Part 1 of 7: Are Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael to Blame for My Brush Addiction?

The way a mark is made in a painting depends on several variables: the medium used, the surface used, and most importantly, the brush used.

https://youtu.be/gMkrGFC_wuc

From Tempera to Oil: A Shift in Technique  

In the Proto-Renaissance and Early Renaissance, a majority of Italian paintings used egg tempera as their medium. Even though oil paint had been around for a few hundred years in Northern Europe by the 1450s, many artists like Simone Martini chose to use tempera as a form of worship to God.

Temperas were very difficult to soften and blend edges, which is why 99% of egg tempera paintings have a distinct, hard-edged outline effect. Artists gave depth to shadows in egg tempera by using crosshatching techniques with brushes and layering transparent colors.

Leonardo and Raphael: Masters of Soft Edges  

Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael together took oil painting and edge handling to a level never seen before. Leonardo's sfumato — known as "Leonardo's smoke"—refers to his fuzzy, soft edges. This was possible because oil paint stayed wet longer on the surface, allowing artists to experiment with blending and creating different effects.

When combined with Leonardo’s chiaroscuro , which gradually changes shadows in value until they disappear into darkness, followed by highlights exploding out of the darkness, a dramatic lighting effect emerges. Both concepts — sfumato and chiaroscuro —work together harmoniously. A good example is Caravaggio's work. He separates himself from his followers, the Carvaggioites, who paint exclusively in this manner, because of his softening of edges, creating an effect they cannot replicate.

A Legacy That Endures  

Back to brushes! This introduction has briefly looked at Raphael and his teacher Perugino. Admire art history; it always brings some of the past into the new generation. It takes time for artists and periods to gradually move into new styles.

This first part of a series of videos is an introduction to how my addiction to buying brushes began, all thanks to Leonardo da Vinci learning how to soften edges like no one before him.

I'm most interested in Raphael’s painting Portrait of Binto Altoviti at the Washington DC National Gallery.

https://youtu.be/7MtTffqmZbA

It truly takes oil painting and softening an edge to a level never seen before, a feat not matched until the Baroque period with artists like Velasquez and ultimately Sargent. These concepts are rarely used by artists today. This is just the introduction; future parts will delve deeper into the details.