J.W. Waterhouse

Hi Neil,

I'm not really aware of any artists using Vermillion. Personally, it's not a colour I use much at all (I've still got the same tube I bought 20yrs ago) becuase I always found it too over-powering and the colour just didn't look natural to me. The main instance that I remember Waterhouse using it when I saw the exhibition was in A Mermaid where it's used in the shell/bowl in front of her, though printed reproductions don't show this well at all. I think it's a colour I must start to make friends with :)

Kind regards,

Jim

Hi Jimma

The Vermillion JW tends to use appears to be the same as the Vermillion color sold by Archival Paints, a quite earthy red color. French Vermillion is much brighter and a very difficult color to manage. I likewise use very little Vermillion (have only just bought a tube of French Vermillion and dont quite know what to do with it) but I use it often, it is a very strong pigment in mixes and can provide a common warmth across a painting without being used independently.

I've since noticed that Tom Roberts (Australian/ British artist popular in Australia) used a similar color process to Julien in attracting the eye to his 1884 Royal Academy piece. He was training at the RA at the time, so perhaps I should try tracking down the names of teachers at the RA during this period to get some idea of how this use of Vermillion got into use on both sides of the Channel.

Cheers
Neil

Hi Neil,

I'll have to admit to an embarassing mistake. I was thinking Vermillion was a type of green! Shows you how much I know ;) Live and learn. That said, if Waterhouse used Vermillion in his paintings then it's a colour I'll be looking more closely at :)

Cheers,

Jim

 Jim, Were you thinking of viridian? Neil, I was looking at the picture in a book and the only vermillion that stands out is the front and center bandana on a rower. Other than that, I wonder if there's vermillion on the bird ladies lips, but it's hard to tell in the book picture. I've got close ups of most of those ladies, maybe I could tell from those if it's vermillion or rose madder or just some earthier red like venetian or red ochre. I'll go through them.

Thanks David
The vermillion is spots where the rock face meets the sea  under the second siren from the right and along the rail of the ship aft of the siren sitting on the railing. Of the prints in books the best available is the double page in J.W.Waterhouse (1849-1917) but only the vermillion at the base of the cliff is readily visible.

Peter Trippi mentions the vermillion specifically in his first book on JW, which is what started me on this track. I was lucky enough to spend an hour or two photographing the surface of the painting in Melbourne (the gallery is some times very quiet which is fantastic). 

Cheers
neil

 Neil, Do you have digital photos you can share? I didn't get too many photos of that picture and they're not the best. 

I'll just have to select some and resize (they are all a bit big for email). Should have them ready to send in a few days.

Should I post them here?

Cheers
Neil

 Hi Neil, Could you email me anything you've got that's sharp, details - anything? The first part of my email is dckirk3. The period is just a period, it's not part of the address. I'll put the rest in the next post

 @aol.com is the rest. Thanks! I've got hundreds of pictures of the Montreal show. Nearly all the good ones are details. I could put the best on a CD for you. I'm amazed that the color representation is quite good on the computer, and nearly always awful on prints, even expensive ones or even in the nicest books. I wish someone would sell big, finely color corrected images, or even better, all the paintings at high resolution on DVDs.