Watercolours of the Pre-Raphaelites

[artbyjune]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-rachelleah.jpg


What this project is


This project looks at the watercolour paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) who were painting around the latter half of the 19th century in Britain (the ‘Golden age of British watercolours’) and suggests some practical project ideas for art works which we can all do.



Why watercolours?


The watercolours of the pre-Raphaelites are almost as intense in colour and subject matter as their oil paintings. But whilst there is a lot of information on the methods used in their oil paintings, (e.g., a book by Townsend: Pre-Raphaelite Painting Techniques- oil paintings) there is little on their watercolour painting techniques. A snippet here and there is all I could find on the web. There seems to be a gap in knowledge.

Thus, investigating at the PRB watercolour methods gives us a chance to do some original research. Plus, there is the enticement that they used a method in their watercolours and oil paintings which they tried to keep secret. Its ‘out’ now, of course, and we can try it out, maybe even incorporate the idea into our own compositions at some point. In addition, I chose watercolours because its relatively easy to pick up a piece of paper and a pan of watercolours and start painting; a study of oil painting would require a lot more in the way of materials and painting knowledge.

Apart from doing one quick demo of a watercolour by Rossetti (The Borgia family) to get us started on this journey, I am essentially a beginner in the study of the Pre-Raphaelites. So we can all contribute research information, PRB web images, and our own practical works inspired by PRB paintings.




:)

[artbyjune]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-arthurstomb.jpg

What I will cover to get us started



a short list of websites
a list of some PRB members
snippets on their philosophy concerning art
subjects they chose to paint
watercolour methods they used
a few practical project ideas for us to try out
a more in-depth study of one PRB member: i.e., Rossetti
demo of a quick study of part of one of Rossetti’s watercolour paintings (The Borgia family- children dancing).





1. useful websites:



http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rossetti/rossetti.html (http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rossetti/rossetti.html)

www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk (http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk/)
collection of John Ruskin.

www.bmag.org.uk (http://www.bmag.org.uk/)
Edward Burne-Jones.

http://collection.artgallery.nsw.gov...bject&id=35827 (http://collection.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/results.do;jsessionid=D0D60BE72B476B7E00E8E031D13AD6C9?view=detail&db=object&id=35827)

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/praf/hd_praf.htm (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/praf/hd_praf.htm)

http://www.nyss.org/watercolor/Shatt...1-history.html (http://www.nyss.org/watercolor/Shatter/twow1-history.html)

http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/bwtr/hd_bwtr.htm (http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/bwtr/hd_bwtr.htm)






2. significant members


1. Dante Gabriel Rossetti
2. William Holman Hunt
3. John Everett Millais
4. Edward Burne-Jones
5. Ford Maddox Brown


:D

[artbyjune]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-danteangel.jpg

3. art philosophy of PRB-

1. they admired medieval Italian frescoes
2. and medieval book illustrations
3. they desired to be true to nature therefore paid attention to minute detail
4. they chose glowing bright jewel-like colours, with an emphasis on pure primaries and glazing to keep colours luminous
5. they aimed for moral and ethical uprightness

4. subjects:-

1. religious, bible stories
2. medieval legend, e.g., King Arthur
3. portraits, mainly of their relatives etc
4. illustrations to poems, Lady of Shalot


5. watercolour methods- they used some or all of these methods in their watercolours

1. glazing over a wet white ground, using Chinese white, newly introduced by Winsor and Newton
2. use of transparent and opaque watercolour in the same painting
3. use of layering/glazing to give colour depth
4. hatching to build up density, richness of colour and shading
5. juxtapositon of colours to get optical mixes of colour (as per pointilism theory)
6. some pre-mixing of colours on the palette
7. scratching-back colour to provide highlights



:wave:

[artbyjune]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-elizsiddel1.jpg

6.Practical project ideas:


Copy a watercolour by 1 of the PRB, using their methods
make a copy using your own method of watercolour painting
make a copy using another medium, e.g., copy a watercolour by Rossetti but do it in soft pastels
Illustrate a poem/ legend/ or biblical references previously illustrated by PRB but make your own composition based on it
study one painting by one PRB artist in depth and talk about symbolism used in this picture and any other interesting tidbits concerning the painting chosen
research lives and times and methods of PRB in watercolour and other mediums and post info
:D

[artbyjune]

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-xmascarol.jpg

1. Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/rossetti/index.asp (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/rossetti/index.asp)


He was a founder member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. In his middle years he created vivid watercolours and intricate drawings on themes of love and morality. He is perhaps best known for his images of powerful and mysterious women. These dreamlike and erotic paintings have a magic that still speaks to us today.
Rossetti created a new kind of art. He used colour, design and symbolism to suggest a mood and to convey the ideas that were important to him - female virtue, beauty, sensuality, love, death and destiny.
The romance of the Middle Ages fascinated Rossetti from his early years. As a child he would read Sir Walter Scott's novels and medieval ballads. Medieval subjects appeared in his works from the early 1850s when he
read the legend of King Arthur. Ruskin also encouraged him to study medieval art. After 1856, when he met the young William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, fellow medieval enthusiasts, Rossetti's interest became even more intense.
In 1855 Rossetti was approached by the publisher Edward Moxon to contribute to an illustrated edition of Tennyson's poems. It was published in 1857 with illustrations by many artists, including Millais (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/featuredartists/millais/), Hunt and Rossetti.
Rossetti did not illustrate these poems literally, but evoked their spirit, only sometimes using details mentioned in the text. He often invented his own images, including details derived from manuscript illumination and Flemish painting.
His drawings were transferred on to wood blocks and cut by skilled engravers. Rossetti was not happy with the way his drawings had been cut. Even so, he succeeded in creating a powerful vision of Tennyson's world on a very small scale.
At the same time he continued to create an original vision of the Middle Ages in many other works. These included watercolours and murals at the Oxford Union. They do not attempt to reproduce the reality of medieval life, but to evoke a world of the imagination. They feature intensely glowing colours, playfully inventive details and an emphasis on flatness and surface pattern.
Their rejection of realism or narrative in favour of mood and suggestion make these pioneering works, leading towards the formal abstraction of the Aesthetic Movement.
In the 1850s he met Elizabeth Siddal who became his model, lover and in 1860 his wife. The brief marriage ended tragically when she took an overdose of laudanum. Her death provoked another change in his art, with sensuous portrayals of women painted in luxurious oils replacing literary themes as the focus of his work.



http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/3.html (http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/3.html)

Rossetti's early short story "Hand and Soul" (1849) also provided a manifesto for Aesthetes and Decadents. It tells the tale of a fictional early Renaissance painter, who, depressed by the failure of his art to improve the world, has a vision in which his soul comes to him in the form of a beautiful woman. She instructs him that he should paint her, his own soul. Such a pronouncement, which provides the program for all Rossetti's later paintings of women, embodies the attenuated romanticism that is the essence of the Aesthetic movement, for it holds that the artist's only duty is to cultivate his own emotions and imagination and then express them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti)


Rossetti acquired an obsession for exotic animals, and in particular wombats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wombat). He would frequently ask friends to meet him at the "Wombat's Lair" at the London Zoo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Zoo) in Regent's Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent%27s_Park), and would spend hours there himself. Finally, in September 1869, he was to acquire the first of two pet wombats. This shortlived wombat, named "Top", was often brought to the dinner table and allowed to sleep in the large centrepiece of the dinner table during meals.

He is buried at Birchington-on-Sea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birchington), Kent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent), England (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England). His grave is visited regularly by admirers of his life's work and achievements and this can be seen by fresh flowers placed there regularly


:heart:

[artbyjune]

I decided to try the 'secret' technique used by the PRB in watercolours. The method of glazing over a first wet layer of Chinese white. It sounded intriguing and I chose to try it because I did not believe it would work.

Rossetti: The Borgia family, children dancing

Here's a demo. It got me started with PRB watercolour methods, and I think I'd like to try a full painting in this method.


steps

1. traced part of the painting The Borgia Family by D.G. Rossetti
2. used Not surface watercolour paper- some tooth but not too rough (they may have used hotpress paper of smooth paper because they liked very smooth canvas for oils)
3. layered the area to work on firstly in chinese white.
4. whilst the Chinese white was still wet, I glazed the first layer of colour on to it.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-step1wc1.jpg

[artbyjune]

next 2 stages of the WIP/demo

[artbyjune]

When the first layer of colour was dry, I added the shading in complementary colours.

I chose a rather dull painting here. Usually the PRB watercolours are full of bright primaries and secondaries, e.g. vermillion, chrome yellow, ultramarine, emerald, purple...

This was the only Rossetti painting I had in a book at home. I think I'd like to go on and copy a brighter painting. It was fun.


Here's a copy from the web of the original Rossetti painting: The Borgia family.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Nov-2007/106623-borgia3.jpg


Hope you are inspired to try one of the practical ideas above.

Looking forward to seeing the results.:clap:

[artbyjune]

P.S. My colour palette for this copy was: gold ochre, vermillion, burnt sienna, French ultramarine, Winsor green and deep violet. Plus Chinese white for the first layer.

[Nickel]

June this is a wonderful program! Thank you so much for getting it started.
Wow new research! I love it! I have watercolour and ready to get started!

Your examples are great!!!!!

Is it ok to work on artists that are influence
by Rossetti and Burne-Jones and are followers of the Pre-Raphaelites: Frederick Sandys, Henry Holiday, Simeon Solomon, Maria Stillman, John Atkinson Grimshaw, Thomas Matthews Rooke, John Melhuish Strudwick, Eyelyn de Morgan, John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope, Walter Crane, Sir Frank Dicksee,Sidney Harold Meteyard, John William Waterhouse, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Edward Reginald Frampton,Elanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Herbert James Draper, John Liston Byam Shaw, The Hon. John Collier, Frank Cadogan Cowper, I think there are more, but as long as they did watercolour and then also do your suggestions which are so way cool ?

artbyjune
Copy a watercolour by 1 of the PRB, using their methods
make a copy using your own method of watercolour painting
make a copy using another medium, e.g., copy a watercolour by Rossetti but do it in soft pastels
Illustrate a poem/ legend/ or biblical references previously illustrated by PRB but make your own composition based on it
study one painting by one PRB artist in depth and talk about symbolism used in this picture and any other interesting tidbits concerning the painting chosen
research lives and times and methods of PRB in watercolour and other mediums and post info



Thanks again, Nickel

[artbyjune]

Art by all followers of the PRB movement will be really interesting to see. Nickel, there are lots of names there in your list that I don't know so I'm looking forward to more info on them.

Focus on watercolours if possible. But I am fairly loose about it- you could copy an oil painting in watercolours, for example.

Main thing is to study the PRB style and subject matter.

[Nickel]

Ok let be the first to say, I'm no watercolour painter............but I am going to try this.

I'll be back with more on this painter and why I picked this painting.

Simeon Solomon
friend of both Rossetti & Burne-Jones*
Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego preserved from the Burning Fiery Furnace

Watercolour signed 10.63

32x23cm //// 12 3/4 x 9 inches

private collection

my attempt

wip

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/20-Nov-2007/39040-3.jpg

*The Pre-Raphaelites, Christopher Wood

[Nickel]

Hi June, here is a copy of the painting I picked.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/20-Nov-2007/39040-409px-Simeon_Solomon_-_Shadrach_Meshach_Abednego.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Simeon_Solomon_-_Shadrach_Meshach_Abednego.JPG

Now I'm not one to be shy, Solomon's life is quiet a story considering he lived in a very strict moral Victorian society. I'm not sure how much I can find out about his actual watercolour method or any painting procedure compared to his more interesting to write about in a historical context, life choices. Solomon explored homosexuality and lesbianism in his artistic work, an example is Sappho and Erinna at Mytelene.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/20-Nov-2007/39040-solomon1c.jpg


Feb 11, 1873, he was arrested for homosexual offences and shunned by all his former friends. Solomon became a social leper and an alcoholic. Even though he supported himself by selling drawings and pastels of allegorical androgynous heads to undergraduates of Oxford he still died a pauper. His main media was gouach and oil paints to depict Jewish ritual, classical and allegorical subjects. I picked this painting, one the subject topic and two the compositon is pleasing.

And a biography of Simeon Solomon
http://www.artmagick.com/archive/artists/artist.aspx?artist=solomon




:wave: Nickel

[artbyjune]

:thumbsup: Congratulations on being the first to jump right in there, Nickel!!

I had never heard of Simeon Solomon. It was interesting to read his biography in artmagick- which looks like a good source for information on the pre-Raphaelites. I see they have an art gallery there as well as collections of pre-Raphaelite writings.

I think the diaries of the pre-Raphaelites go into their methods/techniques of painting in more detail. But that would be for the special interest enthusiast amongst us. I haven't done that...yet.

Brilliant start on your WIP of the Solomon painting. I like the original by Solomon- those gold and brown colours look good. And it is an interesting story to illustrate. Plenty of scope for the imagination to interpret.

OK- tell me, did you do the wet Chinese white underlayer technique in this one?

Did you enjoy using your NEW watercolours?:D

[Nickel]

Haha, you really want me to confess my woes.........woe is me......I'm ready to take the watercolour back, bad, bad watercolor runs everywhere and makes messes and I turned over my water bottle and lost the lid, and I don't know what I'm doing.................:crying: and I know why I paint with :heart: oils. I did use deer park water if it helps. :lol: Maybe somebody beside me :lol:
I used the chinese white. I bought half pans colors and then I got a tube of chinese white. It's not zinc but titanium white no 6. What gives with that :confused: So maybe I can blame that...:p :evil: Overall I am having fun! Really! Tomorrow is Turkey Day here in the USA.....
So happy Thanksgiving! Oh! I've started my second copy. I bought 15 sheets of paper to work my water studies. I am planning to make one study with a "Renaissance technique" you and Granby where trying last December. I always wanted to do that. Back to the chinese white, I liked the way it made the watercolour creamier and it gave the color a more pastel look. But is it supppose to do that? It was way more opaque. Did I use tooo much? I hope everyone that is looking at this program understands it's ok to be a newbie like me at doing something. So many people already know how to do stuff perfect. Well I am looking forward to those experts, come on show us what you got! Oh June, glad you liked the magic site. What a name:cool: It was funny, I went to the craft store, the only place to buy stuff late, haha 8:30 pm, and asked the guy a question about tape for the watercolour paper and he said he didn't know and he was taking classes for dewberry strokes. :eek: and I should take classes too. Wasn't that sweet. Sorry I told him I'd rather make my own mistakes. :evil: I should blog that experience :evil: :wave: Nickel

[Nickel]

On the plus side of all of this, I've found that the chinese white makes a beautiful ground for silverpoint.

[artbyerika]

Wow I learn so much from all these posts :)

[artbyjune]

Hi Nickel, and welcome artbyerika.

Nickel, I used Reeves Chinese white (a cheap one) which is zinc. I don't know if it would be a big difference to use titanium instead. I think my powdered white pigment is titanium so I could give that a go and see if there's a difference.

Essentially, I layered on my Chinese white not too thickly and whilst it was still wet but not too wet, I floated the transparent first colour over it, trying not to disturb the white too much...so it kind of rested on top but mixed a little in its own time.

When that first layer was dry, then I started over with layering my colours in a glazing fashion. Always taking care to float the colours on top and not scrub into the layer that was already there.

Glazing should feel similar to glazing in oils. The colour mixing should also follow similar rules....ones you are already using. Use of complementary glazes to darken/dull colour. Use of multiple layers to deepen intense colour.

Hope you persevere. Hope you stop tipping over the water bottle!! :D They say watercolour is not as easy as it might seem. :lol: Its good to start with a careful glazing technique till you get used to the paint consistency.:eek:

Please note, you are not obliged to use the Chinese white method. Its for historical interest and for trying out. You can use any method of applying watercolour that you feel comfortable with in this project!!:thumbsup:

See you later.

[artbyjune]

Did I make it clear that the Chinese white was to be used only for the first layer? Think of it as a layer of gesso.

Silverpoint...now that's a whole other area. I know nothing about it. But sounds intriguing. :wave:

[artbyjune]

OOps, forgot to say, I only cover the little part of the painting I am going to work on immediately with the Chinese white. If you cover the whole painting, it will all dry before you get a chance to fuse the first colour layer.

So work on small areas. For example, do the face, then the bodice, then the legs area. But in your own preferred order.

[Nickel]

Hi June, thank you so much for all the tips. I'm not sure that I've done this at all right.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/23-Nov-2007/39040-11.jpg

[artbyjune]

:clap: :thumbsup: It looks beautiful Nickel. You seem to have those watercolours down pat. You've done a wonderful job with it!! I hope you are pleased.

And I hope I wasn't too distracting with all that Chinese white palaver. There's no need for anyone to do their copies that way.

Essentially- do the watercolour in a way that suits you. The main thing is to enjoy discovering the work and style of the PRB.

Plus, if watercolour isn't your thing, please feel free to do a copy in any medium which suits you!!:D

[Nickel]

Hi June, Good Day to you!

Hello everyone else that is visiting this thread. :wave:
Where's your paintings? :evil:

I just want to thank you again for opening up such a wonderful program to the Classical Forum. I am very grateful. :thumbsup: Now don't think my praise is overdone. I have discovered watercolour and while the first few days of change were unkind medium wise, I pursued on and see many possibilities, enough so that I am very happy to have this opportunity to explore not only just watercolour but English watercolor. I know not Turner here, but he is one artist that is out there waiting for us to do the next program. So I've been thinking of the poetry to go along with the paintings. I have a few new ones planned for next week. Anyway it has gotten a little easier for me I just needed to give myself some room to see how this medium works. I love it. Not as much as oils, but it's is different and that is what I love.

I found this last night and it's a letter written about the painting I've studied and thought you all would like to read it.

The letter and the first designs of Solomon

18 John Street Bedford Row

Dear Mr. Dalziel,

When I told my brother how well you liked the drawing I had made for you, he was as fully pleased as I had been; you may be sure that I shall always endeavour by working carefully to merit the same pleasing acknowledgment. I have written to both of the gentlemen who have my pictures asking them if they will allow me to make drawings of them. I have no doubt that they will do so. I hope so, and as soon as I am able, I shall commence the drawings. I have been making a watercolour picture lately which I am now finishing of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace under the protection of the Angel. I think it would make an original subject for a wood drawing and I should much like to do it if a chance should occur. I should like you to see if you would find the time to call upon me at my studio 22 Charles Street, Middlesex Hospital, letting me know if possible, beforehand when you will come in order that I may not be out.

I remain

yours very sincerely

Simeon Solomon

As far as studies of the Pre-Raphaelites, I'm going back to Rossetti and leaving Solomon for now. But I do plan to return, I am very interested, at another program if you and others are interested and willing to submit your times and energies, woodcuts and prints from this group of artists.

:wave: Nickel

[robynsin]

Hi June - This is the most exciting thread I've found on Wetcanvas for a long time. I have been working with watercolours a lot in the last year or so. I was fascinated by your description of using Chinese White as a 'gesso' on watercolour paper, so I started a minature trial of the Rossetti portrait of the woman I imagine was his ill-fated wife (your third image on this thread). I love this process. It is so forgiving in that it allows such an easy lift-off of errors (and I've made a few trying to work in such a small format). When I've corrected the mess I've made of her eyes I will post my little effort tomorrow.
I have searched high and low on the web to find a source for this picture. Can you please help me with a title. Is it a portrait or part of a larger painting? I want to try it in a larger format as part of project so a bigger reference would be great. Wonderful project. Thank you!:clap:

Nickel - I'm glad you've joined in. It will be a treat to watch you delve into watercolours. And thanks for the tip of the Chinese White for silverpoint base. I've been trying acrylic white but I think this water colour white would be much easier to apply and probably more 'forgiving' of mistakes :)

[Charlie's Mum]

Hi June - popped over to see what you had in store! Wow! What a lot of work you've been doing here! Excellent challenge :D

If there's not a time limit, I may well try to join you - I've got some postcards but I think they're all of their oil paintings ... however, I believe you said that would be OK?

I'll get back as and when I can :D

Hi Nickel :wave:

[azulparsnip]

Hi ya'll, this thread is timely for me, I think this group has a Blake-ish air - I am interested in. I must purchase some chinese white but all that is close is walmar...... sigh- maybe something will turn up.....meanwhile I'll pick a picture to copy and root around in my paper.....:wave:

[artbyjune]

:thumbsup: Welcome to Robynsin, Charliesmum and azulparsnp. So glad you found your way here.

Here is a link to the portrait of Elizabeth Siddal (Rossetti's wife)

http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rossetti/rossetti4.html

This is a link to Olga's gallery which has a lot of Rossetti images.

I'm glad you like the Chinese white method, Robynsin. I am now addicted to it!! The brush strokes are more defined over a layer of white paint. The brush seems to drag over the wet white and gives you more control than with watercolour on paper alone.

I think it gives a much richer effect too. The colours seem much brighter/more intense. I read somewhere that was why they used this method. Not certain if they used it exclusively in their works.

Charliesmum- please join in when you have time as I don't believe we have a time limit on this project. Its just beginning anyway. A watercolour study of an oil painting is good...well within our scope here.

Azul, I really love the works of William Blake too- paintings and poetry.

Rossetti was similar in that he was also a painter-poet, and a bit of a recluse.



There is a Rossetti archive too. I can't get into it easily because I am using a dinosaur pc at the moment. I actually have a new laptop and I am just too lazy to hook it up to the Internet as yet. It would mean getting a new service provider etc. Lots of work.:(


http://www.rossettiarchive.org


Nickel, thanks for posting the letter by Solomon. It makes the artist seem more real to you when you read their letters.

I hope everyone else will post little snippets like this on their artist of choice.

You don't have to do Rossetti!!

Looking forward to seeing all the studies.:wink2:

[artbyjune]

You could look at the black and white drawings of PRB artists and do them in colour.


Here are some snippets on Rossetti's relationship with one of his models- Annie Miller.

William Holman Hunt discovered Annie Miller working as a barmaid in a Chelsea slum. With her graceful neck and sensuous, full mouth, Hunt saw in her his ideal of Pre-Raphaelite beauty and 'rescued' her with the intention of moulding her into a lady to be his wife. When, in 1854, Hunt left London for the Holy Land, he became very possessive and strictly forbade her to model for other artists, in particular Rossetti.
Despite Hunt's restrictions, Annie was strong willed and rebellious. She modelled for Rossetti's Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice (1856, Tate Britain) and sat for several portrait drawings. To make things worse, she also sat for Boyce and accompanied both artists to restaurants and for walks in the park.

When Hunt discovered this on his return, declared, "I will never forgive Gabriel" , and he poured out his distress to Maddox Brown that "she had been taken to 'all sorts of places of amusement' including the Cremorne pleasure gardens, where she danced with Boyce!" William Michael Rossetti alluded to his brother's transgressions in a letter: "It behooves me to add that Mr Hunt was wholly blameless in this matter; not so my brother, who was properly, though I will not say very deeply, censurable"

In 1858, Annie Miller sat to Holman Hunt as the model for the enlightened mistress for his famous work, The Awakening Conscience, although by 1860, Hunt had relinquished all ideas of marriage and withdrawn Annie's allowance. After this, she seemed more determined than ever to model for Rossetti "in preference to doing anything else" This caused yet more turmoil when Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Siddal, became jealous. She was even rumoured to have flung drawings of Annie into the Thames.

A powerful portrait of Annie, with her slightly raised chin and assured expression, was made by Rossetti after she had asserted her independence from Hunt.

In 1860, George Price Boyce, a connoisseur of Stunners and the author of her portrait some six years earlier, observed that "she looked more beautiful than ever" on viewing a drawing of her that Rossetti was making.
:cool:

[robynsin]

June - Many thanks for the link to Rossetti's Elisabeth. I will try a larger version of this next week. Meantime I'm posting the 4.5x6.5cm test I did using Chinese White under watercolour. My Elisabeth looks far too contemporary and knowing, but I hope to have more luck with a larger painting.

This technique reminds me of fresco - without the mess off having to plaster a wall:lol: A lovely discovery thank you.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/25-Nov-2007/66219-elisabeth.jpg
robyn

[robynsin]

I forgot to mention I used a touch of brown watercolour pencil at the end. I won't do that with the next one.

[robynsin]

Amazing how quickly the errors become apparent when one posts an image here :eek: so I've corrected the hairline somewhat just to demonstrate how easily it is to lift mistakes from the Chinese White undercoat:lol:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/25-Nov-2007/66219-Elisabeth-2.jpg

I hope that's better.

[azulparsnip]

Robynsin - good rendition of Eliz Siddal

Nickel -how's your copy is coming? It looks good so far

I will not be able to get any Chinese white till next weekend when we venture into the bigger city. I will try using gesso.

[artbyjune]

:clap: :clap: Robsyin, your study of Elizabeth looks so good. I love the sweep of her hair. What colours did you use?
I think part of the reason the PRB used wet Chinese white was that it resembled the fresco technique.

They also used the wet white ground for their oil paintings but some of them did not like that way of working. With oils, of course, the paint takes ages to dry and that affects the method. Ford Maddox Brown used it in painting the heads in his painting Jesus washing Peter's feet. And later wrote 'This picture was painted in four months, the flesh painted on wet white at Millais lying instigation, Robertson's Medium, which I think dangerous like Millais' advice.'

So Brown did not like the method for oils much!!

Azul, I have never tried painting with watercolour on wet gesso. You could give it a go -if you're willing- and report back to us. I am very interested to see how you get on with that!:thumbsup:

[robynsin]

Azul - thank you. I have used watercolour on dry acrylic gesso and it gives an interesting glossy, antique feel to the painting. Very hard to get an even cover though.

June - I like Brown's frank response to the advice he received about oil on wet gesso! Thank you for your encouragement. I didn't note my colours but I would have probably used W&N Raw Sienna & Rose Madder for the skin, mostly Brown Madder in the hair (scarf?), Perylene Green on the dress and Quin. Gold on the background. Also touches of some new watercolours I really like from MaimeriBlu - Dragon's Blood (love that name), Faience Blue, Brown Sil de Grain. I will keep track next effort. The Chinese White is an old tube from Daler-Rowney.

[Nickel]

Hi June, artbyerika, Maureen, Robyn, Azulparsnip :)

Robyn, I like how you relate this painting experience to fresco!

All the more to love it! :heart: and like you say, no mess.

I like the hues you selected, lovely & romantic and if so bold, alive with feeling. :thumbsup:

Azul, I'm interested to see how the gesso works for you and how it compares to the chinese white when you get it this coming week.

I'll post a crop of my finish on the study for Solomon.

This is the one I selected to study next.
I only found two images, neither one is any larger than the other.


http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/26-Nov-2007/39040-mary.jpg

'Mary Nazarene'

Watercolour on paper, painted about 1855
34.3 x 19.7cm
Tate. Purchased 1911

"Mary is shown tending a lily, symbolic of purity and a rose, the flower particularly associated with her.
Above hovers the dove of the Holy Spirit.
Mary is dressed unusually in green, symbolising spring and youth.

The title alludes to her living at Nazareth.
This was originally intended to be part of a triptych showing
her youth, family life and old age. "

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/rossetti/works/religion.asp

[robynsin]

Nickel - Thank you. My work has never been called 'romantic' before.:o It does inspire me to work harder.

The Mary you have chosen in wonderful. Love the blue/greens in her robe. What do you make of the knife that looks like it's driven through her purse?

[artbyjune]

Hi Nickel. I love that choice of the painting 'Mary Nazarene' for your next study. The greens for dress are unusual. Perhaps the knife is a kind of trowel for digging out weeds. Or a pruning knife for the roses??

I think I will copy an oil painting next...but I will do it on watercolours. I have my eye on one by Arthur Hughes.

BTW, you can always use straight watercolour washes for backgrounds and reserve the Chinese white for the figures only. The Chinese white should 'raise' the figures from the background.

[Jack Liberty Lake]

Hello Everyone ...
I'm rather new here, don't ask me why, but I feel compelled to join this exercise. I've never dabbled in the classical methods nor have I done portraits or people before, but something about Rachael and Leah are calling to be painted by a humble post modern amateur! I'll let you know as I progress ... just don't hold your collective breaths in anticipation!
Jack

[robynsin]

Jack - I'm really glad you're here. I'm out of my depth too.

[Jack Liberty Lake]

So ... I've got the drawing close to finished and I'm almost ready to transfer it to watercolo(u)r paper. Prior to laying down the clothing colo(u)rs, should I mask out the lighter areas, such as rope belt and flowers as I normally would, or should I come back and scrub out the shapes later? I imagine that since these folks weren't opposed to laying down white prior to pigment, they weren't against using white paint to regain whites? Btw, the drawing didn't come out half bad if I say so myself. I was afraid Rachael and Leah would look more like Raymond and Leonard! I noticed the hands of both in the original are not as accurate as some other artists like DaVinci. Did all the pre-Raphelites not concern themsleves so much with anatomical accuracy? I guess my concern is the unnatural length of the fingers more than anything.
Anyway ... thanks for welcoming me here. Hope I can provide a few laughs along the way.
Jack

[artbyjune]

Hi Jack and welcome to the pre-raphaelite corner of wetcanvas.:clap:

I think its true to say that most -if not all of us- doing this project are looking at the pre-raphaelites as beginners, just like you. So no need to worry. A post-modern interpretation will be fine!! Very welcome.

The main thing is to enjoy the PRB works and have fun along the way.:D

To reserve whites, you could use masking fluid, or scrub colour out, or perhaps put on a layer of Chinese white. It can be wiped off later and wont stain. (I am not getting a commission for plugging the use of white and I don't know why I keep harking back to it!!:wink2: ).

I haven't tried it myself. Suggestion only.

Today, I ventured into another PRB artist's work, tearing myself away from Rossetti. Only just.:lol:

I did a copy of 'April love' by Arthur Hughes and I'll post it here. I suppose I rushed it towards the end as day light was fading. The photo is not the best. Apologies. I'll take another photo of it tomorrow if there's more light. Size about 9 by 12 ins.

I liked the purple dress in Hughes original painting (in oils). Also, the sense of mystery and the use of darks. So I enjoyed painting it even if its not exactly like the original work.


I just stumbled on a site devoted to Hughes. So if you're interested, here's a link

http://www.arthurhughes.org/


:wave:

[artbyjune]

P.S. Straightforward watercolour. No Chinese white.

Forgot to reply to your question about anatomy, Jack. Seems to me that Rossetti in particular (who did the Rachel & Leah watercolour), liked long fingers on his figures. Also longish necks. The ideal of pre-raphaelite female beauty seems to have included long necks and sensuous lips. Plus changes to anatomy are often more expressive.

[Jack Liberty Lake]

Thanks for all the information, June. I transferred the drawing today and will probably start the painting tomorrow. Big snow storm on the way ... lots of time to paint!!!!!

[artbyjune]

Looking forward to viewing your work Jack!:thumbsup:


Update on my Hughes copy. I put some gold ink around the archway to suggest the gold frame of the original.

I would like to redo it as there are things I didn't do to my satisfaction, mainly due to rushing. I think its best to take your time!! :lol:

Also a small copy of a Rosetti painting 'Blue closet' (musicians). I traced the design for the 'blue closet' because I wanted to get on with the relationship of the colours. I used the Chinese white method in the 'blue closet'.:D

My copy of the Rossetti 'Blue closet' is about 5 by 6 ins.

:wave: :eek:

[Lauren F-M]

Nice work, June! :clap:
I was just looking at the Hughes painting in a good book I have --"Pre-Raphaelite Women" by Jan Marsh, Artus books, 1987 -- I like that painting a lot.

I've always liked the Pre-Raphaelites a lot, and recently have gotten back to doing more art, and seriously working on improving my technique and art knowledge. My main interest is portraying people, doing portraiture and illustration, so reading about the Pre-Raphaelites and studying their work more really appeals to me. Also, the Romanticism of it really appeals.

Besides the above-mentioned book, I found a few lovely books at our local library, and looking more at the work of the PRB, I realized that, while Rossetti obviously had passion and strong drive, technically his work is uneven and often downright sloppy. I get the impression that he had a really strong personality, but probably didn't have a lot of patience. I think he was pretty prolific in output, though I haven't studied the subject.

Looking at artists in and around the PRB, those whose work stands out to me -- artistically and technically -- are Millais, Burne-Jones, Holman Hunt, Waterhouse, Watts, Kate Elizabeth Bunce -- more too, if I had the time to research more. D.G. Rossetti had a great sense of design and composition -- many of his paintings are really stunning -- but look at his actual technique; sometimes it's just plain sloppy and unfinished-looking.

I borrowed a book on women PR painters. Many of the models were painters too, and I noticed that quite a few were amazing! Funny how they aren't as well-known as the males in the PRB. Kate Elizabeth Bunce, Evelyn de Morgan, the photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron (I'll have to borrow that book from the library again to research more!) are wonderful. The weakest one in the bunch as an artist was Elizabeth Siddall, IMO.

Anyway, this is a great thread, and you've inspired me to study the PRB more. I hope this thread continues for a while, as I'd like to join in the fun/painting, but can't at present.

Thanks, June! :thumbsup:

Cheers, Lauren:wave:

[artbyjune]

Hi Lauren, I hope you can join in. And I am looking forward to seeing your work.

As far as I know, the project will continue for a while yet.

[Nickel]

Hi everyone!

June your paintings are looking so nice. I really like the violet hues in your first one. The 'Blue Closet' is also teaming with vibrant colors.

Are you using the chinese white under all areas or only select areas? For the most part, I've been using it under all areas.

Still playing with this medium getting use to the what and what not to do :evil: :lol: parts of the water media techniques.

Here as promised are the finished study of Solomon

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Nov-2007/39040-19.jpg

You can see I got a little scratch happy :p

and here's a crop where the scratch worked pretty good in the halo parts.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Nov-2007/39040-23.jpg

and here is the start for the Rossetti study

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Nov-2007/39040-1.jpg


this next one the scratch on the nose makes it look really big :eek: darn!@:p

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Nov-2007/39040-7.jpg

here's a close up of the gardener's bag, I so want one with the knife hanging out like that :evil:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/29-Nov-2007/39040-9.jpg

so that's all my damage for now :wave: Nickel

[Jack Liberty Lake]

Very nice work, Nickel ... I started 'Leah and Rachael' today. I found the chineese white underlayment difficult to keep wet on larger areas because of the chalk and when I tried to drop in the hues, it lightened them more than I wanted and produced streaky results. Fortunately, I've only done the fabric thus far and the streaks will work to my advantage when putting in the folds or shadows of the garment. Another happy mistake with watercolours!
Jack

[artbyjune]

:clap: Nickel, the scratching out gives the halos a lovely glitter effect. I love the expressions on the faces of the youths!

Mary is coming along. The colour looks good. I like the contrast of the green and the reddish-brown.

I'm glad you are enjoying discovering watercolours. They are good for preliminary colour studies before going on to do final oil paintings. Not that I've done that yet.


As for the Chinese white underlayer, its best to use it on small areas that you will work on immediately.

Also, if you wet the paper first and then layer the white, it keeps wet longer. It does give distinct brush strokes when you layer the colour over it which makes good textural effects. You have to be careful when layering the first coat of colour not to pick up the white underlay too much, if possible. Kind of float the colour over so it doesn't mix.

Also, you can use the Chinese white on limited parts of your painting. No need to use it all over. Use it perhaps for the figures or drapery where you want distinct brush marks, perhaps. And use your transparent watercolours on their own for backgrounds. Please experiment and let us know how you found it.:D :wave:

I have found that the 'streaks' of the first colour layer will dissappear when you put another glaze of colour over. So if there are areas where you find you don't want those streaks, put another layer over to cover them up. Its a matter for experimentation. I'd try it on a scrap of paper before you try it on your artworks.

Small brushes will 'pick' colour up from the paper and leave you with 'holes' in your colour. So best to use fairly big brushes where possible.

Nickel and Lauren, many thanks for commenting on my copies.;)

[artbyjune]

I came across this watercolour by Millais recently. There are exhibitions of his work in Birmingham and the Tate in the UK at the moment. I haven't been to see them though.

[azulparsnip]

Nickel - you are doing a great job

June - thanks for starting this, there is alot to study here. I will be going into the big city tommorrow (Charlotte) and making an art supply stop:rolleyes: but today I tried out using gesso , painting over it while it was still wet. I liked the bright effect. Will see how it behaves with subsquent layering.

This is after Millais

[artbyjune]

I'm glad you tried out a wet gesso layer, azul. I think I will try that too for comparison. I think when it dries and you layer, it should work well because I have used watercolour over dry gesso-layerd paper in the past and it worked well.

Looking forward to the updates.

This is quite a BIG topic (i.e., PRB paintings) and really engrossing once you get into it. The symbolism in their works seems an interesting topic to explore.

[artbyjune]

A preparatory drawing by Rossetti for his painting 'Rachel and Leah'.

[robynsin]

Wonderful work, June. I'm blown away by the beauty of the colour and detail in your second picture.

Nickel - Beautiful finish to your first painting and I love the way the second is coming along. Now you've painted it I can see exactly how that knife works with the gardening bag. I thought it was some strange symbolism in the first picture!

Lauren - Fascinating facts you are digging up. Fancy Rossetti being sloppy. I guess why you have that amazing gift for line and composition you can afford to be a bit sloppy.

Azul - That is a great reference. I look forward to seeing your version.

I haven't anything to offer because I have a house full of painters - the other kind, you know, the ones who pile your furniture in the corner, fill your house with plaster dust and dribble gesso over your light fittings. Tomorrow they are going to kick me out of my studio, so it's going from bad to worse!

[artbyjune]

Sorry your having an upheaval with the redecorating, Robynsn. Hope it all gets back to normal soon!

Thanks for your kind comments on my copies. The April love was drawn freehand; but I traced the outline for the 4 musicians in the blue closet. So it was easier then to concentrate on colours. Tracing an image is useful I think when you are studying a work and want to concentrate on some particular aspect.:wink2:

I managed a small copy of 'Beata Beatrix' by Rossetti towards the end of last week. I also traced this one, so can't take any credit for the underlying drawing. I mainly wanted to try out a wet-in-wet more painterly application of my watercolours.

It was rather frightening to slop on water and then slop on colour but exciting. I like the wet-in-wet effects.

I'll put my little copy here (4 by 6 ins) and in the next post I will put the original oil painting (by Rossetti) as well as a note on his symbolism because its interesting and because I am into finding out about symbols at the moment.:lol:

[artbyjune]

OK here is the original 'Beata Beatrix' by Rossetti in oils.

Here is information on the symbolism in this work. (Taken from the web- but I can't recall which site- may have been either the victorian website or the Rossetti archive).

This painting was inspired by Dante's written work Vita Nuova. Beatrice was Dante's love.
....................................................................................................
Rosetti portrays a trancelike Beatrice presumably in the act of internalized spiritual focus, with her closed eyes prefiguring her future death and heavenly ascendance. The mystical bird bathed in holy light that has alighted on Beatrice's arm recalls the iconic dove used to represent the Holy Spirit. The poppy carried in the bird's beak represents death as well as peace and chastity. A sundial appears to the right of Beatrice's face, and the dial casts its shadow on the hour of nine, a number that Dante connects mystically with Beatrice and her death in numerous ways throughout Vita Nuova. The golden light emanating from Beatrice envelopes the sundial, compositionally framing her face between her hair and the shape of the sundial. The background provides us with a view of the river Arno, its bridge, with the distant silhouette of the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo of Florence, where Dante and Beatrice both lived until her death in June 1290. To the viewer's right, the figure of Dante stands in front of a well, representing Beatrice's impending rebirth and also his own rebirth as a poet when Beatrice becomes his muse. Dante's figure gazes intently at the figure of Love, who wears a brilliant red dress and who holds a book, presumably the Vita Nuova. Love holds the flaming heart that, in Dante's first dream of Beatrice, Love fed to Beatrice before sorrowfully carrying her with him to Heaven. Rosetti echoes this visionary event by showing Love seemingly beckoning to Dante's figure to follow him off the left side of the picture, perhaps heavenwards.
...................................................................................................

:wave:

[robynsin]

June - your wet in wet has worked very well in your version. I particularly like the effect in her hair. The face is lovely too. Have you used any Chinese White under this? Colours are great.

It's always interesting to know the symbolism of paintings. It certainly gives me extra enjoyment looking at this. I notice the poppy is white and the dove seems red - or is it just picking up the reflected colour of that glowing robe?
I love seeing paintings of Dante. My watercolour teacher here made me learn to paint him while he recited his verse. Not your usual sort of art lesson!

Anyway wonderful reference and you've captured the spirit of it beautifully.

[robynsin]

How silly of me, her robe is green! It's the figure of love that has the red robe!

[artbyjune]

Robynsin, I have seen a version on the web of this painting, where the bird is actually white. So it may have been intended to be a dove. I have never seen the original. Its at times like these that you realise the need to see the original paintings for study!

I didn't use Chinese white in this one. I used my paint fairly thick over wet paper. I was attracted by the red hair and the intensity of the image and painted the teeny copy before reading about the symbolism. The symbolism made it even more interesting. I think the original may be in the Tate London - so I may get to see it one day.

I loved hearing about how your teacher had you paint in watercolour whilst he recited poems by Dante. How exotic. What a thrill. Personally, I have never read any Dante poems or prose but I just downloaded Vita Nuova in English from a website and so I will have a look at it soon.

Why don't you make a watercolour illustrating one of your favourite poems that has a connection with the PRB?? That would be interesting to see.

I may try it too. Anyone else interested in doing this?

[kateinportugal]

Well inmagine my surprise when I saw the interest in pre-raph painters as I just borrowed a book on them. I have never put in any art work but am willing to try to add to this group. As they say, Watch this space. The book is Essential Pre-Raphaelites by Lucinda Hawksley.

[Jack Liberty Lake]

Hi and Welcome, Kate ...
Hello everyone ... thought I would check in to let y'all know I'm still alive! My painting (Rachael and Leah) is progressing ... the figures are near finished and I'm starting to work on the background ... more soon.
Jack

[azulparsnip]

June, your Beata Beatrix is lovely, looking at it brings a meditative feeling, the glow and expression is beautiful, the loose work relaxing...
I haven't gotten back to mine yet.......

[Nickel]

I think I've finished this one.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/05-Dec-2007/39040-20.jpg

watercolor on paper

[Nickel]

I know a little garden-close
Set thick with lily and red rose,
Where I would wander if I might
From dewy morn to dewy night



From

The Nymph’s Song to Hylas
The Life & Death of Jason

by William Morris

[kateinportugal]

Hi again, Well I have desided to do "Orianna" by Anthony Fredrick Sandys.

I don't know if it will work, but I will get to it on Saturday. Can anyone tell me how to put an image into this message?

[kateinportugal]

Hi again, I may have cracked it...... I seem to be having as much difficulty uploading this picture as doing the water color will be.[IMG]http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/05-Dec-2007/57801-Sandys_Oriana.jpg[/IMG

[kateinportugal]

Hi again, I may have cracked it...... I seem to be having as much difficulty uploading this picture as doing the water color will be.http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/05-Dec-2007/57801-Sandys_Oriana.jpg

[artbyjune]

:clap: Hi Kate and welcome to the pre-raphaelite project!!

I love the painting which you have decided to work from. I have never seen that one and it is delightful. :D I am looking forward to your interpretation!

Hi Nickel, I think your watercolour of Mary Nazarene turned out splendidly. I love the reds and greens. Red and green is a popular colour combo for PRB painters! And the lines from the Morris poem are so apt for your watercolour. Will you try a composition of your own to illustrate a poem from this period?? Would be a fun challenge.:wink2:

Hi Azul and Jack. Please take your time with your paintings. No need to rush. The project will remain open for a while yet.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the nice comments about my beata beatrix, azul. I feel the wet-in-wet technique is more expressive.

See you later. :wave:

[Nickel]

Thank you June! I so thought the lines from Morris fit this painting and my personality for the garden. I don't know about my own composition yet for illustrating a poem. A challenge indeed! I suppose I'll pick either a love poem or a poem on nature. :0)

I am looking forward to seeing everyones beautiful work or studies!

Nickel

[artbyjune]

:p I bit the bullet and attempted a composition for the poem 'Lady of Shalott' by Tennyson.

This is my first watercolour idea for the Lady of Shalott. 9 by 12 ins. I have a long way to go.

I rather like the colour combination of orange and blue. I like the table with the monkey and sewing stuff on it. I think the knight on horseback is OK; but I need to rethink my figure of the female. The pose is not very good. I'd like more drama. I'd like her to lean on the table and look up at the mirror to emphasize that part of the poem.

However, I haven't access to a model to get realism. I will work on the compostion and see if I can come up with something better later.

I've thrown down the gauntlet, as it were, I'm sure you can all do much better than this.

It really was fun to attempt it!! :D

[kateinportugal]

Hi gang, Well I finished my interpretation of Orianna by Sandys. Rushed a little as I have classes everyday next week. Would have liked more time.

I found it hard as the original was an oil. But it worked out fairly well. I would do some things differently next time.http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/08-Dec-2007/57801-oriana_copy.jpg

[artbyjune]

Hi Kate, your watercolour study has turned out so well. :thumbsup: :clap:

The hair is particularly lovely: rich in colour. A beautiful watercolour portrait of Orianna.

[artbyjune]

here is a link to a watercolour refernce from Anghwar. I think its a download of a free reference book. I haven't had time to check it out yet.
........................................................................................................
I do not do watercolor but came across this today and thought you may find it interesting and perhaps you wish to share it on your thread.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22379...-h/22379-h.htm (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22379/22379-h/22379-h.htm)

Regards
Anghwar

........................................................................................................

:cat:

[Nickel]

Hi June, Hi Everyone!
Here's a link to a thread we started here in classical awhile ago about the
Pre-Raphaelites.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=382646
I enjoyed reading the Master's Watercolor Book at Gutenberg.

:) Nickel

[Nickel]

Hi Kate, lovely work. What colors did you use?

Hi June, I think your illustration

ROCKS! I like it better not done from a life model.

It fits better to the poem.

I do so love the little monkey. :) Nickel

[Nickel]

I'm asking Santa for gouache under my Christmas tree. :)

I hope he don't check to see if I've been good! :D

[azulparsnip]

Nickel - the shovel painting is lovely

June - your seamstress & "friend" is fun and happy - I love her face and body language, t he monkey is a great touch

Kate in Portugal- wonderful portrait - love the vibrations of the blue and golds,

I have been quite busy but looking in here spurs me on - plus, I am having a hard time with procrastinating about picking up the brush but when I do I love it - I know I can't tonight - gotta print out my Christmas cards - tommorrow night I will make a running go at this........The fellowship and art you each share here means more to me than I can say.

[azulparsnip]

YES!!! - I got to work on mine yesterday here it is- I don't know the title of this one by Millais. IT's not quite finished. I'm still using the gesso on this and it seems to work okay. Gonna use the china white on next one.

[artbyjune]

Its looking good azul. Luminous bright colour. I'm sure it will work out really well! :thumbsup:

I haven't tried the wet gesso yet. It will be interesting to hear what you think of the Chinese white when you do one!! Will it feel different to the wet gesso? I guess it will!

Nickel I hope Santa remembers the gouache for you. It would be nice to see a pre-raphaelite work in gouache!!:wave:

[Nickel]

Azulparsnip, I like the excitement in these colors! It's pretty.
And I'd like to see the next one and find out what happens compared
to the gesso.

June, gouache or Gucci but no coal for my naughty times, well maybe a few sticks of charcoal. :D

[artbyjune]

three images by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. I haven't checked on the medium used yet. Useful if you want to do a second copy/study!!

:wink2:

I have a couple more to upload but I need to resize them first!

[artbyjune]

:p Here's some background information on Burne-Jones (from the web). He used gouache and gum extensively in paintings.

Background: Burne-Jones, sir edward coley


Chiefly associated with the second generation of Pre-Raphaelites, Burne-Jones also worked closely with designer William Morris throughout his life.

Edward Coley Burne-Jones was born at 11 Bennetts Hill on August 28 1833. Within days his mother, Elizabeth, died and the child was raised by his father, also Edward, a gilder and frame maker.

In 1853, he went up to Exeter College, Oxford, and it was here he met William Morris. At that time, both men intended to go into the Church but, after a tour of northern France in 1855, Burne-Jones decided to become a painter and Morris to train as an architect. Both left Oxford without graduating. From November 1856 he and Morris shared rooms in London at 17 Red Lion Square, which previously had been occupied by Rossetti and Walter Deverell. Known to early friends simply as Jones, he adopted the name of Burne-Jones at about this time.

Apart from a few informal lessons from Rossetti, whom he met in 1856, Burne-Jones was largely self-taught, his early work consisting of pen and ink drawings and watercolours - all of romantic or literary subjects. He took part in the Oxford Union mural campaign in 1857, joined the Hogarth Club in 1858, and in the following year made the first of four lengthy trips to Italy.

Enjoying the patronage of John Ruskin, who accompanied him and Georgiana on a second trip to Italy in 1862, Burne-Jones began to develop a personal style in which elements of Rossettian Pre-Raphaelitism were fused with the influence of classical art and Old Master painting. The discipline of drawing, preferably from the live model, was central to his art, and became a daily practice after he settled in The Grange, Fulham, in 1867. He had been elected an Associate of the Old Water Colour Society in 1864 - The Merciful Knight was one of his first exhibits - but he resigned in 1870 after criticism of Phyllis and Demophoön, with its large nude male and female figures. In the same year he narrowly survived the scandal of an affair with one of his models, Maria Zambaco.

Reluctantly, Burne-Jones accepted an Associateship of the Royal Academy in 1885, but exhibited only once and resigned in 1893. In 1894, Prime Minister Gladstone offered him a baronetcy.

Sir Edward Burne-Jones died in Fulham on 16 June 1898 and was buried in the churchyard at Rottingdean, Sussex, where he had a country home.

[Nickel]

Hi June, these are lovely images! It was interesting to read more about
Burns. I'm always trying to pick my favorite of the group but I like them all.

I read over the weekend to add talc (magnesium sillicate) or zinc white or china clay kaolin to your pigment to make gouache. *this is in addition to whatever one would normally use to make watercolor. What do you think?

Nickel

[artbyjune]

Nickel, I think the difference between transparent watercolour and gouache is that gouache has inert white pigment of some sort added to the hues to give 'body', i.e., bodycolour/gouache.

So if you add chinese white to watercolour in a mix as you would mix up tints in oil paint, you will have gouache. It could be any white I think but the coolness or warmth of the white would probably make a difference.

Gouache from the pigment makers would give a better mixture with less tendency towards paleness. More strength in your hues.

Unlike transparent watercolours, with gouache you can paint light over dark but care must be taken not to disturb the underlayer as you will get muddy colours. (Useful for painting over dark areas in a transparent watercolour if you want to try that).

"With transparent watercolours, the brilliance comes from the white paper support; with gouache, the brilliance comes from the reflective qualities of the added white pigment." Quote from : 'Handbook of art materials and techniques' by Ian Sidaway, A&C Black, London, 2000.

Burne-Jones was very fond of using gouache it seems!! There's a very nice gouache study of a girl's head on purple paper in Olga's gallery by him. I'll post it here.:wink2:

[azulparsnip]

Here's where I better stop with this one or everythings gonna be BROWN:eek: I started with the complements in bright and then couldn't go back ....learning all the time

Gotta go look at the references at the beginning , dig up my next adventure.

Hum, gouche sounds interesting.

It must have been cool fun to hang out with other artists and paint and talk .........I bet that is half the reason to go to art school!

[artbyjune]

:clap: I love the colours you've got going there azul, particularly the lavendar/purples. Also the white gives a marvellous sensation of light from the window.

I hope you try gouache to copmpare it with the transparent watercolour method and let us know how you like it.

I just read that if you mix soft pastel dust with water it gives a kind of gouache paint!:wink2:

[Jack Liberty Lake]

Well Ladies ... here's my feeble attempt to reproduce the Masters (Leah and Rachael if you don't recognize it!)... Rossetti and friends should not worry about competetion from me! On the other hand, it's my first attempt to draw/paint the human form and I'm happy with this attempt. I'm going to do the portrait of Elizabeth Siddell next to work more on facial renderings.
If I don't write again before, please have a Holy and Merry Christmas.
Jack

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/18-Dec-2007/119708-Leah-and-Rachelle.gif

[artbyjune]

:) Hi Jack. I hope you have a great Christmas...and everyone else too!!

:clap: Congratulations on finishing 'Rachel and Leah'. I hope you are pleased. You should be. I love your colours because they are so clean and fresh: a very good point in a watercolour painting. It is so easy to end up with muddy colour in watercolour.

Your figures look very good, especially the woman with the long red hair. I love that line of trees in the background and the colours on the bricks of the well.

I am looking forward to the portrait of Elizabeth Siddal. Will you use watercolour or gouache?

I may attempt something in gouache next. But probably not until after Christmas.

:wave:

[Nickel]

Hi June, found a tube of white gouache yesterday so it is living with me now. :angel: I'm just going to try it out mixing it with the watercolor I have now. :evil: I've got my poem picked out to start on next week. It will be a surprise for everyone. Me included :wave:

Hi Azulparsnip! Your painting turned out great! I don't see any mud!
The colors look great! Did you get to try the chinese white? Did you like it? Wonder what your next adventure will be, please share! :wave:

Hello Jack Liberty Lake! Your painting turned out to be a fine painting indeed!
A big round of :clap: :clap: :clap: for your first time with humans. :wave: We all had one of those times. :) How did you like using the chinese white?
I'm looking forward to your Elizabeth Siddell!

My most Merry Christmas wishes to everyone! I'll be in and out of here too. Must shop! I think I am running out of time to do that. I know it was just Thanksgiving yesterday! :wave: Nickel

[azulparsnip]

Been a while but my heart has been set on this for a while and now looking at the Burnes -Jones art is setting something "cookin".......

Here is the first pass on a take of Millais - Vale of Rest I used the zinc white underlayer. It behaves differently than the gesso. No preferance formed yet.

[azulparsnip]

Jack, I tried to post a comment on Leah & Rachel and it got lost and then Christmas crept up......they are lyrical, especiall like the red head and the background forest.

[artbyjune]

The Vale of rest is a restful peaceful image as the title suggests.

Azul, I like your underpainting in lemon and purple. Its a very interesting way of starting and I think it will make for a lovely unified painting.

[Nickel]

Azulparsnip I am looking forward to seeing more on your painting. I like how it looks so far. I'm waiting for the preferance on the whites. :D

[azulparsnip]

Here is the finished Vale of Rest after Millais......

initally I did not like this painting but after copying in I love what he did ....

[azulparsnip]

I jiggled the scanner hence the line in the image

[artbyjune]

A beautiful interpretation of the Millais, Azul. I think you have given it a modern update and it looks so good. I love the contrast of the rich dark purples with the lemon yellow. Well done.:thumbsup: :clap:

......................................................................................................

I just received an email today from the curator of prints and drawings at the Birmingham art gallery to say they have a huge collection of pre-Raphaelite watercolours and that if I want to go and study them I can make an appointment to visit. (They are not kept on permanent display because of light causing fading).

Birmingham is about 30 mins away from me on the train. So I have no excuse not to go. It certainly would be great to view the original Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Hunt etc watercolours close-up!!:wink2:

I just need to get organised and pick a day.:wave:

[azulparsnip]

June, that is LOVELY!!!!!! you are very fortunate, indeed. :clap:

[Nickel]

Azulparsnip, wow, look at this painting! It glows you know!
I like how it turned out. :) I thought that line was where you enhanced the size. :) I like the colors.

June, I am looking forward to your review after you see the original Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Hunt etc watercolours up-close. :clap:

[azulparsnip]

Here's the drawing of Burnes-Jones' Sleeping Beauty. Hope to begin painting tommorrow. I've been preparing a linoleum cut for artomat. Here's Lonnie (the lobster). How does it read? I was wondering if I might need to color him to make the image clearer.

[Nickel]

Hi Azulparsnip! Is Lonnie a gonna be cooked lobster? That's a cute name. Around here, they don't stand a chance but to wind up in a pot. Kidding aside, I think color would help to show him and his location better. I like the sleeping beauties. I've been looking for a sleeper although not a beauty for a painting. Looking forward to seeing your painting.

[artbyjune]

Hi azul, I like your figures for sleeping beauty. Also the lino cut looks good. You like humour in your lino cuts. I would like to try my hand at this lino cut technique ...one day.

[azulparsnip]

Nickel, yes I do think I will add some watercolor to the lobster. I'll post it . thanks for your honest comments, they are valued. In printmaking forum they couldn't tell what it was. One friend thought it was an anenome wearing an evening gown!!! LOL

June - yes, the humor just comes out for these - it is not planned but endearing nonetheless.

[azulparsnip]

well, I finally finished it - Sleeping Beauty after Burnes-Jones

[artbyjune]

Beautiful. They look so sleepy. I love your colour choices... they complement the mood very well. A 'period' illustration to the sleeping beauty story.

[Nickel]

Azulparsnip, I think the colors are very peaceful. It seems like a good, safe place to sleep. I am glad to see this painting. :)

[azulparsnip]

thank you June and Nickel

[IZZYWAT]

I was very impressed with your posting of his article .I have not had time to experiment with some of their techniques yet
I am not really sure how a forum worksbut I appreciated the info