{"id":5396,"date":"2015-10-08T18:03:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T22:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=5396"},"modified":"2016-04-23T15:16:41","modified_gmt":"2016-04-23T19:16:41","slug":"old-painting-medium-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/10\/old-painting-medium-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Old painting medium revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve written before about my oil medium<\/a>. I wasn’t exaggerating\u00a0when I wrote that my medium, one I’ve used for years, is the result of many, many trials. \u00a0I haven’t used every possible medium, of course, but I’ve tried a lot<\/em> of them. No one can try all possible combinations. \u00a0Recently, I revisited one of my earlier mediums, and I thought I’d share my experience.<\/p>\n

I don’t believe there is one best medium\u00a0or even one that was used universally during any period in history. It’s simple–and simplistic–to point out that the best medium is the one that suits your style. The real question is: how do you know that your\u00a0medium suits your style? Have your tried others?<\/p>\n

The majority of artists that\u00a0I’m familiar with use\u00a0the simplest medium–oil and turpentine. I guess that they consider its limitations the limitations of oil paint itself. If you’re happy with\u00a0oil and turpentine alone, then more power to you. But, as you know, \u00a0that medium was never<\/em> widely used until recent times.\u00a0If nothing else, artists modified their oil with the addition of driers, or by heating it to affect its performance.<\/p>\n

A minority of artists are keenly interested in\u00a0mediums, some\u00a0to the point of obsession. These artists cook their varnishes, manipulate their oil in a variety of ways, and grind their paints. Some even press their oil. While some of these artists pursue the holy grail of mediums to compensate for artistic shortcomings, many, taking advantage of the tools of the information age, are doing important research. James Groves<\/a>, an excellent painter, markets products that are the fruit of his research. I regularly use several of his products–copal varnish, and Courtrai drier.<\/p>\n

My Early Practices<\/h3>\n

Like most young artists, I was indifferent toward mediums. I used oil and turp but soon became frustrated and started experimenting. I can’t remember everything I tried, but I used Venice turpentine, damar (yeech), stand oil, and others before settling on copal. I used several copal-based mediums, including some sold commercially. I remember one that had a pleasant citrus smell.<\/p>\n

But several things made me dissatisfied with my copal-based medium.\u00a0My results were\u00a0inconsistent. I hadn’t learned yet how cynical manufacturers can be and what is sometimes marketed as copal might be of inferior quality, or not contain any\u00a0copal at all. Plus I wasn’t experienced enough to appreciate\u00a0the profound effect that the ground–or painting surface–has on painting. On some grounds, my medium performed as expected, but on others, it handled poorly. My inexperience led me to attribute the results to the medium instead of the ground.<\/p>\n

Mastic Paintings<\/h3>\n

Maroger medium is a mastic-based medium that\u00a0became my\u00a0everyday medium for several years; I\u00a0was introduced to it\u00a0at The Art Students League in New York. Students and teachers alike used it. Each week, a vendor would sell out\u00a0his\u00a0supply\u00a0of the homemade medium. The jelly-like medium was packaged in baby food jars with hand-written labels. Of course, I had to try it. The recipe was widely known, and soon I was preparing my own supply.<\/p>\n

I still remember the recipe:<\/p>\n