MART-601 Lessons

A soft light gently filters into the Magical Art studio, giving the room a quaint feel to compliment the nice weather outside. As the earliest students walk into the classroom, they realize Professor Rosenquist is painting an incredibly detailed mural of a Swedish Short-Snout onto the empty wall of the room. Well, there were paintings on the wall the previous week, but they are currently sitting under the windows in stacks. Instead of bothering the professor, the students went to their seats. The room slowly fills as the professor paints. Once the last seat was taken, Professor Rosenquist pauses with a hum and squints at the tiny puft of blue flames coming from the dragon’s mouth before adding one last stroke. “That should do it!” she exclaims happily, setting down the paintbrush and retrieving her wand. Muttering an incantation, she waves her wand in a spinning motion around her head before encircling the mural and putting it away. Professor Rosenquist ran her hand over the now dry paint before moving to the front of the classroom and turning to the students with a smile.

Well, hello students, it seems I finished my mural just in time! I thought I would try my hand at painting for once and I think it turned out pretty decent. Speaking of painting, that’s precisely our topic today! While we won’t touch portraiture until the next lesson, there’s plenty of other paintings to cover. Also, remember that your midterm exams are after our lecture. They will be given following the lecture and the questions will be on the content from Lessons One through Four. With that being said, let’s not waste any more time!

I’m confident that all of you have been exposed to paintings at this point in your life, especially considering the hallways of the castle are lined with them and you have been attending Hogwarts for six years. But have you ever stopped to think about what exactly a painting is? The art form of painting refers to the practice of applying a medium (paint, pigment, or color) to a solid surface. Ironically, mediums used in painting aren’t limited to only paint. Art that utilizes pastels, inks, and hot wax is also considered a painting. Even within the label of “paints,” there are several different types. Likewise, the solid bases used for paintings are certainly not restricted to canvases either, as I have demonstrated with my mural on the classroom wall or when Professor O'Keeffe discussed cave paintings with you in the last lesson. There is so much more involved with painting than the numerous portraits that you see on your way to class. For now, let’s look at the different types of paintings and then we’ll move onto media and processes.

The first type of paintings that we will look at today are allegorical paintings. These paintings communicate with the viewer through any type of symbolic representation, which includes symbolic figures and actions. I personally deal with this genre the most due to my profession as an alchemist, since alchemists preferred to hide messages in art, particularly those of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Although this is a much more recent example of an allegorical painting, one of my personal favorites out of this category is the Creation of the Birds by Remedios Varo (c. 1957), a modern alchemist and magical artist. As you can tell, this piece is full of symbolic references from the owl-like person “creating” birds to the triangular-shaped magnifying glass. Color is also a very important factor in these types of paintings, especially when you know which geographical region the art came from. For example, black in Western cultures represents mourning and death, while in Eastern cultures, artists use white to depict that same meaning.

Next on our list is figure paintings, where the primary subject in the painting is the human figure, both clothed and nude. These differ from portraits due to the fact that portraiture puts emphasis on the face and facial expressions of the person it is representing. The human anatomy and proportions have been depicted in art since cave paintings and reinterpreted throughout many centuries of art. One of the more famous figure painters was Edgar Degas, who created the piece on the left, Dancers at the Barre (c. 1900). Much of Degas’s works depict dancers, often capturing the human body in movement in his paintings. Other figure paintings also show movement like Degas’s paintings, while some feature the human body simply posing.

I’m sure you are familiar with illustrative paintings (illustrations), or art that is used to explain or adorn media such as books, magazines, newspapers, and more. Have you ever seen artwork on a book cover or in the book itself? What about those posters for Muggle movies? Those are all illustrations. It is important to note that occasionally in both the Muggle and wizarding art communities illustrative artwork has been considered less important than fine art, however, this is largely debatable and depends on who is making the argument. Personally, I believe art is art and that illustrations should be held in as high regard as other types of paintings. Out of all the wizarding publications in the United Kingdom, I would have to say that The Quibbler is one of the best at showcasing illustrations on its issues. I have provided the cover of the first issue of The Quibbler to the right. Although this would technically be considered a print since it is on a tabloid, it’s a pretty nice illustration if I do say so myself. Also, if you are an inspiring magizoologist, I’m sure you may have picked up the newest edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newton Scamander. For this latest release, Scamander paired up with artist Olivia Lomenech Gill, who provided beautiful illustrations of the magical creatures using charcoal and watercolor. If you do not have a copy, I’m sure that you will be able to find it in the library.

Landscape paintings are wide view perspectives of natural scenes. This includes, but isn’t limited to, depictions of trees, forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, valleys, and plains. Many landscapes include the sky and the weather, using both to depict the overall mood of the painting. Landscapes can also be included in other works as the background with figures and objects in the foreground. There is also a subgenre of landscape called veduta, which are typically large cityscape paintings. Actually, if you observe closely when you are walking in our hallways, you may notice a few paintings that aren’t portraits of people. There’s a few portraits of animals, still lifes, and even landscapes. One in particular that I would like to point out is this gorgeous painting of flowering almond trees titled Springtime at Campania by Martin Boon. It’s located on the seventh floor of the Grand Staircase, ironically next to all of the animal portraits. The story behind this particular painting was that Boon was traveling the countryside of southern Italy when he came upon an almond orchard. He was so struck by its beauty that an overwhelming feeling of inspiration hit him and he immediately began sketching what he saw.

Last but not least, we have to discuss still life paintings: depictions in which the subject matter is mostly inanimate. This is where you will find your paintings of foods, flowers, pottery, rocks, and really any household object. These objects are arranged in a way meant to produce rhythm in the composition, and this style of painting gives the artist more freedom to arrange the subject matter whereas they are more restricted when painting a landscape or a portrait. The genre of still lifes are typically very versatile and tend to overlap into many other areas. A lot of still lifes before the 1700s were also technically considered allegorical paintings due to the amount of symbolism in them. The Trompe L’oeil style we looked at earlier this year is considered to be a type of still life.

Now, the first still life painting that came to my mind was the painting of apples on the second floor. I’ve occasionally seen the Fat Lady visit this frame to snack on the apples whenever I pass by. Interestingly enough, this painting is a magical replica of Still Life with Apples by Paul Cézanne.

Switching gears, let’s talk about the mediums themselves; there are several types of mediums used in painting. Most magical artists typically use traditional Muggle mediums for their art and use charms in between layers to animate the piece. I have listed these mediums below with a brief description:

• Acrylic: quick drying paints that are water-resistant when they are dry. They are water-based so that when wet they can be cleaned from brushes more easily and acrylic paintings can be diluted with water to make them resemble watercolor and oil paintings.

• Enamel: durable paints mixed with a metal substrate and a type of powdered glass called frit. Once painted, they can be fired at 750 to 850° C (1380 to 1560° F) in a kiln to set into a mix of glass and metal. Enamel paints were popular mediums for miniature portraits in the 1700s.

• Encaustic: pigments infused with hot beeswax that are then painted onto a tougher surface such as wood or canvas. Special brushes or metal tools are needed to apply this to a surface, but the paint can be changed once it cools using a hot metal tool.

• Gouache: water-based paints that are heavy in pigment to create an opaque effect in paintings. They work like watercolor paints in that they can be re-wet and dry to a matte finish, but will give a similar color to acrylic and oil paints.

• Oil: pigments that are bound to drying oil, that can be diluted with a paint thinner such as turpentine. Although it is slow-drying (it can take from one to three weeks total), it does allow more time for layering and details which makes it the principal medium for painters. Depending on the oils used, some paintings may give off a sheen in the light and others will yellow over time. A water soluble variety of oil paint is available that allows the paint to be diluted with water and dries much quicker than traditional oil.

• Pastel: pure powdered pigments and a binder in the form of a stick, and comes in both oil-based and water soluble. They are a dry medium and come in three categories depending on the amount of pigment versus binder: soft, pan, and hard.

• Spray: aerosol paints that come out of a pressurized can in a mist. They are smooth when dry and are perfect for metal and plastic surfaces, which makes them typically used in graffiti art.

• Watercolor: pigments that are suspended in a water-based solution. They are typically very translucent and matte, and are used on surfaces such as paper, fabric, wood, and canvas. They can be re-wet and manipulated further after drying.

Magical artists typically choose the medium based on the type of painting that they plan to create and how complex the charms they intend to use are. For example, a magical portrait is typically painted using oil paints due to the slow dry time and amount of layers to create not only photorealism, but also cast more complex animation forms so that the subject can mimic the model. However, a still life could use a faster drying paint such as acrylics since the subject matter is inanimate objects and a complicated animation charm wouldn’t necessarily be needed, though they may cast charms to warp the space in the painting so that portrait figures can visit.

Have you ever experienced something so boring that you would rather watch paint dry? Well some artists are quite impatient and refuse to wait the normal drying time that paint would need. Instead, they prefer to use the Paint Drying Charm. Created by Émile Poingdestre in 1724, this versatile charm was created while he was attempting to paint a landscape of the Pyrenees, but he could not stand to wait the amount of time that it took for oil paints to dry. Frustrated, Poingdestre decided to grumpily be productive during his long wait time and managed to invent a variation of the Quick-Drying Charm. Unfortunately, he was on his last few layers by the time he was able to really test it out and perfect it; however, Poingdestre was elated at finding out the charm worked and finally finished his painting. He didn’t hesitate to share his findings with other artists, and soon the Paint Drying Charm became one of the most common tools used by any magical artist. So far it has worked well with all wet mediums and is incredibly useful in other types of art besides painting. It’s different from the Quick-Drying Charm in that it’s much more gentle so that the wet paint does not move from the blasts of air coming from the wand. Instead, hot dry air surrounds the piece of art and softly blows on it. Paint dries quicker in warm air and thus wouldn’t need the higher air current speed that comes in the Quick-Drying Charm. I have included the information of this charm for you below.

Name: Paint Drying Charm

Incantation: Sharakus Ignaestus (shah-RAHK-us eg-NAY-stoos)

Wand Movement: A spinning motion above the head and then around the area of wet paint.

Willpower: Moderate; The caster controls the temperature of the air with the amount of willpower (the more willpower, the hotter the air gets).

Concentration: Moderate; The concentration has to be maintained to keep the area of hot air flowing.

Of course, while traditional Muggle painting mediums have been around for years, there are certainly magical mediums created by the wizarding art community as well. These paints are either made roughly how Muggle paints are made and then charmed throughout the creating process or are actually potions made with pigments that have the consistency of paints. Magical paints are typically used for experimental art that involve effects other than moving figures in enchanted portraiture. Here are a few examples below:

• Surprise Stains: These paints appear clear when they are squeezed out of their tubes, but each tube is actually a mystery color range that does not show up until it is applied onto a surface using a brush. One tube could be multiple shades of blue while another may be a gradient of soft pastel colors. This is a favorite among small children in wizarding families.
• Glow Globs: A relatively new line of paints developed by Plumpton Paints, Inc. These paints appear to be normal, mundane paints in the light, but after they are dry the charms placed on them activate in the dark, producing glowing colors that move throughout the painting. This movement could range from a small rippling effect to the object painted moving around the frame. The charms are deactivated in the light and the paints freeze in place.
• Maeve’s No-Mess Medium: Another favorite among children and artists with incredibly shaky hands. These paints are made specifically to stay in the lines. If the artist accidentally paints over the line, the paint on the brush stops and does not show up on the other side. These paints in particular come with either a charmed pen, marker, or charcoal (depending on what set you buy at your local magical art supply store) to draw or trace your desired lines. Replacement pens, markers, and charcoal are sold separately.
• Personality Pigments: Some artists like to create their art by drawing from the audience’s emotion. These paints in particular are potions that read the current mood of the viewer and will change color schemes depending on how they are feeling. They started out with simple warm to cool color paints and, more recently, they have developed variations that have a wider range of color schemes that are able to read more complex emotions. If there is more than one person viewing the painting, the paints will cycle through the color schemes matching the moods of the viewers.
• Varo’s Vanishing Veneer: These paints were inspired by Muggle photo slideshows. Some artists prefer to reuse their canvas materials and will paint whole paintings on top of previous works. Unlike the other paints, the Vanishing Veneer paints do not give off a pigment and are instead clear. Artists apply a coat of this paint over a finished work of art. Once it dries, they can paint a new piece on top and then apply another coat over that when it finishes, and so on. Once their layered paintings are completed, they simply need to tap on the painting with their wand to cycle through the paintings underneath, going in an order from top to bottom.

I would like to end the lesson by telling all of you that it is absolutely imperative to take care of your tools: your brushes, paints, canvases, all of it. Quality art supplies, both magical and Muggle, are expensive and you will save your time as well as your wallet if you treat them with responsibility. That goes for both your own supplies and the supplies available here in the classroom. Of course if we are low on our art supplies, I do not mind requesting that the headmistress restock them. However, if I catch you purposefully wasting materials, throwing pens and brushes, breaking anything, or splashing paints and toxic chemicals on one another among other heinous acts, your art supply privileges will be revoked. Not only will you have to buy your own supplies and spend some quality time in the Detention Chamber, but your parents will be owled angry letters informing them of how their sixteen-year-old child acts at school. You only get one chance, so don’t mess it up.

Now, how exactly do we take care of our supplies so that this does not happen to you? Make sure that you have all of your supplies in your area before you begin, and when you are done, clean up after yourself by putting your supplies back away, storing your work somewhere safely, and washing your tools before leaving. That reminds me, I forgot to mention the Brush Cleaning Solution. While Muggles typically have a cup of water to switch between paints while working or have to wash their brushes under water using soap, mineral spirits, or lacquer thinner, magical artists have come up with a potion that attracts the paint molecules on your brush. Simply dip your brush in the Brush Cleaning Solution. The solution will take on the color of the paint, much like a water cup would, but your brush will not have a trace of paint on it when you take it out. You can also use it when switching between paints, and your brush will not have a pigmented liquid still on it. If you wipe it off on anything, it will appear as if you simply dipped it in clean water. When you are done using your brushes, after using the Brush Cleaning Solution, set them out to dry on a towel (or use the Drying Charm) and properly dispose of your potion.

I believe that sums it all up for today! I hope you enjoyed learning about painting, and make sure to remember all of this for the next lesson when we look at portraiture. Now I hope that I haven’t distracted you too much as you still have to face your inevitable doom-- I mean midterms. I will go ahead and hand them out. There is an assignment today as well where you will finally get to try your hand at painting, so you can think about what you would like to paint while I am passing out your midterms. When you are done taking your midterm, you may stay afterwards to work on your painting assignment, but you do have until our next lesson to finish it. If you have any questions, be sure to direct them to me or any of my PAs.

Lesson written by Professor Serafina Rosenquist