Michael Skalka
Oversimplification of Art Materials
Summary: Modern life is filled with complex things. Maintaining a basic understanding of the nature of materials provides us with...
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THE SYNTAX OF COLOR
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Michael Skalka
- Mar 2
- 3 min
Roses are Red, Violets are VIOLET
Summary: Documents describing the origin of a pigment can consume multiple pages of explanatory facts or be stated in merely one...
1001
Michael Skalka
- Feb 17
- 4 min
Divine Aniline, Won’t You Be Mine
Summary: The invention of mauve by William Henry Perkins in 1856 from coal tar initiated the study of aniline chemistry. A wide variety...
741
Michael Skalka
- Feb 2
- 4 min
What If Colors Had No Names?
Summary: Ponder this idea. What if the colors we use as artists had no names or were forbidden to have names? Make believe that we are...
1501
Michael Skalka
- Jan 26
- 4 min
Can the Old Masters Teach Us Anything Useful?
Summary: A visit to a museum can be a rich and rewarding educational experience. Looking carefully at paintings as a learning tool is a...
632
Michael Skalka
- Nov 30, 2022
- 4 min
Painting Supports - Part 3
Summary: Looking over the Horizon - As both an artist and a chairman of an ASTM subcommittee focused on quality standards for the art...
951
Michael Skalka
- Nov 11, 2022
- 9 min
Painting Supports - Part 2
In part one I discussed the benefits of solid panel supports and how they outperformed stretched canvas in every way except weight. ...
452
Michael Skalka
- Nov 4, 2022
- 4 min
Painting Supports - Part 1
Summary: Artists need to understand the positive and negative aspects of painting supports. A support that appears stable and sound when...
853
Michael Skalka
- Oct 5, 2022
- 4 min
Adventures In Color Mixing
Summary: Can a piece of software teach us how to mix colors? It may serve as a good starting point for beginner artists who need some...
1512
Michael Skalka
- Sep 7, 2022
- 5 min
Food Coloring
Summary: Both in the past and the present, foods have been used as colorants for a variety of purposes. They can serve as pigments as...
390
Michael Skalka
- Aug 21, 2022
- 5 min
Cadmium Yellow Deep: A Misnamed Pigment? Part 2
Summary: Pigments with the same Color Index name but appearing to be a different hue is confusing for the consumer. Abiding by the Color...
750
Michael Skalka
- Aug 17, 2022
- 5 min
Cadmium Yellow Deep: A Misnamed Pigment? Part 1
Summary: Pigments with the same Color Index name but appearing to be a different hue is confusing for the consumer. Abiding by the Color...
1320
Michael Skalka
- Aug 4, 2022
- 5 min
Titanium White
Summary: A very recent news article caught my attention regarding a ban on the use of titanium dioxide white in food products within the...
3513
Michael Skalka
- Jun 21, 2022
- 4 min
Materials Marketing Mishaps
Summary: Costly and elaborate advertising materials for artists’ materials have become a rarity. Specifically, hand-painted color charts...
1321
Michael Skalka
- May 25, 2022
- 3 min
The Pastel Standard
Summary: So many activities with so little time. However, I am pleased to announce that the article I wrote for the Pastel Journal –...
1702
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