Maddona and Painting Lesson

Chapter Four Painting

By Amy Soundis

In painting I learned there are all sorts of different lines. Lines are any direction of a line that creates a border to the drawn subject.  I learned there are straight lines and abstract lines. Lines can be draw both together and apart. There are horizontal lines that help disfurnish the subject from another subject.

In painting there are tons of different brush strokes and brushes. Brushes are usually made out of horse hair. When you dab a thick brush onto the painting you can create a stamping effect. When you use a fan brush you can create a fan like effect on to the painting.

In colors for paints there are three basic colors, and they are red, blue, and yellow. These colors are the only true colors that can not be created by combining other colors. Secondary colors are created by taking one of the basic colors and using it with another basic color to create another color. The Secondary colors are green, purple, and orange. Tertiary colors are colors that are combined by combing a basic color with a secondary color. If you spin the wheel of colors you get white. By mixing all the colors together you can create black. To create purple you need to mix green and red together.

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Eight Angels and Four Prophets (Maestà). 1280. Tempera on panel. Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy.  The medium tempera is a mixture of dried eggs, honey, water, and milk. Since the eggs dry quickly tempera gives the painting an aged quality to work. The artist needs to understand what they are looking for in the picture because when the apply it wet the colors are true, and when they are dried they are a lighter color of the paint. Thus the artist that uses Tempera needs to use and paint quickly. The subject of Madonna and Child was painted to tell the story of the birth of Jesus according to Cimabue who painted the painting. The eight angels represent the angels and the Sheppard’s that visited Jesus when he was born. The four prophets are the prophets that visited Jesus 12 days after Jesus was born. These prophets are the ones that followed the star of Bethlehem to the baby Jesus.

I could not get the picture to be on the screen so please go to to the link bellow to see the painting and other paintings by Cinabue. Cimabue painted a lot of Madonnas.

http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cimabue/cimabue1.html