Technique
An Intimate Process
In the practice of my craft, I have gone through different stages, although with a tendency towards a figurative style of classical aesthetics, based on drawing. My works on paper include materials such as graphite, charcoal, nib and ink, while my paintings are mainly made with acrylics (1), either on cardboard, canvas or wood. Lately, I have also incorporated the use of digital media, taking advantage of the new creative possibilities that they provide, especially for illustration work.
Among my primary references are the works treasured by the great museums, for the beauty and mastery they show in their execution and the grandiloquence of their themes. I am inspired by the techniques of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque masters, especially by the subtle chromatic transitions of the tempera (2) paintings of the International Gothic style and the Quattrocento, the valorist base of the Flemish grisailles (3) and the atmosphere created by the application of color in fine glazes (4), pictorial resources that today have practically fallen into disuse.
Although I basically do not use in my pictures the characteristic materials of those periods, such as powdered pigments, egg tempera emulsion, linseed oil for oil painting, and varnishes based on natural resins, my creative recipe consists of adapting the way they were used to modern times, employing acrylic art materials. And this choice is not accidental, since it is based on two fundamental aspects of the latter: their versatility and guarantees of conservation.
Acrylics summarize the best properties of their ancestors, they can be used both in thin layers and in impasto (5), allowing a wide range of applications on almost any support, in addition to offering high stability over time, remaining practically unchanged, if appropriate conservation measures are maintained. Other major advantages are that they dissolve with water, are non-toxic to health and have a short drying time.
To maintain chromatic coherence in my creations, in consonance with the historical pigments, I have made a very careful selection of the colors I use in my palette. This is mainly based on a limited range that includes less saturated tones such as those that predominate in nature and in the paintings of the Old Masters, achieving a harmonious coloring designed to create an atmosphere of romanticism, poetry, intimacy and calm. I often use metal leaf (6) on backgrounds, frames and specific elements of my works, taking advantage of the luminosity and sacred quality offered by the golden and silver surfaces, so common in medieval panels and illuminated manuscripts.
I usually make my own surface preparations, using gesso, mediums, colors and inert fillers, applying the products on the support in several coats. I then lay down an imprimatura (7), a thin translucent layer whose purpose is to cover the white background and create a neutral tone that serves as a base for the successive layers of paint. I use grisaille to set up the composition in terms of values and then apply the color through the combination of glazes and denser brushstrokes, using acrylic mediums that adjust their properties according to the desired effect.
While I often use this traditional method of working, I also include an arsenal of contemporary techniques, more intuitive and experimental, which I sometimes employ as a complement to the historical ones or to the direct application of color; such is the case of dripping (8), scraping (9), sgraffito (10), masking (11), monoprinting (12), stencil (13) and even collage (14), as well as all sorts of special effects achieved with unconventional tools that activate the surface of the painting, creating interesting textures and a unique appearance.
Finally, I use varnishes to homogenize the look of the surface of the work and isolate the pictorial layer from the outside world, protecting it against the harmful action of ultraviolet rays, pollution an improper handling of the piece, thus guaranteeing its permanence over time.
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Glossary:
1) Acrylics: pictorial materials in which the pigments are dispersed in an emulsion of an acrylic polymer; they are soluble in water and dry quickly by evaporation or absorption of water, but once dry they are resistant to it, forming a highly permanent plastic film; they are one of the most important products in contemporary painting.
2) Tempera: painting technique in which water is used as a solvent and the binder can be animal or vegetable glue, egg yolk, glycerin, casein, gum or other organic materials.
3) Grisaille: paint made in a single color, usually earth tones or grayscale, ideal for modeling the volume of the figures, giving them the appearance of a sculptural relief.
4) Glaze: a very thin and translucent layer of paint applied over another layer that is already dry, in order to provide a slightly colored veil; the color that is perceived at the end of the process is the result of the superimposition of the top layer on the underlying one.
5) Impasto: a thick layer of paint that forms a relief on the surface of the painting, sometimes the imprint of the tool with which it was applied is visible, such as a painting knife, a brush or any other object.
6) Metal leaf: very thin metal foil, generally gold or silver, although it also comes in other shades, which is used to coat surfaces, giving them the appearance of solid metal; there are two basic types: real or fine gold/silver and imitation gold/silver.
7) Imprimatura: a thin translucent layer of paint with a high percentage of binder and little pigment that forms part of the preparation of the substrate; it is applied with the purpose of making it smoother and less absorbent, as well as providing a neutral colored background that serves as a base for the successive coats of paint.
8) Dripping: painting technique characteristic of Action Painting that consists of dripping paint or splashing it spontaneously on the artwork.
9) Scraping: procedure by which paint is removed from the support using the flat edge of a painting knife, creating misty visual effects.
10) Sgraffito: technique by which a drawing is created by scratching a layer of paint with the graphium (pointed instrument), causing fragments of it to jump, so that the color of another underlying layer is perceived.
11) Masking: technique that consists of covering parts of the surface of a painting with cardboard or masking tape, so that these are protected when a new color is applied to adjacent areas.
12) Monoprinting: artistic technique that combines characteristics of painting and printing, in which a design or figure is drawn on a layer of fresh paint that has been previously spread on a non-absorbent surface, such as glass; the resulting image can then be transferred to another substrate that is placed on it, rubbing gently with a roller or simply by hand.
13) Stencil: technique in which a template is used with an openwork pattern or drawing whose image is going to be transferred to another support.
14) Collage: artistic technique that consists of adhering different images or external elements to a support.