PAINTING, the art of representing natural bodies, and giving them an appearance of life, by the turn of lines, and the degrees of colours.
Whoever would apply himself to painting, says Leonardo da Vinci, must in the first place learn perspective: this will enable him to dispose things in their proper places, and to give the due dimensions to each; having done this, he must learn to design; chusing for that purpose some able master, who at the same time may give him some insight into the colours of figures: he ought then to consult nature, to confirm himself in what he has already learnt; and, lastly, let him apply himself to the study and imitation of the greatest masters, in order to get a habit of reducing what he has learnt into practice.
To judge of the goodness of a painting, it is necessary to establish to ourselves a system of rules to be applied occasionally; and to assist the judgment herein, the following rules have been laid down: 1. The subject must be finely imagined, and, if possible, improved in the painter's hands; he must think well as an historian, poet, philosopher, or divine, and more especially as a painter, in making a wise use of all the advantages of his art, and in finding expedients to supply its defects. 2. The expression must be proper to the subject, and the characters of the persons: it must be strong, so that the dumb shew may be perfectly and readily understood: every part of the picture must contribute to this end; colours, animals, draperies, and especially the actions of the figures, and above all the airs of the heads. 3. There must be one principal light; and this, and all the subordinate ones, with the shadows and repose, must make one entire and harmonious mass; the several parts must be well connected and contrasted, so as to render the whole as grate-
feel to the eye, as a good piece of music to the ear. By this means the picture is not only more delightful, but better seen and comprehended. 4. The drawing must be just: nothing must be flat, lame, or ill proportioned; and these proportions should vary according to the characters of the persons drawn. 5. The colouring, whether gay or solid, must be natural, beautiful, and clean, and what the eye is delighted with, in shadows, as well as lights and middle tints; and whether the colours are laid on thick, or finely wrought, they must appear to be done by a light and accurate hand. Lastly, Nature must be the foundation that must be seen at the bottom; but nature must be raised and improved, not only from what is commonly seen, to what is but rarely met with, but even yet higher, from a judicious and beautiful idea in the painter's mind, so that grace and greatness may shine throughout more or less according to the subject.
Painting is of various kinds, according to the materials used, the matter upon which they are applied, and the manner of applying them; as painting in oil, in water-colours, fresco, &c.
Painting in oil. The whole secret of painting in oil consists in grinding the colours with nut oil, or linseed-oil; but the manner of working is very different from that in fresco, or in water, by reason the oil does not dry near so fast, which gives the painter an opportunity of touching and re-touching all the parts of his figures as often as he pleases; which in the other methods of painting is a thing impracticable. The figures done in oil are also capable of more force and boldness; inasmuch that the black becomes blacker, when ground with oil, than with water; besides, all the colours mixing better together, makes the colouring the sweeter, more delicate and agreeable, and gives an union and tenderness to the whole, inimitable in any of the other manners.
Painting in oil is performed on canvas, on walls, wood, stone, and all sorts of metals. 1. Painting on cloth or canvas is done as follows: The canvas being stretched on a frame, give it a layer of size, or paste-water, and then go over it with a pumice-stone to smooth off the knots. By means of the size, the little threads and hairs are all laid close on the cloth, and the little holes filled up, so that no colour can pass through. When the cloth is dry, lay on ocher in oil, which may be mixed with white-lead to make it dry the sooner. When dry, go over it again with the pumice-stone, to make it smooth. After this a second couch is sometimes applied, composed of white-lead and a little charcoal-black, to render the ground of an ash colour. Others prime the canvas in the following manner: They first smooth the canvas with a pumice-stone, size it over with a good size and a little honey, and let it stand to dry; after which they lay it over with whiting and size, mixed with a little honey: the use of the honey is to prevent it from cracking, peeling, and breaking out; on this they first draw the picture with a coal, and then lay on the colours. 2. Painting on walls: When the wall is dry, they give it two or three washes with boiling oil; till the plaster remains quite greasy, and will imbibe no more; upon this they lay drying colours, such as white-chalk, red-oker, or other chalks beaten pretty stiff. When this couch or layer is well dried, the subject or design is sketched out, and afterwards painted over, mixing a little varnish with their colours, to save the varnishing afterwards. In order the
better to fortify the wall against moisture, some cover it with a plaster of lime, marble-dust, or a cement made of beaten ties soaked in linseed-oil; and at last prepare a composition of green-pitch, mastic, and thick varnish boiled together, which they apply hot over the former plaster; and when dry, lay on the colours as before. Others, in fine, make their plaster with lime-mortar, tile-cement, and sand; and this being dry, they apply another of lime, cement, and iron-securize; which being well beaten, and incorporated with linseed-oil and whites of eggs, makes an excellent plaster. When this is dry, the colours are laid on as before. 3. In painting on wood, they usually give their ground a couch or layer of white tempered with size, and then proceed as in painting on walls. 4. In painting on stone or metals, it is not necessary to lay them over with size, but only to add a slight couch of colours before the design is drawn on it; nor even is this done on stones, where you would have the ground appear, as in certain marbles and agates of extraordinary colours.
All the colours used in fresco are good in oil, except white-lead, or ceruse, yellow and white maticos, orpiment, vermilion, laccas, blue and green ashes, verdigrease, indigo, smalt, black-lead, ivory-black, lamp-black, &c. As to oils, the best are those of linseed, walnuts, spike, and turpentine. The drying oils are nut-oil, boiled with litharge and sandarach, and otherwise with spirit of wine, mastic, and gum-lacca.
In the preparation of oil-colours, care must be taken that they be ground fine; that in putting them on a pallet, those which will not dry of themselves be mixed with drying oil, or other ingredients of a drying quality; and that the tinged colours be mixed in as small quantities as possible. As to the situation of the colours, the purest and strongest must be placed in the front of the piece, and the colouring varied according to the subject, time, and place. If the subject be grave, melancholy, or terrible, the general tint of the colouring must incline to brown and black, or red and gloomy; but it must be gay and pleasing, in subjects of joy and triumph.