1. Chapter 6
Painting

2. Two-Dimensional Art
• Drawing
• Painting
• Printmaking
• Imaging: Photography, Film, Video,
and Digital Arts

3. Suddenly I realized that each
brushstroke is a decision … In the
end I realize that whatever meaning
that picture has is the accumulated
meaning of ten thousand
brushstrokes, each one decided as it
was painted.
–Robert Motherwell

8. PAINT
• Painting - The application of pigment to a
surface
– Paint can be applied to many surfaces.
• Vehicle - the binding agent that holds the
pigment to generate the paint
• Medium - the solvent used in creating paint
• Paint - a liquid material that imparts color to
a surface

9. Types of Painting
• Fresco
• Encaustic
• Tempera
• Oil
• Acrylic
• Watercolor
• Spray Paint

10. Fresco
• Fresco - the art of painting on plaster
– Was popular in the Renaissance
– Was revived in Mexico after WWI
• Buon fresco or true fresco - done on damp,
lime plaster.
• Fresco secco - painting on dry plaster
Problems with fresco:
• Must work fast, you can only paint what can
be completed in one day. This can create
visible seams
• Some colors don’t work well with lime. (such
as blue)

15. Encaustic
Encaustic - One of the earliest methods of
applying color to a surface; uses a pigment in
a wax vehicle that has been heated to a liquid
state
• Very old
• Extremely durable
• Colors remain vibrant
• Surface will retain a hard luster
• Used by the Egyptians and the Romans

19. Encaustic Painting
Examine an unusual
contemporary use of encaustic
painting with a creative Native-
American encaustic
interpretation:

20. Figure 6.3, p.124 KAY WALKINGSTICK. Solstice (1982). Acrylic and wax on canvas. 48” x 48” x 3 1⁄2”.

21. Tempera
Tempera - uses ground pigments mixed with a
vehicle of egg yolk or whole egg thinned with
water
• Popular for centuries, however the traditional
composition is rarely used today
• Used by the Greeks and Romans
• The exclusive painting medium of artists in
the Middle Ages
• Fell out of favor in the 1300’s with the
introduction of oil painting.

24. Advantages of Tempera
• Extremely durable
• Pure and brilliant colors
• Color did not become compromised by
oxidation
• Consistency and fluidity allowed for
precision
Disadvantages:
• Dries quickly
• Hard to rework
• Can not provide subtle gradation of tone

25. Tempera Terms
• Gesso - A combination of powdered chalk,
plaster, and animal glue used as a ground in
tempera.
• Gilding - the application of thinly hammered
sheets of gold to a panel surface (commonly
used in conjunction with tempera)
• Egg Tempera - the egg mixture traditionally
used as a vehicle in tempera

26. Figure 6.4, p.125: GENTILE DA FABRIANO. Adoration of the Magi (1423). Tempera on wood panel.
9’10 1⁄8” x 9’3”.

27. Figure 6.5, p.125: FRANZ GERTSCH. Silvia (1998). Tempera on unprimed canvas. 9’ 6-1⁄2” x 9’ 2-1⁄4”.

29. Oil
Oil painting - consists of ground pigments
combined with a linseed oil vehicle and a
turpentine medium or thinner
• The transition from tempera to oil was
gradual.
• Oil paint is naturally slow drying, but can be
sped up with the addition of certain agents
• The first oils were used on wood panels.
Glazing - the application of multiple layers of
transparent films of paint to a surface

30. Oil’s Advantages
• Colors can be blended easily.
• Slow drying lets you rework problem
areas.
• Can create beautiful delicate colors
• The eventual use of canvas as a ground
allowed paintings to get much bigger.

31. Figure 6.8, p.127: FOLLOWER OF REMBRANDT VAN RIJN. Head of St. Matthew (c. 1661). Oil on wood.
9 7⁄8” x 7 3⁄4”.

38. Acrylic
Acrylic - is a mixture of pigment and a
plastic vehicle that can be thinned with
water.
Advantages of acrylic paint over oil paint:
• Far less messy to use
• Can be used on a larger variety of
surfaces
• Surfaces don’t need special preparation

47. Watercolor
Watercolor - Originally defined as any painting medium that
employs water as a solvent; today refers to a specific technique
really called aquarelle
Aquarelle - Transparent films of paint are applied to a white
absorbent surface
– Egyptian artists used a form of watercolor painting.
– Also used in the Middle Ages
Gouache - Watercolor mixed with a high concentration of vehicle
and opaque ingredients such as chalk primarily used during the
Byzantine and Romanesque eras of Christian art

48. Advantages and Disadvantages of
Watercolor
Disadvantages:
• White does not exist, it is created by letting
the paper shine through.
• The artist must plan ahead.
• Corrections are not possible
Advantages:
• Portable
• Great for sketches and impressions
• Can also be a used as a final piece

49. Figure 6.12, p.129: DAVID HOCKNEY. Punchinello with Block, for Ravel’s “Parade Triple Bill” (1980). Gouache
on paper. 14” x 17”.

50. Figure 6.14, p.131: RALPH GOINGS. Rock Ola (1992). Watercolor on paper. 14” x 20 3⁄4”.

51. Figure 6.15, p.131: EMIL NOLDE. Still Life, Tulips (c. 1930). Watercolor on paper. 18 1⁄2” x 13 1⁄2”.

52. Spray Paint
Is spray painting like prehistoric cave painting?
It raises similar questions:
• Why do they do it?
• Is it art?
• Is it urban ritual?
• Will is speak in history to the trails of inner-
city living?

57. Mixed Media
Collage or papiers collés - Picasso and Braque
were the first to incorporate pieces of
newsprint, wallpaper, labels from wine
bottles, and oilcloth into their paintings.
Miriam Schapiro create what she calls
“femmage”, with is a version of collage using
feminine imagery and materials.