Studio: international art (28.1903)

The New Solid Oil-Colours

" LA RIVIERE " FROM THE PAINTING EXECUTED WITH THE NEW SOLID OIL-COLOURS BY J. F. RAFFAELLI

" It is not. My confreres have always complained
of the complications and the difficulties of painting
in oils ; but it is quite the reverse with these paints,
which flow so freely that one can work away
without being pulled up by the necessity of con-
tinually remaking a tone on one's palette. And
these little paint sticks, hard and firm in the fingers,
but soft and oily on the canvas, are quite fascinat-
ing and impel one to work. I consider that
most of the troubles and difficulties of the
metier are removed by these colours. Nothing
more to do with brushes, either too thick, or too
fine, or too hard, and never exactly right. There
is great sureness of hand with these colours, which
are held right at the tip, and produce an immediate
flow upon the canvas. They produce tones which
have not to be redone ten times when they are not
quite suitable. All that is necessary is to rub them
over lightly with other shades, delightful trans-
parencies being the result. Then they are light

and convenient to carry ; and, I repeat, they make
painting an absolute delight—your picture takes
form before your eyes steadily, unceasingly. You
are really fixing there a vision, a picture of the
imagination. And all this with entire pleasure to
yourself, whereas in most works done with the
brush and liquid oils there is evidence of enmii,
lassitude, and fatigue."

" And will this simple modification in the method
of painting really bring about so many diverse
consequences ? "

"Absolutely. 1 have no hesitation in declaring

it!",.

" Our metier, you see," said the artist, laying
down his colours, "our metier is our eloquence. If
the metier—the technical part of our work—is
laboured all eloquence is dried up. If, on the
other hand, it is easy we can boldly express what
our heart would say. I assure you that the reason
why Greek painting flourished less than Greek

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