Reborn as a great painter, with a system, you can be willful

Chapter 286: Observing Raphael’s techniques and copying his works
Jiang Zhe clicked to use the observation opportunity.

On the system page, holographic light and shadow are turned on.

He followed the movie-like camera and saw a young man walk up to an unfinished work, observe it, and then copy the unfinished work using sketching techniques.

In this painting, there is a young man and a swan.

When the young man finished copying, the picture disappeared.

Jiang Zhe paused to watch and recalled what he had just seen.

This is a scene from Raphael's copy of Leonardo da Vinci's work - Leda and the Swan (also known as Leda and the Swan).

Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece has been lost, and now we can only see some parts of it from some of his sketches. On the contrary, in Raphael's work, we can see the whole picture of the painting.

Jiang Zhe recalled what he had just seen, especially remembering Raphael's method of copying, and then continued to observe.

In the second video, Raphael is observing a marble statue, which is also an unfinished work.

Raphael still copied this work using sketches.

This video is frozen in time on a sketch.

The picture shows the back of a statue.

After watching this section of the video, Jiang Zhe understood that this was Raphael's imitation of Michelangelo's masterpiece - the statue of David.

His observation angle was also very strange. He observed from the back of the sculpture.

This phenomenon occurs because these images are reconstructed by the system based on existing data. From these images, we can see the effects or processes that are closest to the truth.

The third paragraph, the fourth paragraph...

Jiang Zhe would pause and review each episode after watching it. After digesting what he had seen, he would continue to watch the next episode.

Although these observation videos are not coherent and some are not perfect, Jiang Zhe can already see Raphael's learning process and the relatively complete steps - from sketching to depicting, to the final completion of the creation process.

Raphael's learning process has several stages: copying the works of masters such as Leonardo da Vinci; improving some masterpieces (which can be called plagiarism); and independent creation.

His painting steps have also undergone many changes.

Initially, I start with a rough draft and then further refine the sketch to perfect the overall composition and specific details.

During the conception period, the painter would separate some elements, practice them separately, and then reassemble them at the end.

Although the painter's draft was already very complete, Jiang Zhe discovered that the painter might still make revisions in the final step of creation.

In these images, Jiang Zhe also found that Raphael regarded some drafts and sketches as tools rather than works of art. He speculated that he might have felt that these works were not perfect enough.

After a video ended, Jiang Zhe stopped watching. He had already digested a lot of content from the previous watching process, and he could continue watching the remaining videos when he had time.

This observation gave him a lot of inspiration.

He recalled and recorded in detail how Raphael selected materials and the evolution and perfection of his techniques for future reference.

For example, in most of his paintings, Raphael used panels made of poplar (occasionally basswood) that were joined with dovetail joints using horizontal strips. He used a base for his paintings, which was a mixture of plaster of Paris and animal glue on the panels.

Through the video, Jiang Zhe discovered many changes from the oil painting base to the sketch, and then to the many layers of color, especially some things hidden by the brushstrokes.

Raphael's common method of transferring the sketch is to fix the finished sketch on a wooden base. Punch holes evenly on the important lines of the sketch, and then cover the sketch with a layer of carbon powder. The carbon powder falls through the small holes onto the base of the oil painting under the sketch. When the sketch is removed, a pattern composed of black dots will appear on the base of the oil painting.

Next, use your freehand to depict the image, connect the black dots, and form clear and precise lines. On the basis of this perfect draft, draw the sketch relationship. The paint for this sketch relationship is like using monochrome watercolor or monochrome. If you encounter a work that requires the sketch to be enlarged, use the grid enlargement method.

Jiang Zhe also noticed a new method.

Raphael often applied a thin and even layer of translucent white on the finished sketch to the entire painting, like a veil covering the painting, making it look bright and hazy. This effect may be to make the later colors more dazzling.

Unfortunately, there is no way to fully understand the unique formula of pigments used by Raphael.

Jiang Zhe felt that there was no need to copy it exactly, as long as he understood the principle.

For example, Raphael, like many painters, liked to use white lead, which is poisonous.

Some people who study Raphael believe that some colors harm the painter's health. This kind of knowledge should not be learned.

after one day.

Jiang Zhe stood in front of the easel and used translucent ultramarine to paint some of the clothes of the characters in the painting. This step was equivalent to adding a layer of translucent film on the base of the sketch.

The colors and the sketch at the bottom together create a perfect visual effect.

The colors that painters at that time could use were limited, and each painter had his own favorite colors.

Raphael developed a gradient color effect on his own.

After Jiang Zhe understood it, he put these methods into practice during the copying process - painting the beautiful blue on the red base. The effect of the two colors superimposed on each other is very rich.

It is difficult to achieve this effect with a single layer of color.

Jiang Zhe thinks this method can be used directly.

These color effects, because of the different thicknesses of the paint used in the painting, help to create shadows and three-dimensional effects.

For golden clothes, you often need to paint a layer of light color first, and then draw the folds of the clothes, which will be more beautiful; some blue skies often require two layers of blue to be superimposed, the first layer is light blue, and then the stars are used as partial rendering.

At this step, the colors on the picture are relatively simple and the changes are not rich enough, so it is necessary to use whiter or thicker colors to render the light-receiving parts.

During the copying process, Jiang Zhe carefully experienced the effect of this technique. The bright parts of the clothes were rendered with thick colors, and the shadows were further depicted with translucent colors.

There are some techniques that you don’t necessarily have to use once you understand them.

For example, Raphael sometimes adds glass powder to the colors. In addition to increasing the texture, these glass powders can also produce different effects.

In his paintings, Raphael often uses thicker layers of color at the intersection of different colors to avoid overlapping edges of different elements...

His techniques are not static.

In his mature artistic period, he changed some of his early painting methods. For example, in the bottom layer stage, he gave up depicting shadows and instead completed them in the color layer.

Jiang Zhe could only learn by copying according to conditions and needs.

When he was copying, he first finished drawing the character's clothes, and then began to sketch the character's face and hands.

When depicting the clothes of characters, Raphael often applied thicker colors, like relief. The color layer of skin color is very even, and is made up of two layers of color.

In short, when depicting a character, colors should be repeatedly superimposed while maintaining a transparent and bright effect.

As Jiang Zhe became more proficient in the new technique, this copy of "Madonna in the Chair" was gradually improved...

(End of this chapter)