The Technician behind the Artist: Where Science Meets Art

Author

Joella Vaughnn, University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors CollegeFollow

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Art and Art History

First Advisor

Josh Brinlee

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The thesis has two purposes: to evaluate the difference between oil, acrylic, gouache, and encaustic paint for the purpose of glazing and to integrate engineering and artistic principles into this thesis. My final evaluation across the four paints is that oil has the highest performing glaze. I believe it is the best glazer because time is not a constraint for me as an artist. If an artist has a time constraint on their painting, I recommend using acrylic mixed with an acrylic polymer medium as a glaze because the drying time is much faster than oil. I discovered that gouache and encaustic paint do not serve as good glazers. I believe that by evaluating oil, acrylic, gouache and encaustic paint for their engineering and artistic merit, I was able to convince my readers the importance of combining both engineering and art for the purpose of this thesis. The background knowledge on the manufacturing of paint from pigment helps me evaluate the minute differences in the four paints such as drying time and viscosity. I achieved a thorough evaluation as well as explanation of why I combined art and engineering through an interview with a modern artist, Dave Ghildarducci and a visit to Golden Artist Colors manufacturer. Recommendations for further improvements to this project include using a different brand of gouache paint, delving into the differences between artist and student grade paint, and looking into both glazing and applying opaque layers of paint.

Recommended Citation

Vaughnn, Joella, "The Technician behind the Artist: Where Science Meets Art" (2016). Honors Theses. 451.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/451

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