The results of the course participants
Over the past few months, I had the privilege of teaching a new course to a wonderful group of people. This time, the subject was grisailles, or paintings in grey. Naturally, the focus was on manuscripts from the Middle Ages, as grisailles are more commonly found in art history.
As you can read in another post on my website, grisaille has a special history in the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, it was the illuminator Jean Pucelle (1300-1334), who worked in Paris, who started using grisailles in manuscripts. His best-known work is the Book of Hours of Jeanne d’Évreux, in which he painted many grisailles. But it was not only in the 14th century that grisaille was attractive, but also in the 15th century, particularly to the Dukes of Burgundy. They commissioned special, luxurious manuscripts with grisailles from well-known illuminators such as Willem Vrélant and Jean Tavernier.
The Royal Library in The Hague holds one of the most important works of art, the Book of Hours of Philip of Burgundy. It is a manuscript from the mid-15th century and was created around 1455-1460. The manuscript is decorated with beautiful grisailles.
In this post I would like to tell you something about the content of the course, but above all show you the results achieved by the participants. They have all given their permission for their work to be published on this site.
Day 1.
On day one, we looked at various types of grisailles, their characteristics and how they were painted. We systematically mixed various shades of grey ourselves, using umber and historical carbon blacks. We looked at the differences in black, because there are differences. Vine black, cherry pit black, peach pit black, lamp black, iron gall black: each has its own specific character. We also did various painting exercises that are important for painting a grisaille: painting even painting in various layers, shading and painting with dots.
Day 2.
On the second day, we practised painting the human figure. The face and clothing, all in shades of grey.
Day 3.
On day three, we practised with the following subjects: landscapes, townscapes, water and trees.
Day 4.
We practised with semi-grisailles, which are grisailles with a red and/or blue background. We also focused on a special variant, a grisaille decoration on a gold border.
Day 5.
On this day, everyone created their own piece of work in which they applied what they had learned.
The participants worked diligently and passionately, and their results are impressive. It is clear that centuries-old grisailles can still be relevant today with their beauty.
Galerie of other work created
