Both you and paintings are layered… first, ephemera and notations on the back of the canvas. Labels indicate gallery shows, museum shows, footprints in the snow, so to speak. Then pencil scribbles on the stretcher, usually by the artist, usually a title or date. Next the stretcher itself. Pine or something. Wooden triangles in the corners so the picture can be tapped tighter when the canvas becomes loose. Nails in the wood securing the picture to the stretcher. Next, a canvas: linen, muslin, sometimes a panel; then the gesso - a primary coat, always white. A layer of underpaint, usually a pastel color, then, the miracle, where the secrets are: the paint itself, swished around, roughly, gently, layer on layer, thick or thin, not more than a quarter of an inch ever -- God can happen in that quarter of an inch -- the occasional brush hair left embedded, colors mixed over each other, tones showing through, sometimes the weave of the linen revealing itself. The signature on top of the entire goulash. Then varnish is swabbed over the whole. Finally, the frame, translucent gilt or carved wood. The whole thing is done. . Steve Martin
About This Quote

It’s about layer by layer. You can’t see your hand in front of your face, so the back of the canvas’s got to be painted, too. Then you can see your hand. Then there’s the label on the back of the stretcher, so you know what’s going on.

Then there are the pencil notes by the artist, with dates and titles. Next comes the stretcher itself, usually pine or something similar. Then a canvas: linen, muslin, sometimes a panel; then gesso - a primary coat, always white.

A layer of underpainting, usually a pastel color, then comes the miracle: paint itself swished around, roughly, gently. Layer on layer. Thick or thin.

Not more than a quarter of an inch ever -- God can happen in that quarter of an inch -- occasional brush hair left embedded in it all. The signature on top of the entire goulash: varnish is swabbed over it all. Finally -- and this is important -- a frame is put around it all: translucent gilt or carved wood.

The whole thing is done.

Source: An Object Of Beauty

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More Quotes By Steve Martin
  1. I understood that as much as I had resisted the outside, as much as I had constricted my life, as much as I had closed and narrowed the channels into me, there were still many takers for the quiet heart.
  2. Be so good they can't ignore you.
  3. A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
  4. Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way.
  5. I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks.
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