It´s important that the painter understand the two different approaches to painting used by the old masters, wich are completely distinct on their ways. They both have different appearances, technical difficulties and ways of procedure and when you must choose wich method to use, you better understand not only their aesthetic appearance, or their final effect, so to speak, but how to procede on these very different methods of painting.
Direct Method - Alla Prima
The direct method is also called "alla prima", from the italian expression "made it in one sitting" or "at once". The idea is to complete in one session the entire painting, without pauses or long breaks. Some people have a bad time trying to understand this concept, on how long exactly is supposed to last a painting session to be called a alla prima work, but it´s easier to understand the method when you think that the painter works his paints while they´re still wet.
That means the painter will not wait for any particular stage or area to be dried in order to advance on his paint, he is gonna work the paint wet on wet, mixing and converging colors all at once, constructing and solving the whole of the image while everything is still wet, or as we call, while still "open". This way, colors and gradients are fused together into a more painterly and loose way. It´s possible to observe defined and crispy brush strokes characteristic from this method, this "look" is easily detectable even by untrained eyes. This method is used for those who wants to reach a more fresh and loose effetc. Examples of direct method used by famous painters is the works of John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn and the spanish master Joaquim Sorolla. Some Old Masters also had a more direct way of painting, although occasionaly using some indirect touchs, such as Diego Velasquez, Rembrandt van Rijn and the italian master Tiziano Vecellio.
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| Self-portrait, by Tiziano Vecellio (1562) |
Indirect Method - Velatura and Glazing
The indirect method is done through a series of stages or layers, usually waiting for each stage to be completely dried before moving on to the other. Since it´s not made "at once" it´s called indirect, reaching results into an indirect way. The advantages of the indirect painting are the use of transparent paint, this method of applying translucent paint is called velatura (glazing), creating optical effects you cant create using opaque paint (direct method), wich is an easy and fun way to work, since most of the time you solve all the values first and lay in the colors after that. The velaturas are thin and transparent layers of paint, this way you can see the previous dried layers under the velaturas.
The colors on the velaturas united with the colors of the previous layers will form the optical effect characteristic of this method. This way of work takes more time than the direct method, since you must wait for many layers to be completely dried in order to move on. Some artists working on this method will use many layers to build an painting, while others might use just two or three stages. The use of too many layers might be a little risky for the painting, since too many layers might cause the colors to get too dark.
The richness you can obtain with this method when used in the right way is truly beautiful and anyone can see the incredible depth of the velatura on the works of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphaello Sanzio and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It´s important to observe that this method also create paintings without any marks on the paint surface, when theres too much layers and glazing used on an painting the brushwork tends to level out, causing an flat and difuse overall effect
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| Portrait of Margarita Luti, by Raphaello Sanzio (1516) |
REFERENCES USED FOR CONSULTATION
MAYER; Ralph; The Artist´s Handbook of Materials and Techniques; Viking; 1950; 1957 e 1970.
GOTTSENGEN, Mark David; Painters Handbook; Watson-Guptill; 2006.
AMIEN; Art Materials Information and Education Center; 2014.
ACMI; Art & Creative Materials Institute; 2014.
