Painting — secrets of the workshop

The most important in painting is of course the artist and his vision. It is worth remembering, however, that if the work is to be created, the appropriate materials and painting technique are also necessary.

[Photo by Anni Roenkae, Pexels]

It is not exactly known when man came up with the idea of decorating various surfaces with patterns or drawings. However, research shows that Neanderthal man already created paintings using simple materials available at that time. Since he already used fire, he could reach for charcoal, which is still used by artists today. Drawing on the surface of rocks with unburned wood itself was not difficult, but the effect was very fragile. If such a drawing was made in a place exposed to rain or snow, it became blurred rather quickly. Thus, Homo sapiens of that time came up with the idea of artistic creation in places where the paintings would survive, although he certainly did not suspect that they would be admired after tens of thousands of years.

The charcoal drawings themselves are, of course, monochromatic, so the search for materials that would introduce some color probably began quite quickly. Ochre became a fairly natural choice. Simply put, it is a weathered rock containing aluminosilicates and iron oxides. Depending on their proportions, ochre can range from light yellow through orange to brown. By mixing different colors or charcoal with ochre, a…