Flemish painting technique step by step. Flemish painting. Technique of the old masters

the past fascinates with its colors, the play of light and shadow, the appropriateness of each accent, general condition, color. But what we see now in galleries, preserved to this day, differs from what the author’s contemporaries saw. Oil painting tends to change over time, this is influenced by the selection of paints, execution technique, finishing coat of the work and storage conditions. This does not take into account minor mistakes that a talented master could make when experimenting with new methods. For this reason, the impression of the paintings and the description of their appearance may differ over the years.

Technique of the old masters

Technique oil painting gives a huge advantage in work: a picture can be painted for years, gradually modeling the shape and filling in the details with thin layers of paint (glaze). Therefore, corpus painting, where they immediately try to give completeness to the picture, is not typical for the classical manner of working with oil. A thoughtful step-by-step approach to applying paint allows you to achieve amazing shades and effects, since each previous layer is visible through the next one when glazing.

The Flemish method, which Leonardo da Vinci loved to use, consisted of the following steps:

• The drawing was painted in one color on a light ground, with sepia for the outline and main shadows.
• Then a thin underpainting was done with volume sculpting.
• The final stage was several glaze layers of reflections and detailing.

But over time, Leonardo’s dark brown writing, despite the thin layer, began to show through the colorful image, which led to the darkening of the picture in the shadows. In the base layer he often used burnt umber, yellow ochre, Prussian blue, cadmium yellow and burnt sienna. His final application of paint was so subtle that it was impossible to detect. Own developed sfumato method (shading) allowed this to be done with ease. Its secret is in highly diluted paint and working with a dry brush.

Rubens, Velazquez and Titian worked in the Italian method. It is characterized by the following stages of work:

• Applying colored primer to the canvas (with the addition of some pigment);
• Transferring the outline of the drawing onto the ground with chalk or charcoal and fixing it with suitable paint.
• The underpainting, dense in places, especially in the illuminated areas of the image, and completely absent in places, left the color of the ground.
• Final work in 1 or 2 steps with semi-glazes, less often with thin glazes. Rembrandt's ball of painting layers could reach a centimeter in thickness, but this is rather an exception.

In this technique, special importance was given to the use of overlapping additional colors, which made it possible to neutralize saturated soil in places. For example, red primer could be leveled out with a gray-green underpainting. Work with this technique was faster than with the Flemish method, which was more popular with customers. But the wrong choice of the color of the primer and the colors of the final layer could ruin the painting.

Coloring of the picture

To achieve harmony in painting use the full power of reflexes and complementary colors. There are also such small tricks as using a colored primer, as is common in the Italian method, or covering the painting with varnish with pigment.

Colored primers can be adhesive, emulsion and oil. The latter are a pasty layer of oil paint required color. If a white base gives a glowing effect, then a dark one gives depth to the colors.

Rembrandt painted on a dark gray ground, Bryullov painted on a base with umber pigment, Ivanov tinted his canvases with yellow ocher, Rubens used English red and umber pigments, Borovikovsky preferred gray ground for portraits, and Levitsky preferred gray-green. Darkening of the canvas awaited everyone who used earthen colors in abundance (sienna, umber, dark ocher).

For those who make copies of paintings by great artists in digital format, this resource will be of interest, where web palettes of artists are presented.

Varnish coating

In addition to earthen paints, which darken over time, resin-based coating varnishes (rosin, copal, amber) also change the lightness of the painting, giving it yellow tints. To artificially make the canvas look antique, ocher pigment or any other similar pigment is specially added to the varnish. But severe darkening is more likely to be caused by excess oil in the work. It can also lead to cracks. Although such the craquelure effect is often associated with working with half-damp paint, which is unacceptable for oil painting: they paint only on a dried or still damp layer, otherwise it is necessary to scrape it off and paint over it again.

I’ll say right away that I painted this small, first still life (40 x 50 cm) for about 2 years. I was in the workshop only on Saturdays, plus not always, with breaks for the summer, which is why it took so long. And the first job itself takes much longer than subsequent ones. As a standard, you should budget only six months for work.

I’m adding photos of other works to make it clearer, plus we worked in sync with my sister (there are shots when two canvases are standing next to each other, different hands are visible :)

There are a lot of nuances that cannot be covered in one article. This is an overview master class for those who have already taken oil into their hands.

So. A still life is being put up, drawn with a pencil on plain paper (a state sign will do). It’s not just painted, it’s built. All axes are checked with a ruler, verticals must be vertical, ellipses must be perfectly rounded, no fractures. All the flaws in the drawing will come to the surface, and it will be impossible to correct anything without consequences.

This layer-by-layer type of painting is very similar to watercolor - all the blots of the lower layers are visible. What adds further responsibility is that in a few hundred years the paint layer will thin out and our descendants will see the imperfections and bugs that you supposedly covered. Conclusion: you need to work efficiently at any time.

The pencil drawing is ready, now you need it transfer to primed canvas(more on this below).

To do this, the entire drawing is pierced along the lines, creating a gunpowder (stencil).

The back side looks like this:

The stencil is applied to the canvas and either sanina powder or graphite is rubbed in with a fluffy brush, depending on the color of the imprimatura.

Let's go back a little, canvas by this point it should already be prepared and dried. If you need a quick option, then a regular purchased canvas, primed with white, is suitable, onto which natural umber evenly diluted with turpentine is applied.

If you need the “real” option, then the canvas is stretched by hand, glued and primed with a thick layer of a mixture of titanium white and lamp black, smeared with a thick rectangular spatula and sent to dry for a year. Next it is sanded by hand. The imprimatura in both cases should have a middle tone.

In my photos there is a variant of umber imprimatura everywhere.

After the drawing is “spilled” onto the canvas, all the dots are carefully connected with gray ink and the entire drawing is restored.

I’ll say in advance that 10 days should pass between prescribing the same place (technological drying).

After that comes the stage grisaille. A black and white gradation with warmth and coldness is mixed (at the bottom right there is a board from lights to shadows).

The layout begins with the lights (don’t touch the highlights). White + lamp black + natural umber to neutralize the violet from the black. Closer to the shadows, burnt umber comes in (white is, of course, excluded) and steel de grain.

We remember: pasty lights, but we practically don’t touch the shadows (our previous umber glows).

Next stage: color underpainting.

Since the entire environment is gray, any color entered will appear very bright, so there will be several of these stages in order to later achieve the desired colors.

At this stage, each object is registered as a “blank” with just a shape (almost a repetition of grisaille) without textures or anything else.

And one more colored underpainting (and maybe more than one)...

And only after this is the completion stage (detailing and highlighting).

After completion, we dry it for 3 months and patch it up :)

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In this section I would like to introduce guests to my attempts in the field of very old technology multi-layer painting, which is often also called the Flemish painting technique. I became interested in this technique when I saw up close the works of old masters, artists of the Renaissance: Jan van Eyck, Peter Paul Rubens,
Petrus Christus, Pieter Bruegel and Leonardo da Vinci. Undoubtedly, these works are still role models, especially in terms of execution technique.
Analysis of information on this topic helped me formulate for myself some principles that will help me, if not repeat it, then at least try and somehow get closer to what is called the Flemish painting technique.

Peter Claes, Still Life

Here's what they often write about her in literature and on the Internet:
For example, this characteristic is given to this technology on the website http://www.chernorukov.ru/

"Historically, this is the first method of working oil paints, and legend attributes its invention, as well as the invention of the paints themselves, to the van Eyck brothers. Modern studies of works of art allow us to conclude that painting in the old Flemish masters always carried out on a white adhesive primer. The paints were applied in a thin glaze layer, and in such a way that not only all layers of painting, but also White color primer, which, shining through the paint, illuminates the picture from the inside. Also noteworthy is the virtual absence of white in painting, with the exception of those cases when white clothes or draperies were painted. Sometimes they are still found in the strongest light, but even then only in the form of the finest glazes. All work on the painting was carried out in strict sequence. It began with a drawing on thick paper the size of the future painting. The result was the so-called “cardboard”. An example of such cardboard is Leonardo da Vinci's drawing for the portrait of Isabella d'Este. The next stage of work is transferring the drawing onto the ground. To do this, it was pricked with a needle along the entire contour and borders of the shadows. Then the cardboard was placed on white sanded ground applied to the board, and The drawing was transferred with coal powder. Once in the holes made in the cardboard, the coal left light outlines of the drawing on the base of the picture. To fix it, the trace of coal was outlined with a pencil, a pen, or the sharp tip of a brush. Artists never painted directly on the ground, as they were afraid to disturb its whiteness, which, as already mentioned, played the role of the lightest tone in painting. After transferring the drawing, they began to shade it with a transparent one. brown paint, making sure that the soil shines through its layer everywhere. Shading was done with tempera or oil. In the second case, to prevent the paint binder from being absorbed into the soil, it was covered with an additional layer of glue. At this stage of work, the artist resolved almost all the tasks of the future painting, with the exception of color. Subsequently, no changes were made to the drawing or composition, and already in this form the work was piece of art. Sometimes, before finishing a painting in color, the entire painting was prepared in so-called “dead colors,” that is, cold, light, low-intensity tones. This preparation took on the final glaze layer of paint, with the help of which life was given to the entire work.
Works of painting executed Flemish method, are excellently preserved. Made on seasoned boards and strong soils, they resist destruction well. There is a virtual absence of white in the painting layer, which over time loses its hiding power and thereby changes general color works, ensured that we see the paintings almost the same as they came out of the workshops of their creators.
The main conditions that must be observed when using this method are meticulous drawing, the finest calculation, correct sequence work and a lot of patience."

My first experience was, of course, still life. I present a step-by-step demonstration of the development of the work
The 1st layer of imprimatura and drawing is not of interest, so I skip it.
The 2nd layer is registered with natural umber

The 3rd layer can be either a refinement and compaction of the previous one, or a “dead layer” made with whitewash, black paint and the addition of ocher, burnt umber and ultramarine for a little warmth or coldness.

The 4th layer is the first and weakest introduction of color into the painting.

The 5th layer introduces a more saturated color.

The 6th layer is the place where the details are finalized.

The 7th layer can be used for clarifying glazes, for example, to “muffle” the background.

Modern studies of works of art allow us to conclude that painting by the old Flemish masters was always done on a white glue ground. The paints were applied in a thin glaze layer, and in such a way that not only all layers of the painting, but also the white color of the primer, which, shining through the paint, illuminated the painting from the inside, took part in creating the overall pictorial effect. Also noteworthy is the virtual absence of white in painting, with the exception of those cases when white clothes or draperies were painted. Sometimes they are still found in the strongest light, but even then only in the form of the finest glazes.

All work on the painting was carried out in strict sequence. It began with a drawing on thick paper the size of the future painting. The result was the so-called “cardboard”. An example of such cardboard is Leonardo da Vinci's drawing for the portrait of Isabella d'Este.

The next stage of work is transferring the pattern onto the ground. To do this, it was pricked with a needle along the entire contour and borders of the shadows. Then the cardboard was placed on a white sanded primer applied to the board, and the design was transferred with charcoal powder. Getting into the holes made in the cardboard, the coal left light outlines of the design on the basis of the picture. To secure it, the charcoal mark was traced with a pencil, pen, or the sharp tip of a brush. In this case, they used either ink or some kind of transparent paint. Artists never painted directly on the ground, as they were afraid to disturb its whiteness, which, as already mentioned, played the role of the lightest tone in painting.

After transferring the drawing, we began shading with transparent brown paint, making sure that the primer was visible through its layer everywhere. Shading was done with tempera or oil. In the second case, to prevent the paint binder from being absorbed into the soil, it was covered with an additional layer of glue. At this stage of work, the artist resolved almost all the tasks of the future painting, with the exception of color. Subsequently, no changes were made to the drawing or composition, and already in this form the work was a work of art.

Sometimes, before finishing a painting in color, the entire painting was prepared in so-called “dead colors,” that is, cold, light, low-intensity tones. This preparation took on the final glaze layer of paint, with the help of which life was given to the entire work.

Leonardo da Vinci. "Carton for the portrait of Isabella d'Este."
Coal, sanguine, pastel. 1499.

Of course we drew general scheme Flemish painting method. Naturally, every artist who used it brought something of his own to it. For example, we know from the biography of the artist Hieronymus Bosch that he painted in one step, using the simplified Flemish method. At the same time, his paintings are very beautiful, and the colors have not changed color over time. Like all his contemporaries, he prepared a white, thin primer onto which he transferred the most detailed drawing. I shaded it with brown tempera paint, after which I covered the painting with a layer of transparent flesh-colored varnish, which insulated the soil from the penetration of oil from subsequent paint layers. After drying the painting, all that remained was to paint the background with glazes of pre-composed tones, and the work was completed. Only sometimes some places were additionally painted with a second layer to enhance the color. Pieter Bruegel wrote his works in a similar or very similar way.

Another variation of the Flemish method can be traced through the work of Leonardo da Vinci. If you look at him unfinished work“The Adoration of the Magi,” then you can be sure that it began on white ground. The drawing, transferred from cardboard, was outlined with transparent paint such as green earth. The drawing is shaded in the shadows with one brown tone, close to sepia, composed of three colors: black, speckled and red ocher. The entire work is shaded, the white ground is not left unwritten anywhere, even the sky is prepared in the same brown tone.

In the finished works of Leonardo da Vinci, the light is obtained thanks to the white ground. He painted the background of his works and clothes with the thinnest overlapping transparent layers of paint.

Using the Flemish method, Leonardo da Vinci was able to achieve an extraordinary rendering of chiaroscuro. At the same time, the paint layer is uniform and very thin.

The Flemish method was not used for long by artists. It existed in its pure form for no more than two centuries, but many great works were created precisely in this way. In addition to the already mentioned masters, it was used by Holbein, Dürer, Perugino, Rogier van der Weyden, Clouet and other artists.

Paintings made using the Flemish method are distinguished by their excellent preservation. Made on seasoned boards and strong soils, they resist destruction well. The practical absence of white in the painting layer, which loses its hiding power over time and thereby changes the overall color of the work, ensures that we see the paintings almost the same as they came out of the workshops of their creators.

The main conditions that must be observed when using this method are scrupulous drawing, the finest calculations, the correct sequence of work and great patience.

He worked in the chiaroscuro (light-shadow) technique, in which the dark areas of the picture are contrasted with the light ones. It is noteworthy that not a single sketch of Caravaggio has been discovered. He immediately worked on the final version of the work.

17th century painting in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands embraced new trends like a gulp fresh air. The Italians de Fiori and Gentileschi, the Spaniard Ribera, Terbruggen and Barburen worked in a similar technique.
Caravaggism also had strong influence to the stages of creativity of such masters as Peter Paul Rubens, Georges de La Tour and Rembrandt.

The voluminous paintings of the Caravaggists amaze with their depth and attention to detail. Let's talk more about the Dutch painters who worked with this technique.

Hendrik Terbruggen was the first to accept the idea. He is in early XVII century visited Rome, where he met Manfredi, Saraceni and Gentileschi. It was the Dutchman who initiated the Utrecht school of painting with this technique.

The subjects of the paintings are realistic, they are characterized by the gentle humor of the scenes depicted. Terbruggen showed not only individual moments of contemporary life, but also rethought traditional naturalism.

Honthorst went further in the development of the school. He turned to Bible stories, but the plot was based on the everyday point of view of the Dutch of the 17th century. Thus, in his paintings we see a clear influence of the chiaroscuro technique. It was his works influenced by the Caravaggists that brought him fame in Italy. For his genre scenes by candlelight, he received the nickname “night”.

Unlike the Utrecht school, Flemish painters like Rubens and van Dyck did not become ardent supporters of Caravaggism. This style is indicated in their works only as a separate stage in the formation of a personal style.

Adrian Brouwer and David Teniers

Over the course of several centuries, the painting of Flemish masters has undergone significant changes. We will begin our review of artists from the later stages, when there was a move away from monumental paintings to narrowly focused subjects.

First Brouwer, and then Teniers the Younger, based their creativity on scenes from Everyday life ordinary Dutch people. Thus, Adrian, continuing the motifs of Pieter Bruegel, somewhat changes the technique of writing and the focus of his paintings.

It focuses on the most unsightly side of life. He looks for types for his canvases in smoky, dimly lit taverns and taverns. Nevertheless, Brouwer's paintings amaze with their expression and depth of character. The artist hides the main characters in the depths, putting still lifes in the foreground.

A fight playing dice or cards, a sleeping smoker or dancing drunks. It was precisely such subjects that interested the painter.

But more late works Browers become soft, in them humor already prevails over grotesqueness and unrestraint. Now the canvases contain philosophical sentiments and reflect the leisurely pace of thoughtful characters.

Researchers say that in the 17th century, Flemish artists began to become smaller compared to the previous generation of masters. However, we simply see a transition from the vivid expression of the mythical subjects of Rubens and the burlesque of Jordaens to the calm life of the peasants in Teniers the Younger.

The latter, in particular, concentrated on the carefree moments of village holidays. He tried to depict weddings and celebrations of ordinary farmers. Moreover, special attention was paid to external details and idealization of the lifestyle.

Frans Snyders

Like Anton van Dijk, whom we will talk about later, he began training with Hendrik van Balen. In addition, Pieter Bruegel the Younger was also his mentor.

Looking at the works of this master, we get acquainted with another facet of creativity in which Flemish painting is so rich. Snyders' paintings are completely different from the paintings of his contemporaries. France managed to find his niche and develop in it to the heights of an unsurpassed master.

He became the best in depicting still lifes and animals. As an animal painter, he was often invited by other painters, in particular Rubens, to create certain parts their masterpieces.

In Snyders's work there is a gradual transition from still lifes to early years to hunting scenes in more later periods. Despite all his dislike for portraits and depictions of people, they are still present in his canvases. How did he get out of the situation?

It’s simple, France invited Janssens, Jordaens and other masters he knew from the guild to create images of hunters.

Thus, we see that 17th century painting in Flanders reflects a heterogeneous stage of transition from previous techniques and views. It did not happen as smoothly as in Italy, but it gave the world completely unusual creations by Flemish masters.

Jacob Jordaens

Flemish painting of the 17th century is characterized by greater freedom compared to the previous period. Here you can see not only live scenes from life, but also the beginnings of humor. In particular, he often allowed himself to introduce a piece of burlesque into his canvases.

In his work, he did not reach significant heights as a portrait painter, but nevertheless, he became perhaps the best in conveying character in a picture. Thus, one of his main series - “Festivities of the Bean King” - is based on illustrating folklore, folk sayings, jokes and sayings. These canvases depict the crowded, cheerful, vibrant life of Dutch society in the 17th century.

Speaking of Dutch art painting of this period, we will often mention the name of Peter Paul Rubens. It was his influence that was reflected in the works of most Flemish artists.

Jordaens also did not escape this fate. He worked for some time in Rubens' workshops, creating sketches for canvases. However, Jacob was better at creating tenebrism and chiaroscuro techniques.

If we take a closer look at Jordaens' masterpieces and compare them with the works of Peter Paul, we will see a clear influence of the latter. But Jacob's paintings are distinguished by warmer colors, freedom and softness.

Peter Rubens

When discussing the masterpieces of Flemish painting, one cannot fail to mention Rubens. Peter Paul was a recognized master during his lifetime. He is considered a virtuoso of religious and mythical themes, but the artist showed no less talent in the technique of landscape and portraiture.

He grew up in a family that fell into disgrace due to his father's tricks in his youth. Soon after the death of their parent, their reputation is restored, and Rubens and his mother return to Antwerp.

Here the young man quickly acquires the necessary connections, he is made the page of the Countess de Lalen. Additionally, Peter Paul meets Tobias, Verhacht, van Noort. But Otto van Veen had a special influence on him as a mentor. It was this artist who played a decisive role in shaping the style of the future master.

After four years of training with Otto Rubens, they were accepted into a guild of artists, engravers and sculptors called the Guild of St. Luke. Completion of studies, according to a long-standing tradition Dutch masters, became a trip to Italy. There Peter Paul studied and copied the best masterpieces this era.

It is not surprising that the paintings of Flemish artists are reminiscent of the techniques of some Italian Renaissance masters.

In Italy, Rubens lived and worked under famous philanthropist and collector Vincenzo Gonzaga. Researchers call this period of his work Mantuan, because the estate of the patron Peter Paul was located in this town.

But the provincial location and Gonzaga's desire to use it did not please Rubens. In the letter, he writes that Vicenzo could just as well have used the services of portrait painters and craftsmen. Two years later, the young man finds patrons and orders in Rome.

The main achievement of the Roman period was the painting of Santa Maria in Valicella and the altar of the monastery in Fermo.

After the death of his mother, Rubens returns to Antwerp, where he quickly becomes the highest paid master. The salary he received at the Brussels court allowed him to live in grand style, have a large workshop, and many apprentices.

In addition, Peter Paul maintained relations with the Jesuit order, with whom he was raised as a child. From them he receives orders for interior decoration Antwerp Church of St. Charles Borromean. Here he is helped by his best student, Anton van Dyck, whom we will talk about later.

Rubens spent the second half of his life on diplomatic missions. Shortly before his death, he bought himself an estate, where he settled and began painting landscapes and depicting the life of peasants.

The influence of Titian and Bruegel is especially evident in the work of this great master. The most famous works are the paintings “Samson and Delilah”, “The Hunt for the Hippopotamus”, “The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus”.

Rubens had such a strong influence on Western European painting that in 1843 a monument was erected to him on the Green Square in Antwerp.

Anton van Dyck

Court portrait painter, master of mythical and religious subjects in painting, artist - all these are the characteristics of Anton van Dyck, best student Peter Paul Rubens.

This master’s painting techniques were formed during his studies with Hendrik van Balen, to whom he was apprenticed. It was the years spent in this painter’s studio that allowed Anton to quickly gain local fame.

At the age of fourteen he painted his first masterpiece, and at fifteen he opened his first workshop. Thus, at a young age, van Dyck became an Antwerp celebrity.

At the age of seventeen, Anton was accepted into the Guild of St. Luke, where he became an apprentice to Rubens. Over the course of two years (from 1918 to 1920), van Dyck painted portraits of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles on thirteen boards. Today these works are kept in many museums around the world.

Anton van Dyck's painting art was more focused on religious themes. He writes his famous paintings"The Crowning" and "The Kiss of Judas".

The period of travel began in 1621. First, the young artist works in London, under King James, and then goes to Italy. In 1632, Anton returned to London, where Charles I knighted him and gave him the position of court artist. Here he worked until his death.

His paintings are exhibited in museums in Munich, Vienna, Louvre, Washington, New York and many other halls around the world.

Thus, today we, dear readers, learned about Flemish painting. You got an idea about the history of its formation and the technique of creating canvases. In addition, we briefly met the greatest Dutch masters of this period.