Viktoria demonstrating
The interest in this artist has been considerable, one of the most popular posts recently, and I determined to find out a little more about her tecnique.
I've confirmed she uses Hahnemuhle 600gsm (300lb) rough paper which she lies loose on a plywood board. After an initial sketch with a soft pencil both sides of the paper are wetted with a sponge. She immediately dabs with a paper towel the focal point, approximately one third to two thirds vertically and horizontally, and some other places that are important in it's composition. Once she starts painting she varies the tone between warm and cool to determine relationships. Mostly she paints wet in wet but keeps the paper towels handy to dry off where she wants to place details.
She uses a lot of pigment and a little water for the detail. Lemon Yellow is an important colour used to contrast with dark colours in the background. Apparently her people are always Lemon Yellow + Orange with some Ultramarine. Paints are `Russian' (St Petersburg?) and Scminke. This is logical as she is originally from the old Soviet Union (Moldavia) and currently lives in Germany. She uses 3 - 4 colours up to a maximum of 5 for each watercolour. Colours are Orange (Scminke), Ultramarine, Violet, LemonYellow, Green Gold. I'm amazed at this with the riot of colour she creates. Looking at her paintings it is difficult to reconcile some of the above, at least on some of them. This additional information was obtained from a piece on his website by a Dutch artist Dominiek Reynt Jens, who attended a course in 2009.
Nothing much to add on brushes which are described as `Da Vinci-type filbert sable in thickness and type 30/20/15/10 (broad brushes with fine tip) and a fine tug for details'. Quite what a `tug' is I'm unaware - could it be a rigger? Note Added: 01/05/11 .I looked up `tug' and eventually found someone selling them. They appear to be riggers.
Although virtually unknown outside the continent of Europe she is a very highly regarded and popular artist. Although her approach couldn't be more different than the path I am currently (trying) following I think she is a fabulous artist and should be better known outside her home turf. Do look at her website which is also for her husband ( I presume) Slawa. I am on the track of more great European artists and hope to feature others in the coming months.
Once again I make the proviso that I don't actually have permission to show the above paintings but as I am promoting the artist and have no commercial gain in mind hope this is okay. I will remove the material if asked to do so. Her website gallery is: www.prischedko.de/
