Layering is still considered as the best approach to oils painting. This method usually takes time and therefore is best suited for smaller works of art. Layering is also a good method to use for photo-realism and works that require a higher than usual degree of detailing and surface finish. Here are steps that are being followed in using the technique of layering in painting.

Step 1: Have an accurate image or sketch made ready.

The first step for the artist is to prepare an accurate drawing of a planned work. In the past, artists used camera obscura to project a certain scene on the canvas. This time, using a photograph would be a more convenient option.

Step 2: Begin with a thin layer.

The artist may try to apply a layer of thin paint similar to one of water color or with few pencil lines. Broad washes of paint thinned with turpentine may also do well.

Step 3: Let the first layer dry.

Step 4: Apply thin body color on the work.

The artists now tries to build the figure or image in layers. A basic rule being followed in the application of oil paints is “fat over lean”. This simply means that each layer of paint applied on canvas should be oilier than the one below it. This will allow proper drying.

Step 5: Let the layer of paint dry.

Step 6: Apply the second thin body color by painting over the first layer and just within its contours.

Step 7: Build up the painting layer  by layer.

Continue building up layer upon layer of paint on the canvas using different painting techniques to capture the desired image. Building up over the underpainting can be a long process of trial and error. Since oil paints take longer to dry, it is possible for artists to correct or change paint texture or form of the work given a certain point while the paint is still wet. It might also be possible for an artist to remove an entire layer of paint and begin with the next layer anew.

Step 8: Dry the layers thoroughly.

Step 9: Apply thin coats of glazes or work wet into wet if needed.

Step 10: Let dry.

Step 11: Apply a ticker layer of glaze or modify previous glazes if needed.

Step 12: Apply another touch or layer of body color to recapture areas that may have been glazed heavily.

It is a good idea to apply a layer of color alternately to a layer of glaze instead of applying a thicker coat of glaze at the end. Shadow effects can be created with the use of glazes and help harmonize the resulting work of art.

Early Life

Paul Cezanne was born on January 19, 1839 in Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. His father, Louis-Auguste Cezanne was a prosperous banker. His mother was Anne-Elisabeth Honorine Aubert. Paul also had two other younger sisters named Marie and Rose. The family’s affluence afforded little Paul with the financial security that most of his contemporaries were not able to enjoy.

Young Paul started learning art at the age of ten while at Saint Joseph Boarding School> He first studied drawing under Joseph Gibert, a Spanish monk in Aix. In 1852, Paul entered College Bourbon where he stayed for six years. From 1859 to 1861, he followed his father’s wished and attended law school at the University of Aix. But his love for art made hi go against his father’s wishes and left for Paris in 1861. Eventually Paul’s father supported his career choice and both son and father reconciled. He was later given an inheritance of 400,000 francs, more than enough to give him financial security.

Life As An Artist

While in Paris, Paul Cezanne met with the Impressionists and formed a friendship with them. They became an influence to Cezanne especially in his first paintings which mostly consisted of figures in landscapes. Gradually, Cezanne developed a light and airy painting style that also influenced the Impressionists greatly. Cezanne later sought out to develop of representing the seen world into the canvas by the most accurate method possible.

Later on, Cezanne also became interested in simplifying his paintings, by creating naturally occurring forms into their geometric essentials. He wanted to paint forms as cylinders, spheres and cones. Cezanne became a unique painter in that he was equally proficient in painting different genres- still lifes, landscapes and portraits. In absence of the availability of models for his work, Cezanne was known to design from imagination.

His works were exhibited in some display in Paris. His paintings were shown in the first exhibition of the Salon des Refuses in 1863 but were not accepted by the jury of the Paris Salon. The salon continually rejected Cezanne’s subsequent submissions until 1869. His work was finally displayed at the Salon for exhibition in 1882. Cezanne’s  “Portrait of Louis-Auguste Cezanne, Father of the Artist, reading ‘l’Evenement’, 1866 ” became his only successful submission to the Salon. He eventually enjoyed public recognition and some financial success as the admiration for Impressionist works began to grow. Cezanne later on died of pneumonia on October 22, 1906.

Impasto is one of the painting techniques that has been used even by the great painting masters. The term comes form the Italian word which means “dough” or “mixture”. As a painting technique, impasto refers to a method of painting where paint is laid on a canvas very thickly. The paint applied is usually thick enough that the strokes of the brush and painting knife are visible. Some techniques make use of impasto in order to mix paint right on the canvas itself.In using the impasto technique in painting, oil paint is usually used as it has a slow drying time and is relatively thick, making it ideal for using on canvas without dripping. Acrylic paint is another type of paint that may also be ideal for impasto. Watercolor or tempera may also be used if only a thickening agent is used because of the inherent thinness of these types of media.

There are several reasons why some painters make use of impasto in their artworks. First and foremost, impasto makes light reflect in a particular way unlike the usual style of painting. This allows the artist to incorporate the play of light into an artwork. Impasto can also add some form of added expressiveness to the artwork by letting the viewer notice the speed or the strength applies by the painter on the canvas. In a way, impasto can also allow the artwork be rendered in a somewhat partial three dimensional form.

The impasto technique was used by notable artists throughout history in order to provide a different texture to their paintings. Rembrandt and Titian used this technique in order to have better control of light that affects the whole artwork. This is more notable with these noted masters trying to represent folds in the clothes as well as the edges of jewels as depicted in some of their artworks.

Sometime later, impasto was used together with rich delicate paintings to present various textures. Much later, early Impressionists in France began creating entire canvasses using the impasto style solely on its own. Another noted artist, Vincent Van Gogh also made use of impasto for some of his artworks as a means of expression and aesthetics. Noted Abstract painter Willem De Kooning was also known to extensively use the impasto technique to create some form of “action” into his artworks.

Willem de Kooning is one of the noted modern artists whose work became prominent in the post World War II era. He was, first and foremost, known as an abstract expressionist painter, a style of which is usually characterized by an impression of spontaneity and that of an unplanned work. De Kooning was born on April 24, 1904 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Early Years

Kooning grew up with his mother, Cornelia Nobel, with whom divorced De Kooning’s father, Leendert de Kooning when he was just five years old. He studied for eight years at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques, he studied at night while working as a apprentice for a commercial art and decorating firm during the day. He later on became an assistant to the art director of a Rotterdam department store.

Move to America

In 1926, De Kooning went to America as a stowaway on the British Freighter SS Shelly that made port in Newport News, Virginia. De Kooning found his way going to New Jersey where he settled in Hoboken.  He initially worked as a house painter to support himself  and went on to meet some artists and fellow painters in the area. He eventually moved to a studio in Manhattan in 1927.

In 1935, De Kooning started working with the Federal Art Project at the WPA or Works Progress Administration where he stayed for two years. It provided him with the opportunity of doing creative work such as doing easel paintings and murals. By 1938, De Kooning started working on a series of works with male figures as subjects. As his work progressed, he began to make his abstractions blend with some figurative works. This continued on until the 1940’s.

Later Works

The 1940’s saw De Kooning being largely identified by then with the Abstract Expressionism movement. A solo exhibit of his works in 1948 established  his reputation as a major artist. He also began to paint works having women as his subjects for abstraction.  It was in the 1950’s that De Kooning began to explore the subject more exclusively. With his interesting paintings of women subjects, De Kooning caused a sensation in 1953, primarily because most other Abstract Expressionists at that time were creating chiefly abstract works of art. De Kooning did his with a figurative flair along with the abstraction of the subject typical of the movement.

After garnering several accolades for his works, De Kooning ventured into other works of art which included making sculptures. By 1963, De Kooning permanently settled in East Hampton, Long Island where he also died on March 19, 1997.

History
The construction on the church began sometime in 1883. It was constructed by Alexander III as a memorial to his father. Work on the church took decades and was finally completed in 1907 under Nicolas II. The site where Alexander II was mortally wounded was enclosed inside the walls of the church. An elaborate shrine inside was constructed on the exact site decorated with topaz, lazurite and other precious stones.

Church Architecture
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was different from the other church architecture surrounding St. Petersburg. Most of the city’s architecture are predominantly influenced by Baroque and Neoclassical styles. The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood on the other hand was influenced greatly by medieval Russian architecture. The style of the Savior on Blood closely resembles the celebrated St. Basil’s Cathedral in terms of design and architecture.

The Church of the Savior on Blood is quite known for its mosaics. All in all, it contains over 7,500 square meters of mosaics, considered to be the most mosaics to contain in a church all over the world. The walls and ceilings inside the church are completely covered by intricate mosaics. The main pictures in the detailed mosaics were of popular biblical scenes and figures, with each picture intricately patterned with borders.

The said church was designed by some of the most noted artists in Russia, although its chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, is a relative unknown. Some of the more noted artists who had a hand in the design of the church included Mikhail Nesterov, Mikhail Vrubel and Viktor Vasnetsov.

Early Years
Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746 in Fuendetodos, Spain. His parents were Jose Benito de Goya y Franque and Gracia de Lucientes y Salvador. Goya’s father worked as a gilder. Goya spent his early childhood in Fuendetodos and later in the city of Zaragoza where the family moved later on. Goya attended school at Escuelas Pias. At the age of 14, he began his apprenticeship with the painter Jose Lucian.

Development as Painter
Goya later on moved to Madrid where he studied art under Anton Raphael Mengs. Goya the student clashed most of the time with his master which resulted in his unsatisfactory marks under Mengs. Goya then tried to enter the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the city but was denied.

Unable to enter the Royal Academy, Goya ventured to Rome. There, Goya was able to win the second prize in a painting competition held by the city of Parma in 1771. during the same year, he went back to Zaragoza where he eventually studied with Francisco Bayeu y Subias. It was during this time that Goya began to develop the use of delicate tones from which he later on became famous.

Success as Painter
Goya found success as a painter with his association with Francisco Bayeu, who is a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Art. Goya married Bayeu’s sister Josefa in 1774 and was able to get work from the Royal Tapestry Workshop. Here, Goya was able to design patterns that were used to decorate the residences of Spanish monarchs. This provided him with the means to catch the attention of the Spanish royal court. During the course of his new found success, Goya also was able to be appointed as a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Art.

Painter of Royalty
Goya’s access to the Spanish royal court led him to be appointed as a painter of royalty, especially by Charles III in 1786. He eventually became court painter in 1789 to Charles IV. Goya did paintings of the King and Queen the royal family as well as other nobles.

Later Life
In 1792, Goya contracted a high fever that left him deaf. This experience also made him more withdrawn and introspective. This may have influenced him to create more bleak and intensely haunting works of art. Goya later on relocated to Bordeaux in 1824. Goya later on died in Bordeaux in 1828 at the ripe old age of 82.

Vermeer’s education in the arts has not been ascertained. But it was believed that he was apprenticed as a painter. He probably studied painting in Delft or possibly taught himself how to paint with guidance from his fathers connections with other painters as an art merchant. It was also known that Vermeer became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, which was an association of painters. He later on became the head of the guild, according to guild records, hinting that he became an established craftsman respected by his peers.

Although respected as an artist in his hometown in Delft, Vermeer was a relative unknown outside of it. Painting only a handful of artworks, with much of it bought by a local art patron may have contributed to limiting his talents outside of the city. Vermeer also led a very short life, having died sometime in 1675, at the age of 43.

Art Technique
Vermeer’s painting technique was characterized by transparent colors produced by applying paint to the canvas in loose layers. He was also known as one of the first early painters who made use of the expensive pigment called lapiz lazuli. He used themes that are taken from mostly domestic scenes. Most of his works are largely portraits, with two known cityscapes attributed to his name. His subjects are mostly people from the 17th Century Dutch society, ranging from milkmaids going to work to rich noblemen in their homes.

Sustainable Architecture
Another term usually used in design and architecture is sustainable or green architecture. It is a general term that refers to the design techniques being employed and with how it will generally affect the environment being a high level of concern. Sustainable architecture aims to reduce or minimize the negative impact of buildings on the environment through the more efficient use of energy, materials as well as development space. There are many factors that are being considered when architects and designers aim to “go green” on their designs.

Sustainable Energy
One of the main aspects that goes in the design of the green building is how it will be a able to sustain energy efficiency during its life cycle. Architects try to find different ways in which to design a low-energy or zero-energy building. There are various ways in which this could be done. The very objective of these techniques is to try and reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase its ability to capture or generate the energy being used for the whole structure.

An important focus of designers in making up green buildings concerns the heating, cooling and ventilation needs of the building. In order to do this, architects try to design a well-insulated building. A well insulated building will require less heat generation during the colder months and less energy to cool it during the warmer months.

Alternative Energy Sources
One of the best means to design the green building is by making it able to generate or recycle energy. Buildings usually have waste products that designers usually try to make use of in order to create recycled energy. Not only are waste products reduced, it is being recycled as an energy source for buildings. Other designers try to include other energy saving devices such as solar panels and employing passive solar building design in order to make buildings more energy efficient

St. Basil’s Cathedral is located in the famous Red Square in Moscow. It stands distinct from its surroundings due to its colorfully designed “onion domes”. The domes themselves with their mix of architectural influences, seem to be symbolic of Russia standing in its unique position between Europe and Asia. The unique cathedral is not particularly large but it consists of nine chapels all in all built upon a single foundation.

The primary design of the cathedral follows that of contemporary tented churches that were predominantly popular in Russia. Such designs are usually found only in Russia and are characterized by their high conical-shaped roofs instead of the usual pointed ones. The primary reason for this design is said to be a means to prevent snow from piling up on roofs especially during long winters.

St. Basil’s Cathedral is also known as the Cathedral of Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat. It was commissioned by Ivan IV, also more popularly known in history as Ivan the Terrible. The cathedral was commissioned in order to commemorate Ivan IV’s successful campaign fighting the Tartar Mongols highlighted with the capture of the Khanate of Kazan in 1552. The cathedral was built between 1555 to 1561. Its main architect was Postnik Yakolev.

The initial idea for the said cathedral was to build up a cluster of different chapels with each one dedicated to each of the saints on whose feast day the tsar had won a battle. But the eventual construction of a single central tower has unified the different chapels into a single cathedral with magnificent effect. And because of it, a popular legend tells of the Tsar ordering architect Postnik Yakolev to be blinded in order to prevent the construction of other structures that may rival its magnificence.

St. Basil’s Cathedral is a striking mix of swirling bright colors surrounding its towers made of red bricks. The onion domes add a unique touch to the cathedral. Its strikingly beautiful exterior is a contrast to its modestly decorated interiors. Maze-like corridors connect the dimly lit chapel interiors with walls dressed up with delicate floral designs in softer pastel colors. The church interior is so small that it cannot accommodate all the churchgoers inside during special services on feast days. Masses during this special occasions had to be held outside in the Red Square just to accommodate all the people.

While at The Hague during 1882, Van Gogh was encouraged by his cousin in law Anton Mauve to pursue painting. An art dealer uncle commissioned Van Gogh to do 20 ink drawings of the city after which he began to dabble in oil painting. Out of loneliness, Van Gogh went back to living with his parents who were by then situated in Nuenen, North Brabant in 1883.

While in Nuenen, Van Gogh devoted himself to drawing. In March of 1885, Van Gogh’s father died of a stroke and the artist grieved deeply. It was also during this time that his works began to be noticed in Paris. This led him to do what is considered his first major work, The Potato Eaters. His artwork during his stay at Nuenen did not yet display the vivid coloration that is distinct of his best known works later on. His stay at Nuenen produced 200 oil paintings as well as numerous drawings and watercolors.

From 1885 to 1886, Van Gogh found himself in Antwerp where he continued to develop and improve his painting technique. Van Gogh lived poorly and spent what money he had on painting materials. This led him to suffer from poor health. During his stay at Antwerp, Van Gogh was able to look at the works of Peter Paul Rubens, influencing him to broaden his use of color from earthly tones to incorporating carmine, cobalt and emerald green.

Sometime in 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris where he studied at Fernand Cormon’s studio. It was during this time that Van Gogh was able to study more about the Impressionist works of artists such as Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. In 1887, Van Gogh began to paint using some elements of pointillism. Over the course of his stay in Paris, which lasted until 1887, Van Gogh was able to create over 200 paintings and staged an exhibition of his work along with other artist friends at the Restaurant du Chalet in Montmarte.

Tired of the fast paced life in Paris, Van Gogh decided to move to Arles, France on February of 1888 where he stayed ad a nearby hotel and then transferred to the Yellow House Which became his studio. It was here that Van Gogh painted sunflowers as subjects. It was here that Van Gogh also increasingly displayed serious mental problems that led him to cut his own left ear lobe over the growing tension he had with fellow artist and friend Paul Gauguin. This event led Gauguin to separate himself from Van Gogh and never saw him again. Van Gogh was hospitalized due to his critical mental state during this time. It was also during this time that Van Gogh began having hallucinations and become paranoid that he was being poisoned.

His mental state became all the more serious that the townspeople in Arles began to call him the “Redheaded Madman” (fou roux). In 1889, due to his deteriorating mental state, Van Gogh was accompanied by a carer to Saint Remy where he committed himself to a mental institution. Saint Remy was over a mile away from the town and is an area covered by cornfield, vineyards and trees. The garden and the clinic became Van Gogh’s subjects for his subsequent painting. It was also in Saint Remy that Van Gogh did one of his best known paintings, The Starry Night, which was characterized by swirls. Limited access to the outside world led Van Gogh to remake works from the memory of his past.

In May 1990, Van Gogh left the clinic and went instead to make visits to Dr. Paul Gatchet, a physician who treated other artists previously. Van Gogh was able to do two oil paintings of the doctor and an etching. But during this time, Van Gogh’s bout with depression severely deepened. On July 27, 1890, Van Gogh walked into the fields and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Not knowing that he was fatally wounded, he still made it back into his rented room at the Ravoux inn where he died in his bed two days later due to complications of the self-inflicted gunshot wound.