Leonardo and Raphael are to blame for my addiction—Part Two! Today, we're diving into brushes and the unique marks they leave behind. These marks become a powerful tool for artists to communicate their message.
From Tempera to Oil: A Shift in Technique
This shift happens as the art world moves away from egg tempera, with its distinct outlined strokes, and embraces the slower-drying oil paints now available to everyone, including masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. A fantastic place to witness this evolution is the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., which offers a fascinating tour through various painting techniques and marks across time.
Softening Edges: The Renaissance Touch
Remember, one period of art isn't inherently better than another; they are diverse expressions evoking different moods and messages. In 13th-century art, crosshatching creates the illusion of transparency in shadows, unlike Monet's approach. Leonardo and Raphael introduced terms like "sfumato" and "chiaroscuro" to soften edges, adding a layer of refinement to their work. These techniques were crucial elements within humanism, a central theme of the Italian Renaissance.
Brush Types
These Italian masters' influence extended to later artists like Rembrandt, Velazquez, Sargent, and even advancements in brush types and materials. One early example is the fan brush, highly effective for painters. It breaks up object edges, leaving marks similar to crosshatching with pencil or etching, reminiscent of Rembrandt's paintings.
My personal favorites are:
Robert Simmons - Signet Bristle, Series 408, Fan Brush #3
Rosemary Brush Co. series 2055 sizes 2 and 3
Sargent later employed this technique strategically to guide your gaze to specific areas within a painting—a topic for another blog post, as we have over 100 Sargent painting videos exploring it in depth! Another brush I find incredibly successful is the Silver mop brush (size 10), which I used during the final touches of my portrait of President Carter at the National Gallery of Art. It effortlessly softens edges, reminiscent of Vermeer's style.
Unlike the fan brush, which creates a Rembrandt-like effect with its bristle hairs, the mop brush produces smoother, refined strokes similar to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and Ginevra de' Benci in the National Gallery of Art.
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