Tonalism:The intersection of Art and Music

The term Tonalism describes a style of American art beginning in the 1870s focused primarily on depicting landscapes that emphasized tonal values to express mood or poetic feeling. James McNeill Whistler’s work identified the style that used musical terms such as nocturnes in his titles. Just like musical arrangements, Whistler compared paintings to musical compositions by arranging tonal values and colors just like a composer would score a series of related notes. The style, known as "Tonal School," focused on closely related colors that emphasized color, line, and shape and that evoked quiet contemplation and emotion. The palettes were often cool, and the subjects were often scenes with softly brushed color harmonies. The favorite time of day was dawn, early morning, dusk, twilight or evening during late autumn, winter or early spring, all seasons of quiet and often hazy light..

Three different approaches to Tonalism during this time, the Barbizon School, the Aesthetic Movement and Symbolism, addressed atmospheric painterliness and close tonal harmonies.

Tonalism became the precursor of 20th century American abstract art.

Passing Trains, by Clarice Beckett

The Invention of Paper; Transforming Mankind Through Art and Literature

It can be said that nothing transformed the course of history, including the evolution of mankind, more than paper. Starting with the invention of papyrus as early as 2900 BC, paper has taken many forms, including parchment, vellum and plant pulp.

The earliest form of papermaking that we still use today began in 50 AD. by a Chinese court official named Cai Lun. Cai mixed tree bark pulp with gags and hemp fibers to provide the first durable and transportable paper surface. The Chinese stitched paper and bound it to create the first books, and went on to become the leader in book production. In the Middle Ages, Monks illustrated manuscripts commissioned by the church known as codices. These became the oldest examples of art on paper dating from 400 AD.

Woodblock printing on paper began in Asia and spread to Europe in the 18th century. German artist Albrecht Dürer was known for his woodblock prints and engravings and even used paper for paintings. In 1754, James Whitman invented wove, a smoother surface than the textured laid paper. It was treated with gelatin to make it strong and absorbent. This made it useful for a variety of art forms.

As paper mills sprung up all over Europe, it became more affordable than paintings on canvas. As a result, more people could afford works of art on paper. In the 19th century, Impressionists used paper for drawing, pastels, printmaking and watercolor. Japanese color prints introduced Asian art to the world at this time and was very popular. Edgar Degas discovered monotype, a unique print, loosely painted, made by applying paint or printing ink to a flat sheet of metal, glass, or plastic. The painted image is transferred to paper either by manually rubbing or using a press.

Today, you can find paper is a variety of textures, colors and sizes. Handmade paper is seeing a resurgence. Two artists, Helen Hiebert, and May Babcock offer instructions on how to make your own paper. Helen can be reached at helenhiefertstudio.com and May at paperslurry.com.



Albrecht Dürer - St. Christopher Crossing the Stream

The Principal of Fat Over Lean

Some oil paints, especially student grade, contain fillers, such as chalk and additives, that thicken the paint and sometimes make it hard to apply. The first inclination is to thin the paint with odorless mineral spirits such as Gamsol, but be careful! In the early stages of a painting, thinning the paint with mineral spirits is okay as long as the ratio of oil to mineral spirits is no more than 50/50. As you build more layers of paint, however, you want to lessen the amount of mineral spirits and increase the amount of oil (if the paint needs thinning). 

Some artist grade paints have plenty of oil, so the addition of oil or mineral spirits is not necessary. Thinning paint with mineral spirits tends to weaken the paint and makes it susceptible to cracking. It will also tend to ‘sink’ the colors, causing the gloss in the paint to flatten and become dull. If you apply paint that is thinned with mineral spirits over a fat layer of paint, the upper layer will crack because it will dry faster than the layer under it. Use a refined or cold pressed linseed oil to extend the viscosity of the paint as you build layers, but use only enough to make the paint easy to apply. Both are thin oils, versus a stand oil, which is thick and dries slowly.

The Art of Fresco Painting

Recently, I went on a week-long trip to Italy, the birth of the Renaissance, and the birthplace of one of my favorite artists, Michaelangelo. Even though the trip didn’t include many museums, I managed to visit a few in my free time, including the Sistine Chapel, where some of the most famous artists, including Michaelangelo, were represented. I found that a lot of Italian art were in the form of frescos, many of which are still visible after hundreds of years of pollution and water damage. I realized that I didn’t know how these paintings were made, so I did some research.

The word fresco is derived from the Italian word for "fresh." Fresco or Buon fresco is a technique of mural painting applied to freshly laid lime plaster made of pozzolana (volcanic material, predominantly composed of fine volcanic glass), water and lime. The artist would combine dry-powder pigment with water and apply it to the plaster. The colors had a translucent quality at first. As the pigment was absorbed into the plaster, a process called carbonization occurs. Carbon dioxide in the air combined with the lime in the plaster formed a rock-hard surface of calcium carbonate, cementing the pigment into the wall surface.

The under layer, called arriccio, is laid slightly coarsely and is left to dry, usually for some several days. Using a full-scale drawing, the artists transferred the outlines of the design onto the wall from a tracing made of the drawing. On the dried arriccio, in early frescos, the artist sketched the sinopia, using a dark reddish-brown natural earth pigment. Once dry, the wet layer, the intonaco, is applied. Intonaco is an Italian term for the final, very thin layer of plaster. The intonaco is painted while still wet, in order to allow the pigment to penetrate. This layer was only the size of the surface that was expected to be completed that day, the giornata (Italian for “day”), sometimes matching the contours of the figures or the landscape, but more often just starting from the top of the composition. A layer of plaster will take seven to eight hours to dry. The artist would start to paint one hour after the application and continue until two hours before the drying time—giving about five- or six-hours’ working time. Once a giornata is dried, any unpainted intonaco must be removed with a tool before starting again the next day.

Some pigments did not work well applied on intonaco because of alkalinity of the plaster. Blue was a particular problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco (“dry”), because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli, the only two blue pigments then available, would work with wet plaster. Colors applied to dry plaster required a binding medium, such as egg tempura, glue or oil to firmly attach the pigment to the wall. Over time, Buon fresco paintings lasted longer than a secco, since it bound well with the plaster.

Artists transferred their paper drawings to the wall by tracing along the larger areas of the drawing with a thin piece of wood that pierced the paper and left a light indentation on the surface. Another technique called pouncing involved pricking the paper along the lines of the drawing with a pointed instrument leaving small dots. The artist would hold the drawing on the plaster surface and, with a bag of soot, rap the surface of the paper over the dotted area, leaving a line of black dots on the plaster surface.

A technique used in the popular frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael was to scrape indentations into certain areas of the plaster while still wet to increase the illusion of depth and to accent certain areas over others. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark “outlining” of his central figures within his frescoes.

The fresco painting technique has been employed for thousands of years, but is most commonly seen in early Renaissance art. During the sixteenth century in Italy, wall painting began to include oil painting on canvas as the need for portability and the support from wealthy merchants competed with church patrons.

Shadows Revisited: Color

In continuation of my blog on shadows, we need to address the effects of color. When we first think of shadows, we might automatically assume that they are gray or black. In reality, it’s more complex than that. The color of a shadow depends on two things, with some exceptions:
The color of the light source
The color of the surface the shadow is falling onto

The color of the light source

I tell my students that when there’s a cool light, you will see warm shadows, and when there’s a warm light, you will see cool shadows. By warm shadows, I mean that there’s a hint of a warm color such as red or yellow, and by cool shadows, there could be a hint of blue or purple in the mix.

Surface color

In addition to these colors, you need to look at the color of the surface.

For example, on a sunny day, leaves casting a shadow onto green grass would look different to leaves casting a shadow onto a brown dirt path. The green of the grass would affect the color of the shadow, and the color of the dirt path would affect the color of the shadows from the leaves.

You would have the same shadow color that would be purple/gray or blue/gray initially, (because of the warm sunlight) but then it would be altered by the general color of the surface that the shadow is falling onto.

There are a couple of exceptions to these rules:

Translucent objects: When you have a translucent object and light can pass through it, like a stained-glass window, or a liquid in a glass bottle. The shadow colors would be altered by the color of the object.

Reflective objects: When you have a reflective object, like a white building and the ambient light reflects off the surface and bounces into the cast shadow.

Recap

Step 1 – Observe the shape of the cast shadow. This is in direct response to the shape of the object casting the shadow and the shape of the surface the shadow falls onto.

Step 2 – Observe the edge quality of the shadow. How far is the shadow from the object you’re painting? How much has is softened (even in hard sunlight)

Step 3 – Observe the color temperature of the light source. Warm light, cool but very muted shadows, cool light warm but very muted shadows.

Step 4 – Observe the local color of the surface the cast shadow is falling onto.

Step 5 – Observe the value of the shadow.

Drawing Simplified, Part II: Shadows and Form

One of the basic foundations of a good drawing or painting, besides rendering the proper shape, is good form. Form turns a two-dimensional object into a three-dimensional object, and gives interest to a picture. All objects have form, some more subtle than others, depending on the light source. Shadows provide form to objects and are denoted in values. The number of values (the dark and lightness) to a form depends on the light source, how close it is and how strong it is.

Shadows

Shadows provide dimension to an object. The shadow shape is the most discernable shape of value of an object. It is opposite the light source and reveals both the form (a solid shape with volume) and plane (a flattened area of a form) of an object.

Shadow Edges

Depending on the object, the edges of a shadow can be either sharp or soft. Observing an angular or planed object, as one plane meets another and turns away from the light, the shadow edges are sharp. For a curved object, the shadow edge is soft with a gradual shift in tone.

Distance also plays a part in the edges of a shadow. If the light source is close to the object, the cast shadow is softer on the edges. As you pull the light away from an object, the cast shadow is longer and has sharper edges.

Painting Shadows: Edges and Value

There’s so much to share about painting shadows, so I’m going to break it into a two-part series.

When we look at shadows, we are looking at the negative space, which is the area around the subject. This space is filled with shapes that are cast by the subject from either direct light or diffused light. A cast shadow occurs when an object blocks the light and casts a shadow on a surface. It is usually a darker shadow than the shadows on the object.

Changing the level of light will change the length of the cast shadows. The lower the light on the object, the longer the cast shadow. In this case, care should be taken that the shadow doesn’t become the focus of the picture, rather than the object itself.

Direct sunlight or a strong indoor light gives us a hard light source that creates clearly visible shadows and produces a hard crisp edge to the cast shadows, usually.
A cloudy sky gives us a soft light source which gives much subtler shadows with soft blurry edges.

When you’re painting a sunlit scene, the hardness of the shadows cast depends on the distance between the subject and the surface where the shadow falls. If the distance is only a few inches, it will tend to be a hard-edged shadow. If the distance is a few feet, as from a tree, the edges tend to be soft.

Value

Besides the edges of the shadow, it’s important to note the value of the shadows. Remember, value is the lightness or darkness of a subject. You can use a ten-point value scale to help you figure out the value of a shadow. also notice how they become lighter in value towards the edges.

You also need to take into account reflected light. Outdoors, shadows are often lighter than you think due to the sunlight bouncing back into them. Because of the amount of bounced light outside, a white object will reflect more light into its shadows.

Blending Tools for Drawing

Blending tools are great for a variety of art applications, but they are especially great for working with graphite, charcoal and soft pastels. They are most often used to move material around on a drawing surface to adjust the values. With blending tools, you can make smoother transitions between darks and lights and create different textures.

While you can use your fingers to blend areas in your work, your fingers contain oils that can contaminate the medium, leading to smudges or areas that are difficult to erase. Using a blending tool prevents the oils from mixing with the medium.

Blending Stumps

The most popular tools for blending drawing media are blending stumps and blending tortillons. Blending stumps are compressed cylinders of paper that come to a point at the end. They come in a variety of widths, but the tips are consistent in sharpness. Blending stumps typically have two pointed ends and when one end becomes dirty, the other can be used. Blending stumps are very inexpensive and can be disposed when they become too dirty to use. However, rubbing the soiled end against sandpaper will clean them to a degree.

Blending Tortillons

Blending tortillons are tightly rolled cylinders of paper that come to a point. Tortillons, unlike stumps, have only one end that is sharp. Like blending stumps, tortillons come in a variety of widths, but the ends are similar in "sharpness". Tortillons cannot be cleaned with sandpaper and are often disposed of when they become too dirty for use.

Cataloging Your Artwork

When I began to paint, I looked for ways to keep track of my work as it built up. I came up with a simple spreadsheet that I created in Excel that I can adjust and review as I moved forward. As I created works of art, I came up with a numbering system that I think works really well. Here’s how it goes:

· Name: Name of the painting

· Type: Landscape, Portrait, etc.

· Medium: Oil, Watercolor, etc.

· Size: width x height in inches

· Year: Year completed

· Varnish: Yes or No

· Catalog number: Initials for Type, year, and the number that designates the number of completed work: for example L24330 is Landscape, completed in 2024, and 330th art piece.

· Sold To: If sold, who the buyer was

· Address: Address of the buyer

· Date sold: date of the sale

· Price: Price to be sold or was sold. N/A for donations

· Note: Any additional information on the piece.

I think it’s really important to keep track of your work and your customers. It’s also helpful to be able to look up the names of artwork and when they were created. It’s also a great way to see what size frames you’ve used and which you can swap out. As things change, it’s crucial to keep your system updated. On my canvas or the back of a drawing, I put the name of the artwork, the catalog number, my name and the copyright symbol and year. I try to do this in ink and make it easy to read. I always sign my work in a paint color that is in the painting or in a medium that matches the artwork on the front.

The Origins of Blue Paper

Drawing on Blue: European Drawings on Blue Paper, 1400s-1700s is an exhibition now showing at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It traces the history of Blue paper and it’s adoption by European artists for its versatility and aesthetic qualities.

Blue paper was first made in Italy in the late fourteenth century. Earliest origins of blue paper were attributed to Venice, whose strong trade with the East included prized dyed white paper in red, orange and blue. Blue paper was originally made from old blue hemp and linen rags that were broken down into fiber pulp and then formed into sheets immersed in sizing in a mold. The sizing gave the paper a protective coating that helped to keep the ink and chalk from spreading once it was applied. They were manufactured in family-owned paper mills, in a process that was passed down through generations.

In the next two centuries, manufacturing plants sprung up all over Europe. This produced various production methods and quality. Some countries banned the import of blue paper from other countries to help establish and protect their own products.

Early fabrics were colored from natural dyes. One of the most dye fast colors was blue made originally from the woad plant, which was cultivated in Italy and later all of Europe. Woad is a yellow-flowered European plant from the cabbage family. The blue dye was extracted from the leaves after they had been dried, powdered and fermented. The blue textile dyes woad, logwood (a species of flowering tree in the legume family), and litmus (A coloring matter from lichens) were commonly used in paper coloring. Indigo was imported from the East and used in Italian paper production and later spread to Europe.

At first, blue paper was used as a commodity wrapping. As the quality improved, artists began to use it for studies. The first known artwork on blue paper has been attributed to Giovanni da Moden, a Bolognese painter. Later, the Italian painter Giovanni Bellini and many of his students drew studies with ink washes over black chalk on blue paper. The blue shade served as a mid-tone, while the wash defined the shadows and while chalk provided the highlights, This effect, known as chiaroscuro, is an artistic technique that creates pronounced contrast between areas of light and dark within a composition.

By the 18th century, drawings on blue paper were much sought after by art dealers. One painter, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, a history painter, produced hundreds of studies of his work on blue paper. He experimented with Prussian Blue and opaque white and gray washes that heightened the contrast. Sadly, with time, much of the blue paper used for artwork has faded to light or greenish blue.

By the 1800s, public demand for white paper forced papermakers to turn to using low-quality white rags. Papermakers started to tint white papers with blue pigments and dyes to visually neutralize their yellowish tonality of the rags.

 

Study of a Woman's Hands, 1646, Cornelis Janson van Ceulen. Black chalk heightened with white chalk on blue paper.

 

A Muse, mid-1720s, Rosalba Carriera. Pastel on blue paper.

Jonah Preaching at Nineveh, after 1733, Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner. Brown ink, gray wash, heightened with white opaque watercolor on blue paper with framing lines in black ink.

Ten Tips to Learn How to Draw

1. Have a good reference. If using photos, it helps to change color photos to black and white, if possible. This way you can see the full range of values more easily. If drawing from life, try to have a strong light source such as a spotlight, if possible. If not, figure out the direction and strength of the light on your subject. Also, look for reflected light.
2. Learn to “see” a subject. Spend time observing before you start your drawing. Look for the light and dark areas, soft and sharp edges, and contemplate the overall composition.
3. Make a ten-point value scale and use it as a reference. The best drawings have a full range of value. Look for the light and dark areas in your reference and learn how to shade to give your drawing dimension.
4. Look for the basic shapes: Cube, sphere, triangle and cylinder. All things have one or more basic shape. You can start with a shape and adapt it to your subject.
5. Try working with a grid when using reference photos. It’s a great way to learn how to observe your subject and is a helpful guide for the very beginner.
6. Know your medium and change it up. Understand how to hold a pencil to get the most out of the graphite, learn about the different pencil hardnesses and darknesses. Learn how to best use your blending stumps to get the results you want. Familiarize yourself with different types of charcoal. Try color markers and pen and ink.
7. Experiment with different surfaces. Drawing papers come in a variety of shades and thicknesses. Try toned papers and smooth and rough surfaces.
8. Loosen up. Draw with your shoulder instead of your wrist by moving your whole arm when you make a mark.
9. Draw often. Keep a sketchbook and draw anything and everything. Drawing is a skill that is learned and improves with practice.
10. Have fun. Draw with abandon, doodle, annotate, and don’t worry about what others think.