being a stickler for glazing technique and a lot of detail, painting an impression of a scene with a knife in a highly textured style was new to me.

Back in June I had taken a seminar in preparing work for high end galleries. The instructor was Jason Horejs from the Xanadu Contemporary Fine Art Gallery in Phoenix, AZ. He had a wealth of helpful and interesting things to say about organizing on

e's work and preparing portfolios etc. but one of the most interesting thing

s that I felt he proposed was, as artists we should study and develop

work in different mediums and styles than we are comfortable with. Not necessarily to change our direction of work but to experience new and interesting ways to produce art. Than when we return to our regular art routine, we can bring new ideas to the table. Now I am preparing to get working on some new egg temperas and hope that experiencing different technique will bring new excitement to my egg tempera creations.

I am including a copy of my painting knife oil along with

an egg tempera so that you can see the difference between the styles with a similar subject. Let me know what you think.