Milena in "Essence" Technique

SOLD

This piece was done in the "essence" technique, which, I

just recently learned, Degas invented to be able to work in

a medium that looked like pastel which he would not have

to frame. -- Although Degas is thought of as being wealthy,

and was, in fact related to Italian nobility, his brother's

erstwhile, failed cotton business in New Orleans placed a

great deal of financial pressure on him during many years

of his life, so I guess he was looking, like most of us do, for

ways to economize. -- In this technique, the oil is soaked out

of the paint overnight on blotters, paper towels - Degas

apparently used cardboard - then scraped onto the palette

the next day.

Then, the paint is diluted with solvent (essence in French)

and can be painted on any unprepared paper surface.

Fun!

"Essence" Nude Sketch of a Very Pale Model

7" x 9", "Essence" on "Sand" Canson Paper,

SOLD

This sketch was done in a technique called

"Peinture a l'essence" that was commonly used

by Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. I think I may

have mentioned this previously a few months

back. To do this, you have to soak the oil out of

the paint on blotters or paper towels overnight.

Then, you transfer the paint to a paletter, and

use it, without adding any medium (this is very

important), but just diluting with solvent ("essence")

means "solvent" in French). This enables you to paint

right on any paper, without preparing it with a ground,

such as gesso, rabbit skin glue, or shellac.

The effect is a very mat one, and sometimes people

think these paintings are pastels. Toulouse-Lautrec's

famouse paintings on cardboard in the National

Gallery were all done this way. And, while they are

more than one hundred years old, there is still no

oil stain around the images.

I am going to be teaching a workshop in this soon.

Thanks for visiting today.