Chronologische Tabelle

The Handbook of Painting Technique

Handbook of the painting technique, 1983

In winter time, when there was not sufficient daylight, Vietinghoff was forced to paint less. Then, he used the time to write down his various experiences from craftsmanship and from his introverted meditative painting process. Thus, he became the author of two manuscripts about his technique and philosophy. Over four decades, he documented his continued studies and insights parallel to his enormous creative urge which leaves us some 2.750 paintings from 70 years of work.

His job and his means of expression was the multilayer oilresin painting. He searched for his technique for a long time, reconstructed it arduously, applied it daily, and wrote it down in gradual steps. And finally, a well-known publishing house released the technical part from the drawer! The total sum of his working experience would be published in German language in 1983 (second edition 1991) under the title of Handbuch zur Technik der Malerei. It made again available both his life-long observations and the lost treasure of past artist's generations and their studios.

"Each budding artist knows how difficult it is to represent with strokes and paints what he sees with his physical or his mind's eyes, when he misses the elementary knowledge of color properties. Often, even authors in art encyclopedias and academy teachers move in the world of colors as in the thicket of the jungle." (E.v.Vietinghoff)

Egon von Vietinghoff, Handbook of Painting Technique, Diagram of Color mixing

In his handbook, Vietinghoff commendably thinned out this jungle. Aside from chromatics with some personal accents, he described the rules of color mixing, and explained the logic of the basic properties of colors. It contains the gamut of the color values, as well as the topics of the saturation (colorfulness) and intensity of colors.

Most probably, he formulated for the first time the translucency of paint and color as the fourth property of color, ignored in former publications. He elucidated the laws of contrast, commented on color systems, presented the advantages of the traditional multilayer technique and gave a list of pigments, oils and resins, as well as instructions for their production.

In addition, he gave hints for the purchase of oils, dispensing of emulsions and binders, pointed out inappropriate materials and warned beginners of mistakes. He showed the single steps of the technique of color application and the six different kinds of strokes, even how to hold the brush. He introduced the use and effects of the glazes and wrote about the varnishing of a finished painting. Finally, he outlined the sensible building of a picture and showed the development of a painting in the multilayer method. All these were written comprehensively and in detail.

Egon von Vietinghoff, Handbook of the Painting Technique, The Impact of black and white glazes

"When mixing paints, it is not sufficient, to know their basic properties, because the richness of the pigments are very different. For instance, a trace of Prussian blue or titanium white is sufficient to change a paint whereas a considerable quantity of white lead or cobalt blue would be required for the same result.

Later, when I taught some students, I definitely recognized how much this knowledge of elementary color properties eases the mixing of paints on the palette. Those who knew it could mix any desired paint quickly and without problems, but others less experienced spent a lot of paint until they achieved the necessary mixture, if successful. Often, their efforts failed due to their uncertainty in estimating the quantity of paints and they needed to add more and more paints in order to correct the color until an indefinable grey-brown color emerged." (Egon von Vietinghoff)

The handbook is easy to read and became standard literature for painters of the multilayer oil-resin technique, for teachers and art restorers. It is both theoretical and systematical as an indispensable guide for practice. Vietinghoff described the process of painting from inside as he discovered and proved everything on his own. It is astonishing that he could collect so much knowledge, concentrated on only 190 pages, in simple language and with several graphics, tables and definitions. Well-known masterpieces and his own pictures illustrate his explanations of different techniques with emphasis on the multilayer oil-resin painting.

	The Handbook of Painting Technique In winter time, when there was not sufficient daylight, Vietinghoff was forced to paint less. Then, he used the time to write down his various experiences from craftsmanship and from his introverted meditative painting process. Thus, he became the author of two manuscripts about his technique and philosophy. Over four decades, he documented his continued studies and insights parallel to his enormous creative urge which leaves us some 2.750 paintings from 70 years of work. His job and his means of expression was the multilayer oilresin painting. He searched for his technique for a long time, reconstructed it arduously, applied it daily, and wrote it down in gradual steps. And finally, a well-known publishing house released the technical part from the drawer! The total sum of his working experience would be published in German language in 1983 (second edition 1991) under the title of Handbuch zur Technik der Malerei. It made again available both his life-long observations and the lost treasure of past artist's generations and their studios. "Each budding artist knows how difficult it is to represent with strokes and paints what he sees with his physical or his mind's eyes, when he misses the elementary knowledge of color properties. Often, even authors in art encyclopedias and academy teachers move in the world of colors as in the thicket of the jungle." (E.v.Vietinghoff)
	In his handbook, Vietinghoff commendably thinned out this jungle. Aside from chromatics with some personal accents, he described the rules of color mixing, and explained the logic of the basic properties of colors. It contains the gamut of the color values, as well as the topics of the saturation (colorfulness) and intensity of colors. Most probably, he formulated for the first time the translucency of paint and color as the fourth property of color, ignored in former publications. He elucidated the laws of contrast, commented on color systems, presented the advantages of the traditional multilayer technique and gave a list of pigments, oils and resins, as well as instructions for their production.
	In addition, he gave hints for the purchase of oils, dispensing of emulsions and binders, pointed out inappropriate materials and warned beginners of mistakes. He showed the single steps of the technique of color application and the six different kinds of strokes, even how to hold the brush. He introduced the use and effects of the glazes and wrote about the varnishing of a finished painting. Finally, he outlined the sensible building of a picture and showed the development of a painting in the multilayer method. All these were written comprehensively and in detail.
	"When mixing paints, it is not sufficient, to know their basic properties, because the richness of the pigments are very different. For instance, a trace of Prussian blue or titanium white is sufficient to change a paint whereas a considerable quantity of white lead or cobalt blue would be required for the same result. Later, when I taught some students, I definitely recognized how much this knowledge of elementary color properties eases the mixing of paints on the palette. Those who knew it could mix any desired paint quickly and without problems, but others less experienced spent a lot of paint until they achieved the necessary mixture, if successful. Often, their efforts failed due to their uncertainty in estimating the quantity of paints and they needed to add more and more paints in order to correct the color until an indefinable grey-brown color emerged." (Egon von Vietinghoff)
	The handbook is easy to read and became standard literature for painters of the multilayer oil-resin technique, for teachers and art restorers. It is both theoretical and systematical as an indispensable guide for practice. Vietinghoff described the process of painting from inside as he discovered and proved everything on his own. It is astonishing that he could collect so much knowledge, concentrated on only 190 pages, in simple language and with several graphics, tables and definitions. Well-known masterpieces and his own pictures illustrate his explanations of different techniques with emphasis on the multilayer oil-resin painting.