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January 26, 2007
Smalt
I’ve been at the smalt again. Mind you consumption is greatly to be avoided, coming as it does from ground glass, many a notorious poisoner’s poison of choice.
Jos, 2nd state, oil on panel 1800mm x 1220mm
Blue has been around for a while, initially fermented woad leaves from isatis tinctoria, were used as a dye, the same woad our ancestors used to anoint themselves with at times of heightened excitement.
These leaves were fermented in piss, and if there was alcohol in the piss the process was much more successful, so the dyers used to drink copiously on a Saturday, piss in the woad bath and leave the fabrics to soak all Sunday. [The resultant hangovers left us with the phrase Blue Monday, or Blauer Montag as Germany was the centre for woad dying in 16th Century Europe.]
Woad as a pigment was not much good for anything but ceremonial finger painting so artists started grinding up the gemstone lapis lazuli to form Ultramarine. This was a very expensive business and the paint was used very sparingly, for painting posh people's robes mainly.
When it came to painting large areas of sky Ultramarine was out of the question so smalt was used. Unfortunately the early methods of extraction were not very lightfast and have left us with many grey skies which would at one time have been blue.
I like its neutral tone, and I’m finding it an excellent background for the figure. Here's the picture pre-smalt, as it were:
Jos, 1st state, oil on panel 1800mm x 1220mm
Coming soon: Indigo – The Devil’s Dye.
Posted by john at January 26, 2007 08:37 PM