Portrait of Madame X by John Singer Sargent, 1884

John Singer Sargent was an American expatriate artist, the leading portrait painter of the late 1800’s – early 1900’s. In addition to his approximately 900 oil paintings, he also painted more than 2,000 watercolours documenting his worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida.

As a budding portraitist and avid watercolourist, his work caught my eye early on in my own creative journey. 

Sargent showed me that formal and informal artworks can be equally enjoyable. The focus on a single style, medium and subject is often the interpretation of historians rather than from the artists, their journeys and their art.

John Singer Sargent’s 1884 Portrait of Madame X has to be one of the most famous profiles in the history of art. Madame X was one Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, an American expat and socialite, wife of Pierre Gautreau, a Parisian Banker. Sargent did not paint her portrait as a commission – he pursued her somewhat for the opportunity. While this work was in progress, Virginie was enthusiastic, but then quickly changed her tune when the painting first appeared at the Paris Salon, the preeminent exhibition of the day.

 Although we find no difficulty today, for those times it was a bit risqué, as a portrait anyway. People were shocked and scandalized. Sargent maintained however, that he had painted her “exactly as she was dressed, that nothing worse could be said of the canvas than had been said in print of her appearance”.

Interestingly, other portraits of  Mme. Gautreau have quite a different feel and nothing like the drama and impact of the Sargent masterpiece. Contemporary photographs of her certainly only show a glimmer of the painting. We cannot see what Sargent saw: the attitude, the facade, the forced show. Madame X is not a very sympathetic painting, perhaps a bit too clever and contrived, but you notice it. This painting could never have been conceived as anything other than a profile. A profile with attitude!

During the year following the scandal, Sargent departed for England. He hung Madame X first in his Paris studio, and later in his studio in London.  In 1916, Sargent sold the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, writing to its director “I suppose it is the best thing I have ever done.”

 

Finishing glazes

With both oil and acrylic,  once your painting is finished, you might well notice some differences in surface texture – between areas where you’ve worked the surface and perhaps areas where your initial application persists. In this video, I comment on evening up the surface finish with the application of a transparent glaze or varnish:

 

Glazing can also be useful to lightly modify the colour or value in a specific area. In the following video I change a flower in a still life composition:

In acrylic, I would take a very similar approach, using a slow drying medium, or adding some retarder to my mix. Glazing (wash) in watercolour is of course somewhat different, however the principle is the same!

 

Further exploring your world of painting

I’m a great believer in trying new things – exploring different approaches and materials feeds  creativity. That’s the fun of art, always a journey of discovery. Here are a few ideas for your studio:

Oil and Acrylic on paper

Both oil and acrylic paints work superbly on paper. It’s best to use a robust thick paper in order to reduce buckling. I personally prefer to use watercolour paper. The great thing with watercolour paper is that, thinned with water/solvent, the paint behaves in a quite similar manner to watercolour and dowsing wet colours one into another – wet on wet – works well. When dry, the paint is of course fixed (unlike watercolour), so as the paint builds up, the paint then behaves more like a gessoed surface – essentially because the surface is now sealed by the dry paint.

Oil, Acrylic and Watercolour in conjunction with other materials

Likewise, oil, acrylic and watercolour generally work well in conjunction with a wide range of other art materials. The main constraint is the old adage: “oil and water don’t mix”. You can certainly use acrylics under oil – but not visa versa. Acrylics and watercolour are however, easy to use in conjunction with most dry media. Maybe not oil pastels of course however in this case, oils work well.

Modelling pastes and gels

These are typically acrylic-based and can be used under both oil and acrylic. They can also be use combined with acrylic paint. The only real constraint is that for large topographical build-ups it’s best have a rigid support (board rather than stretched canvas). Work in layers, letting each layer dry before applying the next.

Absorbent grounds

Treated with an absorbent ground, canvas and board can be used for watercolours. Although I have not tried it, there would be no reason why these could not be applied over modeling paste to create topographical effects. The possibilities are limitless!

Special effect paints

By now you may have noticed ranges of metallic, iridescent, pearl and other light bending effects. These can be used to electrifying results – however perhaps sometimes over-used. There are few technical limitations with these products, however as with most special effects there needs to be a context and purpose to the application – oftentimes less is more. Speaking of sparkling effects, dry glitter can of course be added to paint, sprinkled onto the wet paint surface or mixed with a clear acrylic medium – effectively making your own glitter-paint!

Non-brush techniques

Wiping, spattering, sponging, scraping, spaying and using cling film not to mention a palette knife, all work well with oil, acrylic and watercolour. It’s difficult to find a technique that has not been tried to good effect and a little research on the Internet will yield a lot of information.

Re-using canvas

I consistently re-use my old acrylic canvases. Re-preparation is a breeze as the new acrylic paint will readily bond with the old. Firstly, I make sure that the surface is clean. Then, with a mid-value tone, somewhat similar to the predominant tone of the old painting, plus a good dollop of titanium white for covering power, on goes my new base, with a fairly large, dryish brush. Aim to break up old lines, crossing them at angles as well as evening out tonal variations. Rather than aim for a completely even tone, I prefer to start my new painting with some vestiges of the old:  The juxtaposition with ghosts of images past seems to resonate with mysterious energy!

Watercolour on Synthetic Paper

I’ve recently been experimenting with watercolour on Yupo: a synthetic paper that has just enough “bite” to settle paint onto – although it’s essentially a plastic sheet and therefore non-absorbing.

From time to time, when I encounter artists who are Yupo fans, it elicits strong opinions – seems you either love it or hate it. It can certainly raise eyebrows in watercolour circles because it produces effects so unlike usual watercolour techniques: don’t try submitting to “traditional” watercolour shows with Yupo!

I’ve been working primarily with ink and watercolour and have been enjoying the results. With some of these studies, I started with a line drawing using my non-drawing hand – hence the somewhat arbitrary look: Well suited to Yupo, where, like it or not, an unseen hand moves the paint around in strange ways!

 

Exercise

• The field is wide open: try painting with a new type of support, with a modeling paste, adding a new dry material, or just put away your brushes and try a new application approach. Let’s keep our painting fresh!