Koninginnendag (queen’s day)
September 10th, 2006
This painting by Hanneke van Oosterhout is in an interesting state (click painting to enlarge it). Originally it had a black background, but Hanneke found this an ugly combination with the orange colors. For this reason, she painted the background white, in order to make a new start with it. However, she painted the white thinly, and the background is not really white now, but has an interesting cloudy quality. Although not planned, this is a perfect example of the type of optical effect that can be achieved by painting in layers. The cloudy quality that results gives a feeling of mystery to the still-life which would not be there if the background were pure white.
I don’t know what Hanneke’s plans are for this picture. It will be interesting to follow how it develops, and if she decides to keep some of this accidental background quality, or make something different. I like the cool background grays that contrast nicely with the warm grays in the objects. What do you think?
September 10th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
Why does the background look blue?
Shouldn’t black underpainting followed by a top layer of white give grey rather than blue?
September 10th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
Good question. The background, fine white particles over black, is a cool grey for the same reason that the smoke is bluish (when seen against a dark background), and the sky is blue. It has to do with the way the fine particles scatter light. Different white pigments give a different degree of bluish-grey in this situation. Zinc white would look much bluer than lead white, for example.
September 10th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
What was used, Zinc white or lead white?
September 11th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Hanneke doesn’t use lead white because she has small children. She uses a mixture of zinc and titanium white. This mixture has better properties as an oil paint than either zinc or titanium white alone; the mixture has about the same opacity as lead white, but gives a cooler effect in mixtures and in layers, as here. To approximate the effect of lead white, a small amount of warm earth pigment, such as raw sienna, can be added.
September 23rd, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Echoing Karl’s comment on the original painting versus its later stage where a spoon and rosebud were added:
Another way to go would have been to enhance the magic of the dream-like quality.