Is Raw Sienna a "Shortcut"?
The list of artists'
pigments, evolving over centuries, includes 530 entries, with some
44 achieving the status of "standard" pigments. By what
criteria are colors added to the list?
(The second of three articles on this subject.)
By John Howard Sanden
 arlier
this year, I was present at an artists' gathering at which a speaker
condemned the use of certain pigment combinations in portrait painting
as "crutches" and "shortcuts." Before a large
audience of portrait artists which included me (I had addressed
the group the day before), the speaker opened his two-hour presentation
by specifically condemning - by name -- the use of my Pro Mix Color
System. What follows here are a few observations in response.
| Each color
beyond the three pri-
maries
found its place in the list-
ing (of
530 artists’ pigments) as
a direct
response to a perceived
need.
That perceived need,
more often
than not, was for a
starting
point closer to a desired
destination
than that afforded
by any
existing pigment.
|
The famous Ralph Mayer treatise entitled The Artist's Handbook
of Materials and Techniques, in its Revised Edition (The
Viking Press, New York, 1985) includes a definitive listing (beginning
on page 36) of 530 pigments that, over the years, have been used
by artists. Of these 530, approximately 44 pigments have earned,
by consensus agreement, a permanent place on the palette. Most artists
settle on a list of twelve or fifteen. But the allure of new pigments
has persisted, as painters have sought to achieve specialized effects,
or to achieve desired results with less mixing time.
Mayer notes that, over the centuries, pigments have entered the
listing bearing the name of its formulator (Van Dyck Brown, Casali's
Green, etc.), the national group from which a color concept emerged
(English Vermilion, French Blue, Venetian Red, etc.), or the name
of the manufacturer who introduced a particular pigment, such as
cerulean blue, first marketed as Rowney's Cerulean by the English
manufacturer G. Rowney in 1870.
Artists enjoy claiming that, given the three primary colors in a
"pure" form (red, yellow and blue), every visible shade
can be mixed. Why, then, do we find 530 colors on the complete list?
The answer is, of course, that each color beyond the three primaries
found its own place in the listing as a direct response to a perceived
need. That perceived need, more often than not, was for a starting
point closer to a desired destination than that afforded by any
existing pigment.
Is It, Then, a "Shortcut" to
Use Any of These 530 "Unnecessary" Colors?
A painter, setting out to mix the color observed on the forehead
of a sitting model, begins the mix using, say, raw sienna as the
point of departure, rather than pure cadmium yellow. The artist
selects raw sienna as his starting point for the simple reason that
this color is closer to the observed flesh color than would be the
brilliant cadmium yellow. To select raw sienna as a starting point,
rather than cadmium yellow, is a "shortcut" in the sense
that the starting point is thus closer to the destination. But using
such a shortcut is only common sense, not a sign of some weakness
of character on the part of the artist, as the speaker at the conference
seemed to suggest.
To imply that to use raw sienna to begin the mix for a flesh tone
is to use a "formula shortcut," or worse, a "crutch,"
is simply nonsense.
To postulate another example: if a painter, at work on a landscape,
were to begin the mix for a particular sky color by dipping into
cerulean blue rather than the more 'basic" ultramarine, and
if the reason for selecting cerulean over ultramarine was simply
that the artist thus began his journey to the desired shade closer
to his destination than ultramarine would place him -- to condemn
this painter for a weakness in favoring "shortcuts" is
absurd.
In the previous article of this three-part series, I described
how my mentor at the Art Students League, Samuel Edmund Oppenheim,
originally formulated the seven pigment combinations which form
the basis for the Pro Mix system, basing his formulations on a life-long
study of Velázquez work. I described how the system works:
Putting the Oppenheim/Velázquez
Pigment Combinations Into Practice.
The Pro Mix Color System palette consists of two rows of colors.
The top row consists of twelve standard colors (from left): Ultramarine
Blue, Cerulean Blue, Viridian, Chromium Oxide Green, Alizarin Crimson,
Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Orange, Venetian Red, Cadmium
Red Light, Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Yellow Light.
The lower row consists of (from left): Ivory Black, Pro Mix Neutral
7, Neutral 5, Neutral 3, Dark 2, Dark I, Halftone 2, Halftone 1,
Light 3, Light 2, Light 1 and White. The Pro Mix colors are adjusted
for hue, value and intensity by mixing with other Pro Mix colors,
or with colors from the upper row of standard colors.
The ten Pro Mix colors are thus not "crutches" or a "paint-by-number"
shortcut. The ten Pro Mix colors are, in fact, simple traditional
flesh color combinations used by all portrait artists since the
introduction of oil painting. The artist modifies and adjusts each
of the Pro Mix colors - based on observation of the subject - in
exactly the same way he would a color from the standard palette.
78 such modifications are demonstrated in the Pro Mix mixing chart,
included with each boxed set of the colors.
I would like to summarize my case in this way:
Over the six centuries that oil painting has been practiced, 530
colors have been considered by artists for inclusion on their palettes.
In each case, someone perceived that the color's addition to the
palette would solve some particular need or problem. Most often
the purpose was to make color-mixing quicker and simpler.
From this vast array of hues, consensus has been found for the
inclusion of some forty to fifty pigments that comprise the list
from most manufacturers. The newest entry in this field are the
very excellent Daniel E. Greene Oil Colors, manufacturered by Jack
Richeson and Company, with a list of 46 pigments.
My Pro Mix colors, comprised of only seven shades, began manufacture
in 1974. In the 32 years since, 50,000 artists around the world
have experimented with their inclusion on their palettes. In many
cases the Pro Mix colors have found a permanent place on the artists'
palettes.
Let us remember that only three colors - the "primaries"
are actually essential. Is it, therefore fair to charge that the
use of any of these other pigments (other than the three primaries)
constitutes using "shortcuts" and "formulas"?
Why is it unethical to use Pro Mix Light 1, and proper to use raw
sienna?
In the case of the speaker at the artists' gathering in Florida
— after knocking the Pro Mix colors — he proceeded to
demonstrate for the group using raw sienna, yellow ochre and other
standard "convenient" colors. Why not just the three primaries?
John Howard Sanden
Next time, I'll go further into color-mixing procedure, describing
how the Pro Mix colors work in actual painting practice.
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sanden
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