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Grisaille
Grisaille (pronounced griz-eye) is a French word that is based on "gris" which means "gray".
Grisaille is a word used for painting only in "gray tones", and no color mixed in. The purpose of grisaille is to create the illusion of 3 dimensional form on a flat surface. Grisaille painting ranging from light to dark, transparent to opaque, flat to reflective. During the European Renaissance, the Grisaille technique was called "Painting in Black and White", or the "dead coloring process". The word "grisaille" was coined several centuries later by the French.
Transparent color glazes are then applied over the finished grisaille painting to bring it to a full color art work. Click the link to find out more about Pure Color Glazing.
These paintings are Linda Coulter's original grisaille art works. The country house was published in PaintWorks magazine, along with Linda's instructions of how to paint it.
History of "grisaille"After the fall of Rome in 400 AD, there was a long period of Gothic Art. Then came the "rebirth" of classical art. This rebirth was called "Renaissance". It began in Italy but spread throughout Europe. The prime focus of the Renaissance was to replicate the effects of bass relief which was carving walls. Instead of actually carving the walls, gray tone paints were used to create the illusion of carved walls. Famous masters: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Titian and Caravaggio were among the Masters who used the grisaille technique. Their basic concept was to build a network of paint layers that allowed the passage of natural sunlight to penetrate the layers of paint, all the way to the primed surface. That light primed surface then caused the light to bounce back through the layers to the surface and create "inner light" that was so highly prized. Early Renaissance Masters were glass painters and other artists who painted illuminated manuscripts, and sometimes painted on real gold. In both cases, the object was to incorporate the radiance of natural sunlight in their art works. They referred to this as "inner light". Linda Coulter has developed an easy method of achieving that " inner light" in many of her luminous art works. Painting a project in grisaille first, then adding pure color glazes over the finished grisaille divides and conquers the painting process, making it easy for any skill level painter to achieve their desired results. |
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