It was long thought that Titian painted on a dark ground but, in fact, analysis has shown that he preferred to work on white gesso. It was simply that the lining paste applied to the… Read More »An Artist’s Use of Colour: Titian
Studies of paintings by Johannes Vermeer show that he liked to work on a coloured ground. Analysis of the paint layers show a commercial coloured gesso – probably applied by the canvas manufacturer – and… Read More »Painters’ Palettes: Vermeer
Rent collector by day and painter by night, Lowry’s hugely popular paintings depicted the working class industrial life of his native North-West England. “I am a simple man,” he once said. “I use simple materials:… Read More »Lowry’s Palette: An artist’s use of colour
JMW Turner, not overly interested in posterity, frequently used pigments that would give immediate impact but that were known to fade over time. When confronted with this by his good friend, William Winsor – of… Read More »Turner’s Palette: An artist’s use of colour
Madonna and Child with St. John This unfinished work shows us that Michelangelo used Terre Vert – made from green earth pigments found abundantly in nature – to underpaint areas of flesh using it as… Read More »Painters’ Palettes: Michelangelo
The word Crimson derives from the Arabic – qirmizi – the name of a red dye and the mediterranean, oak-dwelling scale insect that the dye is made from and is a deep red that tends… Read More »The History of Crimson
At the time that these Frescoes in a Pompeian Villa were painted, Cinnabar or Vermilion Red was one of the most expensive pigments on the market and so, by using it to so abundantly to… Read More »Looking at Vermilion – the Colour of Money
Many yellows have appeared throughout history in a desperate effort to find a true, bright and lightfast one including Lead Tin Yellow, Naples, Turners and chromium. Indian Yellow Pigment One yellow that was used throughout… Read More »History of Yellow Pigment in Painting