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History

History Materials 

WHO GAVE COLORS THEIR NAMES?

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 1898 Views

In the mid-19th century, King Ludwig I of Bavaria longed to have something like the fine lime frescoes he saw in Italy.  But the damp cold climate north of the

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History Materials 

HAS WHITE BEEN USED TOO MUCH BY ARTISTS?

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 1800 Views

“The tendency to put in more and more white is so usual that it would be well to restrict the white.  Keep it off the palette.  Allow only so much

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History Materials Technique 

THE SECRET OF THE OLD MASTERS!

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 2187 Views

Artists sometimes are fascinated by the search for a “Secret” that makes old master paintings last so long and look so great. One eighteenth century painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, suggested

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History Philosophy 

THE MAGIC FLY AND THE NEW ART

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 2201 Views

According to legend, Giotto was the ugliest artist in town, but he was also the greatest illusionist.  As a boy, Giotto was able to work under Cimabue, the highly renowned

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History Materials 

THE ANCIENT COLOR FROM A FISH

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 2230 Views

The Greeks observed that the common cuttlefish emitted a brownish-black pigment when attacked.  They discovered that pigment could be made by drying and pulverizing the dried fish’s ink sack. Cuttlefish,

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History Technique 

PAINTING KNIVES IN HISTORY

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 2109 Views

Painting knives are certainly great tools for contemporary artists using impasto techniques.  Some form of the painting knife has  been in use for centuries.  In painting frescos, artists used iron,

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History Materials 

Van Gogh’s Problems with Cadmium Yellow

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 1959 Views

The yellows in one of Van Gogh’s paintings, “Flowers in a Blue Vase”, have been turning orange-grey.  This is not what a museum curator or collector wants!  So laboratories in

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History Philosophy 

Artists – Are They Workers or Entrepreneurs?

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 1733 Views

In the 1930s, over 15,000 artists were commissioned by the federal government to create art for public places, including libraries, post offices, and government offices. The artists were part of

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History Technique 

Plein Air Artist Inventions

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 2107 Views

During the 1800s, Plein Air painters were scattered throughout the country, from far west to the North Pole.  Landscape painting had become the dominant genre in America, and Plein Air

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History Materials 

Artist Charcoal and the “Withies”

September 23, 2018April 26, 2019 editor 3502 Views

Not all art materials come from large manufacturers.  The Coate family in Somerset, England makes willow baskets and artist willow charcoal on their own land.  They have been growing ‘withies’

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