Painting Dürer's "Praying Hands" in Oil - Grisaille & Glazing
TomMakesArt
6,475 views
Albrecht Dürer’s "Praying Hands" (1508) is perhaps the most famous drawing in history. But for us painters, it is more than an icon—it is a lesson in humility and discipline.
In this video, I invite you to join me for a special study. Since the original altar painting ("The Heller Altarpiece") was destroyed by fire centuries ago, all we have left is Dürer's preparatory brush drawing on blue paper. My goal was to translate this masterpiece into a finished oil painting using the traditional Old Master technique of Grisaille and Glazing.
We will explore how to turn the graphic hatching of a drawing into the smooth, living form of an oil painting. It is a challenge of patience, dealing with complex anatomy, and trusting the process through the "ugly phases."
In this tutorial, you will learn:
How to prepare a classic Imprimatura and Background.
Building a precise Grisaille underpainting.
How to translate a tonal drawing into painting values.
Applying multiple glazing layers (skin tones, shadows, and final glazes).
I hope this study inspires you to look closer at the Old Masters and try this method yourself.
📩 Waitlist for my upcoming Video Course:
I am currently preparing a comprehensive video course that will cover the technique of grisaille and glazing in great detail—bringing the heritage of the Old Masters into the present day without toxic thinners and lead paints. It will take a few more months to complete. I have set up an email list that you can join, and I will notify you when it is ready. Since YouTube doesn't always notify subscribers, I will also send a short note when I upload a new video. No spam, no junk mail, promised.
Join the list here: https://oilpainting.eo.page/kb4sj
🎨 Mentioned Videos:
My tutorial on mixing the Cool Grays used in this Grisaille: How I premix my Grisaille oil paints and f...
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro: The Story of the Hands
02:16 Imprimatura & Background
03:15 The Grisaille Underpainting
09:36 The First Glaze
12:52 The Shadow Glaze
14:32 The Final Glaze
20:23 Final Details & Highlights
21:53 Final Result
🖌️ Materials used:
Panel: Wood panel primed with Michael Harding Non-Absorbent Acrylic Primer
Medium/Thinner for Imprimatura: Sennelier Green for Oil (Bio-Solvent)
White: Schmincke Flake White Hue (Lead White replacement)
Colors: Burnt Umber, Ivory Black, Brown Taunus Ochre (Schaal), Vermilion, Yellow Ochre Deep, Raw Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Venetian Red, Van Dyck Brown, Raw Sienna, Madder Red.
Brushes: Da Vinci Kolinsky Series 1815, 1810, 1610, HABICO Lasur, Dailer Rowney Series 67 (Red marten), Raphael Kevrin Mongoose Hair, Winsor & Newton Mornarch
🖼️ Image Credits:
Albrecht Dürer, "Praying Hands" (1508) - Source: Albertina Museum Wien / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Jobst Harrich, "Heller Altar Copy" - Source: Städel Museum Frankfurt am Main / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Music:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Jesu, meine Freude (Musopen, public domain)
Maestro Tlakaelel - Jesse Gallagher (YouTube)
Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this study, please like and subscribe for more Old Master oil painting tutorials.
12 Comments
Painting Dürer's "Praying Hands" in Oil - Grisaille & Glazing
TomMakesArt
6,475 views
Albrecht Dürer’s "Praying Hands" (1508) is perhaps the most famous drawing in history. But for us painters, it is more than an icon—it is a lesson in humility and discipline.
In this video, I invite you to join me for a special study. Since the original altar painting ("The Heller Altarpiece") was destroyed by fire centuries ago, all we have left is Dürer's preparatory brush drawing on blue paper. My goal was to translate this masterpiece into a finished oil painting using the traditional Old Master technique of Grisaille and Glazing.
We will explore how to turn the graphic hatching of a drawing into the smooth, living form of an oil painting. It is a challenge of patience, dealing with complex anatomy, and trusting the process through the "ugly phases."
In this tutorial, you will learn:
How to prepare a classic Imprimatura and Background.
Building a precise Grisaille underpainting.
How to translate a tonal drawing into painting values.
Applying multiple glazing layers (skin tones, shadows, and final glazes).
I hope this study inspires you to look closer at the Old Masters and try this method yourself.
📩 Waitlist for my upcoming Video Course:
I am currently preparing a comprehensive video course that will cover the technique of grisaille and glazing in great detail—bringing the heritage of the Old Masters into the present day without toxic thinners and lead paints. It will take a few more months to complete. I have set up an email list that you can join, and I will notify you when it is ready. Since YouTube doesn't always notify subscribers, I will also send a short note when I upload a new video. No spam, no junk mail, promised.
Join the list here: https://oilpainting.eo.page/kb4sj
🎨 Mentioned Videos:
My tutorial on mixing the Cool Grays used in this Grisaille: How I premix my Grisaille oil paints and f...
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Intro: The Story of the Hands
02:16 Imprimatura & Background
03:15 The Grisaille Underpainting
09:36 The First Glaze
12:52 The Shadow Glaze
14:32 The Final Glaze
20:23 Final Details & Highlights
21:53 Final Result
🖌️ Materials used:
Panel: Wood panel primed with Michael Harding Non-Absorbent Acrylic Primer
Medium/Thinner for Imprimatura: Sennelier Green for Oil (Bio-Solvent)
White: Schmincke Flake White Hue (Lead White replacement)
Colors: Burnt Umber, Ivory Black, Brown Taunus Ochre (Schaal), Vermilion, Yellow Ochre Deep, Raw Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Venetian Red, Van Dyck Brown, Raw Sienna, Madder Red.
Brushes: Da Vinci Kolinsky Series 1815, 1810, 1610, HABICO Lasur, Dailer Rowney Series 67 (Red marten), Raphael Kevrin Mongoose Hair, Winsor & Newton Mornarch
🖼️ Image Credits:
Albrecht Dürer, "Praying Hands" (1508) - Source: Albertina Museum Wien / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Jobst Harrich, "Heller Altar Copy" - Source: Städel Museum Frankfurt am Main / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
Music:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Jesu, meine Freude (Musopen, public domain)
Maestro Tlakaelel - Jesse Gallagher (YouTube)
Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this study, please like and subscribe for more Old Master oil painting tutorials.
1. Ingredients to mix the glazing medium.
2. Proportion of glazing medium in to tube paint.
Turns out the correct answer for both is nuance, hence why trying to find concrete answers to both is very difficult in the oil painting community.
Lucky me, I found an exceptionally-good book that (somewhat) addresses many of these topics, and despite its modern price point, is invaluable for any oil painting artist to have. Below I will answer both questions with what I have learned:
Book name: "Glazing with an Emphasis on the Craft of Painting" by Michael Wilcox.
This book goes over all of the nuance of glazing, including techniques like how to create depth and luminous effects when layering different pigments mixed with glazes. I have a pdf copy, and it's invaluable.
1. 2 parts Venice Turpentine ; 4 parts Linseed Stand Oil ; 9 parts Dammar Varnish ; 9 parts Turpentine (makes a fast-drying and VERY glossy glazing medium)
2. 70% Glazing Medium and 30% tube paint
Note: For #2, this includes any pigment you use. It should be noted that ALL pigments have different properties, and thus need different proportions of glazing medium to tube paint. Despite this, for simplicity sake, keep it 70/20. If you want it even more transparent, add more glazing medium beyond the 70%. Well-respected artists assured me even at these levels, the paint won't cause long-term issues like cracking.
You should also know that you can use almost anything as a glazing medium, and you SHOULD, because it'll give different effects. Some will be less glossy than others. Others might give off no gloss (especially when fully cured). I am in the process of identifying all the different glazing medium recipes, and also experiment with resulting glossy effects and transparencies. This doesn't even begin to touch on different paint brands, where much more pigment might exist in a given tube paint than others, and so the proportions to get a specific effect/transparency will vary (I suggest experimenting on a throw away piece of gesso'd canvas first).
Thank you for sharing your amazing skills. Subscribed and bell'd. It has become my personal journey to get the word out on this (mysteriously) elusive topic of glazing medium contents and proportions. The amount of time (and money) that went in to hunting down this info shouldn't be difficult, but it absolutely was. There's more to doing glazing right other than "mix your tube paint, pick up a little in the brush, then dip the corner of your brush in the glazing medium separately and that'll be enough" like I've heard from other artists who approach it so haphazardly.
If anyone else has any suggestions for glazing mediums, and proportions to mix in to tube paint, please share with me. Keep stability and long term preservation (+200 years) in mind when suggesting.