Lester Boronda

As a descendant of Manuel Boronda (1750-1826)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_Los_Laureles, I recently became aware that artist Lester Boronda 1886-1953 http://www.carmelfineart.biz/Lester-Boronda-Fandango.html is a distant cousin. I love the works that I have seen, and will be researching him more.

After Murillo

This is a recent copy of a painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo 1660, original: http://www.eccehomo-alzira.es/pintura/page8.html. I have painted this image many times, using different mediums, to see if I can create certain effects. I was not trying to copy it exactly, but more of an attempt to duplicate effects, using ground glass. Once I was finished with the image, and it dried sufficietly, I glazed over it with Stil de grain, and this created different effect from the original, yet one I have observed in other Renaissance works. Please excuse the bad photo, as it is showing as a shadow on the right, when that is not accurate. This is completed using Winsor and Newton oil paints, and is 11x14 inches. The support is gessoed burlap, laid down on wood.

Trying Out a Frame

This painting is 18x24 inches, oil on wood. The first layer is complete, and now on to do much detail work. I wanted to see what it would look like in an ornate frame. These frames are so pretty, but this painting will probably be better in a more simple one.

Look Up

Hard Copal for Mediums and Varnishes

This is hard copal, and is not soluble in gum spirits of turpentine. The material must be fused, in order to be cooked into a drying oil. The image above is of copal in its unproecessed state (right). On the left, and much darker in appearance is the same copal that has been fused. The one on the left is ready for further processing, in order to combine with linseed oil.

Hard copals are really no harder than soft or or recent copals, when using Moh's hardness scale. The difference is in the level of polymerization, and the resulting necessity of various methods of processing. Hard copals require a greater degree of processing, in order to make them into viable art materials. Much of what is presently available (copal mediums) are made from soft copals, and I don't think that these materials are the same as those used by artists in previous centuries. Hard copals are exceptionally difficult to process, and then even more difficult to subsequently combine with a drying oil, to form varnishes, and or mediums. Taubes method is very useful, yet without an added step, not mentioned in his book, it remains a very difficult proposition. If not completed just right, one will end up with a turbid mass, or a pot of ash.

I personally would not use any copal mediums, in my artwork that are light, and made with recent copal resins. Due to several reasons, the best varieties of hard copals are no longer available, and any of the resulting mediums and varnishes that I would buy, are no longer being produced.

Gum Elemi, used as a Medium.

This series of posts was completed for artist Graydon Parrish, to assist with his lecture on a particular painting (William Bouguereau's Nymphs and Satyr) as completed by William Bouguereau (http://grandcentralatelier.blogspot.com/2012/03/graydon-parrish-to-lecture-at-clark.html). It is a description of this material, and the reasons for its use. Nothing in these posts is an encouragement of others to make or use this medium, and is stated merely as a description of the material, and how I have made it.

It is a known fact that William Bouguereau used elemi, and copal in his work. In the world of art, and more specifically, oil painting, there have always been mediums, used for various effects. I don't wish to enter into debate with those who believe that all effects known to oil painting, can be accomplished with just drying oil alone. Although I do respect the opinions of others. I do not believe this, and in experimenting with many different mediums, have found that some provide effects that oil alone will not accomplish. Amber, copal, and many others.

Gum elemi has been of interest to me, for quite a few years. Years ago, at the Toledo Museum of Art, I had the opportunity to study a painting by William Bouguereau. I noticed that the surface of the paint film was absolutely smooth. No raised spots or even brush strokes visible. The image was of a girl, and all of the edges were fused. The image created an effect of being more real, than a photo. Based my observation, I became convinced that something more than oil paint alone was used to create the work. A bit of research led to an understanding that copal and elemi was used by that artist, as a medium. This led to experimentation with elemi, and although I have never come close to creating a work, such as that artist, I have noticed that the mediums which contain copal and elemi permit some comparable effects.

Gum elemi derives from trees in the Phillipines, Southeast Asia, and other locations in the tropics. It is a balsam, although cloudy in appearance, and not at all like the other balsams, upon initial consideration.

It was used in the past as a plasticizer for varnishes, as it was known to remain flexible, and this can be beneficial, to prevent cracking to crystalline varnishes applied over an oil film.

Used as a medium, elemi would be of no use by itself, as it is initially too viscous, and would not impart any benefit to oil paint, in its raw state. Once processed however, I have found that this material imparts some quite impressive effects. In using it as a medium, the plasticizer effect is helpful, but there is an additional effect of permitting paint to tack up while remaining wet, and I don't think that anything provides a better blending effect. Although Canada balsam, and Venice turpentine permit paint to blend quite well, gum elemi surpasses them, in my opinion.

Bouguereau used various mediums in creating his work, and it is known that he combined gum elemi, with hard copal medium. This medium is quite impressive, in that it permits all of the effects of copal, while allowing for a better blending effect, is thinner initially, and again, acts as a plasticizer.

The picture above is gum elemi in its unprocessed form. It is very viscous, and yet will flow very very slowly over time.

Gum Elemi used as a Medium 2

Unprocessed gum elemi. Very viscous, and will hold a palette knife that is stuck into it.

I have cut out a piece of the elemi, and you can see the debris that is contained in it. It is very thick, and sticky, and very fragrant. I don't agree with Doerner who stated that it smells like fennel. Rather, it has a unique smell, and I like it.

This is another closer image of the elemi. I will be placing it in the jar depicted. I prefer to use old pimento jars for my mediums, as they are not deep, and permit easy extraction of liquids.

In this picture, I have added gum spirits of turpentine to the jar as well. The turpentine is artist quality, and I avoid the use of the nasty smelling hardware store material, that I call gagamaggotine.