Vendangeuse after Bouguereau
 

This isn't all that great but it was a good practice piece. I shall do more Bouguereau copies because I think it's one of the best ways to learn how he did some of the amazing stuff he did.

Hi, Jeremiah,

In the "Old Master Copies" area, it's especially useful to be able to see the reference you used. Are you able to post an image of that?

The point, of course, isn't to "compare" in terms of whether the original has been duplicated, but just to help viewers see what the objectives and challenges were.

You have a nice touch with the subtleties of value gradation. There might be a few areas where some variation in edge sharpness would contribute to the drawing, but I'd like to see the reference if possible.

Thanks.
Here is the reference image for you. As you can see, the accuracy isn't as good as it could be but in the future it will be.


http://jeremiahwhite.com/images/Vendangeuse.jpg

Jeremiah,

This is a pretty fair go, for translating a highly finished oil painting into a graphite rendering. The fact that so much of the form-defining work in the painting is done through variations in color temperatures of similar value, rather than simply a chiaroscuro type of value design, complicates this a little, but it also provides a good exercise in assessing the relation between color and value. More about that in a moment.

The most notable difference is, to my eye, the tilt of the head

Thank you very much for your detailed observations. It will definitely give me more to look for in future work.

I've gained even more respect for Bouguereau with this drawing. I learned a lot with it so doing more is definitely planned for the future.

Thanks again.

Oh yeah, Steven, one more question. Do you have any good resources on Bouguereau's technique or teachings? I've read a lot of info on him on ARC (which seems quite informative) but do you know of any other resources that could help me?

Any information you have would be greatly appreciated.

Marvin Mattelson could likely cite some resources for us . . .

I wish I could offer up some suggestions here but unfortunately Bouguereau was pretty tight lipped because most of what is written seems to be based on conjecture. No one even knows with any certainty which colors he had on his palette. The only one of his students that was able to closely replicate the quality of his work was his second wife, Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau. So I wouldn't bet the farm on what is written on ARC.

I have read that Bouguereau used glazes, an opinion which I never agreed with. I've probably seen close to one hundred originals and always felt he scumbled and this was how he arrived at the translucency in the skin tones.

Several months ago I had the opportunity to see a badly cleaned Bouguereau which had the top layer removed by a heavy handed restorer. This was bad for the painting but a great opportunity for me to learn about my hero's secrets. The color intensity in his under layer was overstated. It was obviously Bouguereau's finishing technique to scumble over and reduce contrast and intensity.

That very same day I had the opportunity to meet Damian Bartoli who is authoring Bouguereau's catalog raisonne, rumored to be released next year. At any rate, we discussed the aforementioned damaged painting and he agreed with my assessment. It seems the French use the same word to describe both glazing and scumbling and apparently that is the source of much confusion.

With regards to your drawing, there are a lot of nice things going on. The main thing you are missing is the cohesiveness that distinguishes his genius from the works of all others. You are not alone.The problem that most artists have to overcome is keeping the smaller aspects relative to the large planes. You have rendered the smaller areas without considering their location on the ball of the head with relationship to the light source. For example, compare the values on the chin in your drawing with the example posted by Steven.

Unity must always be the goal. I am constantly striving to make my students aware of this very fact.

I hope this helps.

It occurred to me that some people may not understand exactly what scumbling is. On my website I have posted a step by step demo I painted in my Atlanta workshop in August 2003. This August I'll be doing a two week long workshop there so I'll have a demo to post that is much more finished.

The right hand image on the next to bottom row shows the result of scumbling over the light areas. The result is a unification both in color and modeling. The scumble is created by thinly applying opaque paint over an area. Depending on how thinly it is applied and how light or dark it is, the scumble will alter the values accordingly and move them closer together. Had I the time to continue the demo I would have scumbled over the last step as well.

Hi Marvin,

I guess I'm a little confused on the whole scumbling/glazing thing. Mainly because I picked up on stuff 'here and there' and then just push things around until I get what I want. (that sounds like a bad description of me....I'm really a very nice guy) I was taught in school and by reading a book by Ken Davies that glazing was actually a part of scumbling......or is it the other way around?

I actually use a version whereby I "scumble" on transparent layers in the finishing touches of my work. I do this with degrees of glazing medium. I find that I use variants of this as well, ie., different grades of opacities, if you please.

Would you, in your wonderful mentoring mode, please explain exactly what glazing is and where it came from. Oh, and scumbling..... what is the origin of that technique?

Your students await with Liquin in one hand and "dry" paint in the other........ :D

Geary

Hi Geary.

Scumbling is said to have been invented by Leonardo Da Vinci. In italian it

Good answer Alan. I wasn't aware of the historical facts regarding either.

Geary the primary difference is that glazing is done with transparent colors and scumbling is using paint with white added. Scumbling doesn't darken the way glazing does. You can scumble on any type of paint and that is what Ken Davies is referring to, scumbling the application and not scumbling the technique.

I'm surprised that there isn't much in depth information on scumbling on the internet.

One thing I'm confused on is that with scumbling, an opaque layer of paint is meant to cover the underpainting. Does this cover the underpainting completely or mostly so it's used more as a guide for the upper layers? How much of the painting underneath supposed to show? Is the under painting meant to be a grisaille or is it just exaggerated color that's toned down with the scumble?

Thanks for the info on this Marvin. I did look at that demo on your website and I think that I'm getting confused since you have a grisaille layer and also the overstated layer. With the scumble, is medium used to thin it so it goes on easier or is it just straight from the tube and worked outward?

Another thing I was wondering is if the process of painting as shown on your website helps you to complete a piece faster then common painting techniques used today? On average, how long does it take you to complete a painting?

Thanks again.

Jeremiah, I'll try to clarify the specifics about scumbling. First of all it is a more of a finishing technique the way I use it. The underpainting on my demo is not a grisaille because it contains no white paint.

The drawing is scratched into a tone that matches the value of the model's flesh on the shadow side. The drawing can be easily adjusted since it is drawn into a wet tone. The lights are removed with a rag and the darks are painted in with pure paint. This technique goes back hundreds of years. It's called a wash-in. The purpose is to establish composition, light, values, edges and drawing. Over this I lay in opaque color. When this is dry I scumble over it and then paint into the wet scumble. Scumbling helps create unity in areas that I feel I've over-modeled. I may repeat this process a number of times until I'm happy with the refinements. My portrait of Sylvia at seventeen is a good example of this technique. http://www.fineartportrait.com/sylvia_enlarged.html

The scumbling is done a variety of ways depending on the effects desired. It can be done more or less transparently depending on how translucent you wish to make the veil of paint. I always add a little oil to my paint to increase the flow. I try not to oil it too much since this doesn't make a particularly strong film.

I utilize a number of different ways of applying my paint depending on the texture I'm trying ti replicate. In my workshops I spend approximately half of the time demonstrating and explaining what I do and what the purpose is behind each action and decision. I feel that if people can see the proper way to do something they will do much better than if they weren't clear and tried it on their own.

My students always have the option of watching me paint or painting on their own depending on what I'm demonstrating and where they're at in the painting process. It's very difficult to grasp the feel of different painting techniques based on verbal description or even pictures or videos. That is why I teach. I think being there, seeing what's going on and being able to question is the best and most efficient way to learn.

I am always delighted at the level progress my students make. It's very inspiring.

Thank you very much for your help. I'm going to try and use these techniques in my next painting.