modella

painting
Also known as: modello, oil sketch

Learn about this topic in these articles:

use as sample

  • Helen Frankenthaler: Chairman of the Board
    In painting: Techniques and methods

    …a small oil sketch, or modella, for his client’s approval before carrying out a large-scale commission. Siting problems peculiar to mural painting, such as spectator eye level and the scale, style, and function of a building interior, had first to be solved in preparatory drawings and sometimes with the use…

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use by Rubens

  • Peter Paul Rubens: self-portrait
    In Peter Paul Rubens: Return to Antwerp

    , an oil sketch painted by Rubens on a small panel, after which he would make preparatory drawings of individual figures within the composition. The execution of the full-scale work would often be entrusted to assistants, though Rubens would usually paint key areas and thoroughly retouch the…

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