Easel Painting

Visual Art 12

Artist as Stereotype

Gilbert & George

Easel Painting

• Painting done on a portable support (panel or canvas) instead of on a wall (mural)

• Easels traced back to ancient Egypt

• Gaining in popularity from 13th Century onwards.

Tripod

Based on three legs.

Variations include crossbars to make the easel more stable and an independent mechanism to allow for the vertical adjustment of the working plane without sacrificing the stability of the three legs of the easel.

H-Frame

Based on right angles.

All posts are generally parallel to each other with the base of the easel being rectangular. The main portion of the easel consists of two vertical posts with a horizontal crossbar support

Variations include additions that allow the easel's angle with respect to the ground to be adjusted.

Renaissance Period

• Spanned 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy and later spreading to the rest of Europe.

• The easel and easel painting developed during the Renaissance period of art.

• Easels revolutionised the way painters worked.• For the first time easel painting in an artist studio

became an established art form and for the first time painters were recognized as individual artists with individual styles.

Wall (Mural) Painting

• A piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface.

• Architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.

Tempora

• Tempera painting is one of the oldest known methods in mural painting.

• Pigments are bound in an albuminous medium such as egg yolk or egg white diluted in water

Oil Painting

• Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil.

• Medium gained popularity in 15th century

• By the height of the Renaissance oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced tempera paints in the majority of Europe.

Acrylics

• Acrylics were first made commercially available in the 1950s.

• Fast drying containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion.

• Can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry.

Canvas

Become the most common support medium for oil painting, replacing wooden panels.

• "Modern" techniques take advantage of both the (cotton) canvas texture as well as those of the paint itself.

• Renaissance masters ensured that none of the texture of the canvas came through. The final product had little resemblance to fabric, but instead had a glossy, enamel-like finish.

Canvas on a Frame

• Typically stretched across a wooden frame or stretcher and may be coated/primed with gesso before it is to be used; this is to prevent oil paint from coming into direct contact with the canvas fibres, which will eventually cause the canvas to decay

Non-Easel Painting

Abstract Expressionism

• A modern art movement that came to prominence in the US post WWII.

• Key figures: Jackson Pollock,Willem de Kooning, Clyfford Still, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman

• New York replaced Paris as the center of the art world.

Non- Conventional

• Away from accepted conventions in both technique and subject matter, the artists made monumental works that stood as reflections of their individual psyches.

• Spontaneity, improvisation and process • Emphasis on dynamic, energetic gesture, in

contrast to a reflective, cerebral focus on more open fields of color.

• Primarily favoured abstract approach

Jackson Pollock

• Moved away from figurative representation, and challenged the Western tradition of using easel and brush.

• Pollock moved away from the use of only the hand and wrist, since he used his whole body to paint.

• In 1956, Time magazine dubbed Pollock "Jack the Dripper" as a result of his unique painting style

"Jack the Dripper"

My Painting, 1956

My painting does not come from the easel. I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. I need the resistance of a hard surface. On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting. I continue to get further away from the usual painter's tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrVE-WQBcYQ

When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.—Jackson Pollock, My Painting, 1956

VA 12 Assignment

• Produce (at least) two beautifully presented and detailed sketchbook pages on Easel and Non-easel painting.

• Provide definition and research/ include examples of 2 artists (and their methods, works, etc) for each of the above.

• Prime canvas for painting• Set-up easel and working area