Ballet
dancers
His Techniques:
Edgar Degas preferred various media (mixed media) throughout his artistic life, yet he often combined
several different media on one canvas to give the work dimension and depth.
Pastels, oil paints, gouache, and other materials can be found mingling
together on the canvas in several of Degas' paintings, including "Dancers
Practicing at the Barre" (1877) and "The Rehearsal of the Ballet
Onstage" (1874). Each medium had a very particular application. Thinner,
lighter media like watercolour would blur the lines of different objects while
bold materials like charcoal would create the original sketch of the eventual
painting.
Hatching was
the next technique degas used in his art
works, By placing a series of long, undulating lines in alternating colours
next to each other, Degas managed to give vibrancy and energy to even the most
commonplace subject matter. Hatching and cross-hatching are most often found in
Degas' pastel works, both wet painted pastels and dry chalked pastels.
When creating monotypes,
an artist smears paint on a flat surface, etches an image into the paint and
presses the flat surface on to a canvas, imprinting the canvas with the etched
image. Degas tweaked the monotype process by painting the surface, then using
brushes to create the imagery he sought, forgoing the typical etching process.
Impasto was
another technique degas used in his work. Impasto is the technique of applying
paint in thick, striking layers. Brushstrokes are clearly visible, and the
image is slightly raised from the canvas. Often Degas would combine pastels or
oil paints with binding agents that would create a thick, paste-like paint that
Degas would spread around the canvas. Impasto can clearly be seen in Degas'
1857 "Self Portrait," especially around the edges of Degas' smock and
kerchief.
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