Good one Lauren –
I love Vermeer’s ability to paint light. Looking forward to learning some of his techniques.
Ryan

Hi, Ryan!

I’m reading up on Vermeer’s palette, and found a mention of how he attained luminosity using Genuine Ultramarine (made with real Lapis Lazuli). He also used lead white.

Here is an interesting explanation, using as an example a painting that was done around the same time as ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’.
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/details/details_woman_with_a_water_pitcher.html

Here is a good explanation of Vermeer’s palette:
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/palette/palette_vermeer’_palette.html

I’ll be back later today to start discussing the palette I used for ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring.’

Sorry for being absent and not explaining the palette more. :o

The Indigo (blue) and Indian Yellow are mixed together for the background. Vermeer used Indigo mixed with Weld. My teacher felt that Indian Yellow was the closest substitute for Weld. If you don’t want to purchase these pigments, a deep blue like Prussian Blue or Phalo Blue will do. You might need to add a little Black or Raw Umber. You can also substitute a Cadmium Yellow Medium for the Indian Red. However, if you want to learn more about pigments, you might want to pick them up. I found that Winsor & Newton or Gamblin had good artist quality paints at a very reasonable price.

According the the essentialvermeer website, a limited amount of pigments were available to Dutch artists of that period. While Rembrandt used more than 100 different pigments in his work (though probably not in one painting), Vermeer used less than 20 (that have been detected in his work) and only used 10 in a systematic way.

They are listed as: (notes taken from essentialvermeer.com)
AZURITE – a cheaper blue that Vermeer used in light grey & mixtures of green; may have also used as a base colour.
CARMINE – [Cochineal, Crimson Lake] very transparent red; excellent for glazing
CHARCOAL BLACK – made of Carbon/ Charcoal; has strong brownish undertones, easy to prepare & has excellent hiding power. Vermeer used in painting black marble tiles.
GREEN EARTH – [Caledonite, Glauconite, Terra Verde of Verona, Ciprus Green] In oils it becomes soapy in texture. In mass tone, it is a rather dull green. Vereer mixed it with Lead White & some Lead-Tin Yellow, & in some shadowed skin tones.
INDIGO – In oils, this pigment was very transparent; a good pigment for glazing; a strong yellow undertone. Vermeer used in background of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ mixed with Weld, to make a deep green glaze.
IVORY BLACK – [Bone Black] The deepest black. Vermeer didn’t use it much, preferring Charcoal Black.
LEAD WHITE – [Flake White, Cremnitz White, Kerms White, Silver White, Berlin White, Slate White] Has outstanding brushing qualities & mixes well with every other colour. A warm & very opaque white. Still very popular with many oil painters, dispite some controversy about using a paint containing lead.
LEAD-TIN YELLOW – [Massicott (source: northern England), Giallolino (source: Italy)] A strong lemon hue, very light in tone, good hiding power. Vermeer used as a principle pigment for yellow drapes & the fur-trimmed yellow jacket that appears in 6 of his paintings.
MADDER LAKE – [Red Madder, Rose Madder] A ruby-red tone, highly transparent, excellent for glazing.
RED OCHRE – [Red Ochre, Red Earth, Iron Oxide Red, Red Iron Oxide, Indian Red, brun rouge (French), Roter Ocker (German), Reddle, Spanish Brown] Vermeer used frequently to tone the grounds of his paintings.
SMALT – [Cobalt Blue] A deep blue, similar to ultramarine, made from powdered glass made a deep blue by using cobalt.
ULTRAMARINE – Vermeer used ‘Genuine Ultramarine,’ which was made with ground pure Lapis Lazuli (as semi-precious stone). It was very expensive, but the results were stunning. A very deep transparent blue — VERY dark.
UMBER – [terre d’ombre] Vermeer used at times, mixed with black in underpainting stage. Also used mixed with white in grounds to create warm light grey.
WELD – A yellow, made from the Weld plant
VERDIGRIS – [Copper Green] a bluish green, the mosst vibrant green pigment available, but not very lightfast. Lost use as more stable pigments became available.
VERMILLION – [Cinnabar, Chinese Vermillion] an opaque red pigment, very bright & a bit orangey. In modern time, largely replaced by Cadmium Red.
YELLOW OCHRE – Vermeer used extensively in flesh tones.

The Seven Principle Pigments Commonly used by Vermeer:
1 – LEAD WHITE
2- YELLOW OCHRE
3- VERMILLION
4 – RED MADDER
5 – GREEN EARTH
6 – RAW UMBER
7 – IVORY BLACK