December 2017
Intermediate to advanced
208 pages
3h 39m
English
Plasticity is the process by which a medium takes on the properties of the substance that it represents.
The most common and effective examples of plasticity occur in painting when the artist manipulates the layering and fluid properties of the paint so that the paint film takes on a flesh-like appearance. This is apparent in many Baroque-era paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Vélazquez, and Rubens.
Plasticity is not limited to the rendering of flesh; the history of painting is full of examples in which the physical handling of the paint takes on the qualities of such subjects as silk, satin, lacework, masonry, and foliage.
Plasticity differs from the mimicry of trompe l’oeil. With plasticity, viewers are invited to enjoy ...