Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - Painting - Oil Painting - Binders and Diluents - Varnishes - Natural Resins

Characteristics - Painting Methods & Techniques - Materials and Equipment - Work Space & Storage - Manufacture of Pigments - Protection of the Picture

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

Natural Resins - Shellac
Shellac is an insect secretion, gathered in India. When it is purified and refind, it yields an orange brown resin. This is easily dissolved and further thinned by alcohol [denatured ethyl] but not turpentine or mineral spirits. It yellows more than dammar or mastic and becomes quite brittle, cracking when applied in films. Shellac must be obtained fresh, for it does not endure storage too well. It should be kept in glass containers since prolonged contact with metal, if much air is present, tends to darken it. Available in good quality either as orange shellac or as white bleached shellac, it finds a limited use in the studio as a sizing material for absorbent panels and as a fixative for drawings, when it is very much diluted with alcohol. [p. 50]

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













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