Atelierartisanal's Blog

These days there is no lack of self-proclaimed experts out there on just about any subject: painting is no exception. Thus if technology is great at proliferation, the user needs to be equally great at discrimination. I am listing here some on the more reliable resources I have come across. It is by no means exclusive. I intend to update this page as conditions change.

Internet Forums

MITRA – A highly recommended objective and informative website run by the University of Delaware. It’s monitored by professional conservators and is for artists practicing in all media. It inherited its mantle from AMIEN (2006 – 2013) which ended when it’s founder, Mark Gottsegen, passed away in 2013. In addition, check out their Resources link.  See also their list of informative websites. You’ll need to create a user account to ask a question.

The Society of Egg Tempera Painters – a good resource forum, when it was actively functioning. It was managed by current professional practitioners of the craft. Available now in archive format only. Still, with a good search, you might find your question answered there.

Artist Manuals [books in my possession]

Cennini, Cennino. Cennino d’Andrea Cennini’s The Craftsman’s Handbook: Il Libro dell’ Arte. Translated by Daniel V. Thompson, Jr. New York: Dover Publications, 1954 [1960]
https://archive.org/details/bookartcenninoc00herrgoog
http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Cennini/index.htm

Doerner, Max. The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting: With Notes on the Techniques of the Old Masters, Revised Edition. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.

Eastlake, Charles Lock. Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters, vols. I & II (1847). New York: Dover Publications, 2001.
http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Eastlake/index.htm

Gottsegen, Mark David. The Painter’s Handbook: Revised and Expanded. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2006

Kay, Reed. The Painter’s Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.

Mayer, Ralph. The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and Techniques: Fifth Edition, Revised and Updated. New York: Viking Press, 1991.

National Gallery, edited by David Bomford. Art in the Making, Underdrawing in Renaissance Paintings. Nationally Gallery Limited, 2002.

Schadler, Koo. Egg Tempera Painting: A Comprehensive Guide to Egg Tempera Painting. Koo Schadler, 2009.

Schwalb, Susan and Mazullo, Tom. Silverpoint and Metalpoint Drawing, A complete guide to the medium. New York: Routledge, 2019.

Thompson, Daniel V. The Practice of Tempera Painting: Materials and Methods. New York: Dover Publications, 1962.
http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Thompson/index.htm

Vasari, Giorgio. Vasari on Technique. Translated by Louise S. Maclehose (1907). New York: Dover Publications, 1960.
https://archive.org/details/vasariontechniq00vasagoog

Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, edited by William Gaunt. London & New York: Everyman’s Library, J. M. Dent and E. P. Dutton, 1963.
http://members.efn.org/~acd/vite/VasariLives.html
https://archive.org/details/livesmosteminen03richgoog http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/giorgio.vasari/

Full list available here from MITRA.