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Old Masters' Painting Techniques

Bringing Oil Painting from the Past to the Present

Nature's Gifts

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"Jean-Marc Brugeilles is an artist who creates oil paintings using various time-consuming techniques going back to the Middle Ages which include: building his own chassis from scratch, stretching linen canvas which is then covered with hot rabbit glue or lime with plaster to create a ready-to-paint white surface. Jean-Marc only uses paints he makes himself using specialized colored powders to which linen oil and copal resin are mixed in and crushed until a completely homogenized paste is obtained which he then fills his empty paint tubes with." 

- Michel Kotski

Canvas preparation

Custom Linen Canvas

Hand-Stretched Canvas

Jean-Marc starts his oil painting adventure with preparing his chasis (stretcher), and hand-stretching linen canvas.

Glue

Raw Materials

Natural Materials

The Old Masters used unique raw materials to produce glues, brilliant colors, and durable glazes. Some of the materials included pine sap, nuts, and other organic and inorganic material.

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Following stretching of the linen canvas, several coats of hand-made hot rabbit glue (a gesso equivalent) are applied.

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The finishing touch to the canvas involves several rounds of sanding with progressively finer grit sandpaper to create a smooth canvas perfect for the exquisitely fine details he enjoys in his paintings.

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Jean-Marc follows these same procedures to produce the intricate and colorful paintings you see in his oil painting portfolios.

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Natural Bristle Brushes

Fine Details

Jean-Marc uses only natural bristle brushes to obtain fine strokes, in the manner of the Old Masters.

 Pigments and Paint Mixing

The Old Masters searched the world for minerals to grind and mix with various oils to produce brilliantly colored, durable paints.


Jean-Marc uses the same technique and grinds natural pigments  by hand to mix into his paints.

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Once his pigments are prepared, Jean-Marc mixes his paints by hand in various oils (linseed, walnut, etc.) he has cured for months outside. He then painstakingly fills each paint tube.

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Now the magic begins.

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Gold Leaf

24 Carat

Gold leaf has been used for centuries to give a royal and heavenly appearance to paintings. Most of Jean-Marc's paintings have golf leaf overlay.

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Varnish

Natural

Natural varnishes were used in the past.
Jean-Marc continues this tradition.

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Painting Longevity

For Generations to Come...

Following the Old Masters' techniques, Jean-Marc's paintings will maintain their vibrant colors well into the future. Unlike many of today's synthetic and industrial manufactured paints, his hand-ground pigments, oils, and paints have endurance that can last for centuries.


His unique paintings are heirlooms for future generations.

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